ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State got a fantastic effort from starter Spencer Taack and big day at the plate from Greyson Stevens on Saturday to take game one 3-2 and split the doubleheader with Southern Arkansas at Clyde Berry Field.
SAU outlasted the Reddies 8-5 in the second contest of the day to win the three-game GAC series.
HSU returns to action next Friday when it travels to Russellville, Arkansas to face off with Arkansas Tech in the opener of a GAC series at 6 p.m.
GAME ONE: Henderson State 3, Southern Arkansas 2
Henderson State scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to erase a two-run deficit and defeat Southern Arkansas 3-2 in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. The win snapped a nine-game Mulerider winning streak.
The Reddies got a terrific outing from starter Spencer Taack, who pitched a career-long 6.2 innings and tied a career-high with nine strikeouts. Taack threw an even 100 pitches and allowed just two runs on three hits to earn a no-decision.
Reliever Taylor Langston got his first win of the season by pitching the final 2.1 innings and giving up no runs on just two hits. Langston struck out two batters and now carries a team-best 1.32 ERA.
Greyson Stevens led the Reddies at the plate by going 4-for-4 with a run scored.
HSU was held down offensively for much of the game by SAU starter Jacob Womack, while Southern Arkansas plated single runs in the third and seventh to build a 2-0 lead.
Henderson finally broke through in the bottom the seventh. A leadoff double from Bryson Haskins and an RBI single from Danny Mitchell Jr. helped the Reddies cut the deficit down to 2-1 and chase Womack from the game.
After a single by Stevens and a walk from Joe Myers loaded the bases, a passed ball allowed HSU to tie it 2-2 as Mitchell Jr. came home. A shallow sacrifice fly from Kaden Argenbright gave the Reddies lead moments later, as Stevens slid in just under the tag from the catcher to make put Henderson in front.
The Muleriders nearly tied it in the ninth after two singles put runners on the corners with just one out, but Langston got a strikeout and a pop out to end it for the home side.
GAME TWO: Southern Arkansas 8, Henderson State 3
Southern Arkansas erupted for six runs in the first inning of the rubber match on Saturday and the Reddies were never able to recover, as the Muleriders held off a late charge and defeated Henderson 8-5 to take the weekend series.
Greyson Stevens, who had six hits in the doubleheader, led HSU again with the bat and went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.
It was all SAU from the start in the final game of the weekend, as the Mulerider bats got hot and hung six runs on the board in the top of the first. Southern Arkansas had five hits in the frame and five of the six runs were scored with two outs in the inning.
Another Mulerider run came in to score in the third, but the Reddies were able to cut the lead down to 7-3 in the bottom half of the inning behind a sac fly RBI from Logan Cowart and a two-run home run from Stevens — his sixth of the year.
The rally stalled for Henderson over the next three innings, as the Reddies managed just one hit and saw the Muleriders tack on an insurance run in the fifth to make it 8-3.
Trailing by five runs and down to its final three outs, HSU did it's best to put together a miracle rally in the bottom of the seventh. The Reddies plated a run and then loaded the bases to bring the tying run to the plate, but Southern Arkansas made two huge catches at the outfield wall in the inning to take away would-be extra-base hits.
Henderson scratched two runs, but the catches from the SAU outfielders proved critical as the Muleriders held on, 8-5.
