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*Masks and social distancing are required for fan attendance at East Central softball games*
 
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – With the season winding down, Henderson State (11-24, 8-16) sits in tenth place in the Great American Conference standings, two games behind ninth-place East Central (14-16, 10-14) and two-and-a-half games behind eighth-place Southwestern Oklahoma State (9-17, 9-12). With the GAC Championships four weeks away, the top-eight teams will be heading to Bentonville, Arkansas to compete for a conference tournament title.
 
With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Reddies begin their chase for eighth place when they head to Ada, Oklahoma, this weekend for a 3-game series against East Central in what could define HSU's postseason hopes. The first two games are Saturday, April 17 at 2 & 4 p.m. while game three is Sunday, April 18 at 12 p.m. 
 
REDDIES REPORT
On Sunday, April 11, Kailey Reese became the all-time triples leader in Henderson State history. The junior outfielder now has nine for her career, along with 21 doubles and 73 RBIs. The Rio Vista, Texas, native needs 10 more RBIs to move into a tie for ninth on the all-time list.
 
The Reddies' leading hitter Kaitlyn O'Quinn, who has 40 hits and is hitting a team-high .364 this season, had four stolen bases in the weekend series against Arkansas Tech, bringing her season count to 22 and her career tally to 38. The Coppell High School product needs three more to move into both sixth place for most stolen bags in a season and third place for most all-time.
 
Henderson State as a team is fourth in the league in total hits as a team with 231, fifth in doubles with 43, and third in stolen bases with 57. The Reddies, however, are 12th in batting average (.260), 11th in runs batted in (103), and 10th in home runs (15).
 
Individually, O'Quinn has made her presence felt not just with HSU but league-wide as she leads the entire GAC with 22 stolen bases and is second in the conference with 40 hits while her and Addie Jordan are tied for third and seventh with 13 and 12 walks, respectively. Mallory Brewer is sixth in the league in strikeouts with 72.
 
Henderson State has not seen recent success against ECU, dropping four straight to the Tigers. The Reddies are 4-12 since 2012 when playing at Tiger Field. The last time HSU won in Ada was March 26, 2017.   
 
SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
East Central comes into the Henderson State series off of a series win over then-third-place Southern Nazarene, winning two of the three games in Bethany, Oklahoma. The Tigers have won three straight GAC series with their last conference series loss coming against Southern Arkansas.
 
At the plate, Megan Lesko has given East Central's opponents the most trouble as she is seventh in the GAC with a .392 batting average, fifth in the conference with 38 hits, and tied for first with 11 doubles. Lesko is tied for the team-lead with five home runs as well (Rachelle Mengwasser). In the circle for the Tigers, Taia Harris carries a 2.30 ERA in 22 appearances this season while Lauren HerrNeckar has a bullpen-leading 61 strikeouts in only 56 innings pitched.
 
Since 2011, East Central holds the all-time series record against Henderson State, 26-15, including a 12-4 home record. The last time the Tigers faced HSU on Tiger Field, ECU swept the four-game series. This season, East Central has not fared as well in front of its home crowd, holding a 3-7 record on its home field versus being 9-7 on the road.