GAME COVERAGE LINKS | SOUTHERN ARKANSAS SOFTBALL GAMEDAY INFORMATION
 
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After winning its second Great American Conference series of the season when downing Southwestern Oklahoma State two out of three games this past weekend, Henderson State has won seven of its last eight games. Those slew of wins will now be put to the test when the Reddies head to Magnolia, Arkansas, to take on the pre-season No. 1 ranked team in the nation Southern Arkansas Muleriders, with game one of Friday's doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
 
REDDIES REPORT
Mallory Brewer made two appearances in the SWOSU series, going 2-0 and registering 12 strikeouts to only two walks through 14 innings pitched, cracking the top-5 in Reddies history for strikeouts. The junior pitcher now has 58 strikeouts on the season – her most Ks in any of her four stints at HSU – with still 17 contests remaining while carrying a 4.13 ERA.
 
Both Abbie Moore and Czoey White have been red hot at the plate recently. Moore has delivered 12 hits in six games – including five straight games with a double – while White has 10 hits in the last five games. White is now second on the team in hitting percentage (.325) with Moore close behind her in third (.321).
 
As a team, Henderson State is among the top-5 in the GAC in hits (188), doubles (35), total bases (261) and stolen bases (46). The Reddies are also tied with Southwestern for sixth in the conference with 85 RBIs and stand alone at sixth in total strikeouts (106).
 
The meetings with the Muleriders over the years have not been particularly favorable for HSU as SAU leads the series 23-10 since 2012. Henderson has not beaten Southern Arkansas since 2017 and has not seen victory in Magnolia since March of 2016.      
 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
Entering the 2021 season, Southern Arkansas was preseason ranked No. 1 in the country. Since then, it has gone 10-6 overall and 7-4 in GAC play. After falling out of the top-25 briefly, the Muleriders came in at No. 25 in the latest poll released this week.
 
Jaxynn Dyson, Alese Casper, and Laina Suesue have combined for 55 hits this season as each are hitting .365 or better through 16 games. Dyson also leads the Muleriders with four homeruns and 13 RBIs. Sydney Wader is the ace in the circle for SAU as she carries a 1.81 ERA into the weekend series, throwing for 42 strikes in only 49.2 innings pitched. Elisa Favela is tied for first in the entire GAC with three saves.
 
Southern Arkansas is currently sporting an eight game winning streak over Henderson and are 16-6 when playing HSU on Dawson Field at the Dr. Margaret Downing Softball Complex since 2013. The Muleriders are 4-3 at home this season with two of those three losses coming in SAU's last two outings.