ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After a come-from-behind victory in yesterday's second game of the doubleheader, Henderson State led from start to finish in the final contest, winning the deciding game of the GAC-opening series against the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm, 4-2.
Savannah Carrigan claimed the first save of her career, relieving
Erika Bittinger, who claimed her second win of the season, after five innings, allowing only one hit while striking out three Crimson Storm batters through the two innings of work.
Henderson tied its season-high of nine hits, led by freshmen
Brooke Johnson and
Justine Burch, who each claimed two hits in the rubber-match triumph. Johnson finished out her debut GAC series going 5-for-9 at the plate – two of which were doubles – and three RBIs.
Abbie Moore registered her second home run in two days, sending a two-run bomb over the left field wall in the bottom of the third to get the Reddies on the board. The junior infielder is now tied with teammate
Monica Monreal with three homeruns on the year.
The story of the game early on was
Erika Bittinger. After seeing her third start of the young season, Bittinger worked her way through the opening three innings without giving up a single hit. That work on the defensive end opened the door for HSU to take a lead that would not give up. After Burch singled up the middle, Moore homered to left field as the Reddies held a 2-0 lead.
After a full run-through of the lineup, the Crimson Storm were able to finally see a hit on the second go-around as SNU's lead-off hitter got on with a single before a sacrifice fly three batters later got her across the plate, cutting the deficit to one, 2-1. The offensive activity from Southern Nazarene simply spurred on HSU to get a third run off of Burch's second hit of the day in the bottom of the fourth.
Once again, Southern Nazarene responded with a lone run in its next at-bat to keep the lead at a minimum while Bittinger stranded two SNU base-runners to keep hold of the slim lead, 3-2. Like clockwork, the Reddies had a response up their sleeves when an
Ashlyn Taylor single scored pinch-runner
Britlyn Garrett, who entered the game for the previously-walked Johnson.
After attendees at Dee White Field had witnessed a run scored in each of the last five at-bats between the two teams, Carrigan came to the circle with intentions to stall the Crimson Storm. After striking out the very first batter the sophomore righty faced for the first out, the HSU defense produced the next two outs to keep the score reading 4-2.
With Henderson unable to add any insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, SNU came up to bat in an effort to extend play. After Burch got the first batter out with a fly ball to center field, followed by a Carrigan strikeout, Crimson Storm's lead-off hitter Liana Heshiki got on with a two-out double, sending the tying run to the plate.
With the series on the line, Carrigan, as she did just two batters prior, struck out the Crimson Storm two-hole hitter, giving HSU the victory, 4-2, and the overall series win. Carrigan and Bittinger combined on the day for four strikeouts while only giving up four hits, resulting in two runs.
Henderson St. (3-13, 2-1) will take a brief break from league play when it heads to Cleveland, Mississippi, to take on Delta State in a mid-week doubleheader tomorrow at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. The Reddies will return to Dee White Field and conference action Friday, Mar. 4 when Arkansas-Monticello comes to Arkadelphia for a three-game weekend series.
