CLEVELAND, Mississippi – Henderson State split its mid-week doubleheader against Delta State, posting three consecutive victories after its game-one win, 11-8, before falling to the Lady Statesmen in game-two action, 6-2.
 
In the former contest of the day's twin bill, Henderson State hit four home runs, two of which came from Brooke Johnson, to help HSU claim its third win in a row, 11-8. The four homers is the most single-game bombs the Reddies have hit since April 19, 2019. Johnson is also the first Reddie to homer twice in one game since that same April 19th game.
 
Sophomore Bre Jones saw her best day since coming on campus as she claimed four hits, two runs and two RBIs throughout the two outings. Abbie Moore also logged four hits, along with three RBIs and two runs. Lexi Trejo claimed her first home run of the day as a part of the four-homer game one HSU produced.
 
Henderson St. (4-14, 2-1) will return to Dee White Field for a three-game weekend series against GAC-foe Arkansas-Monticello with one game Friday, Mar. 4 at 5 p.m. followed by a doubleheader Saturday, Mar. 5 beginning at 12 p.m.
 
Game 1: Henderson State 11, Delta State 8
The day began with lead-off hitter Abbie Moore hitting one of her three base knocks to get the offense started, only for Savannah Hughes to follow with a base-hit of her own. Two batters later, Ashlyn Taylor grounded out to second, allowing Moore to come home for the first run of the day.
 
After Brooke Johnson worked three up, three down from the circle in DSU's first at-bat, two straight walks for the Reddies in the top of the second led to three more runs thanks to RBIs from Moore, Hughes, and Johnson. With the 4-0 lead, Johnson ran through the next four Lady Statesmen to keep hold of the four-run advantage.
 
Henderson saw its first scoreless at-bat in the top of the third as Delta followed with its first run of the contest in the bottom of the frame. The Reddie defense kept the damage to a minimum, however, as a double play kept the tally at 4-1. Defense turned into offense as Moore and Johnson came to the plate in the top of the fourth to deliver three more runs via home runs.
 
With HSU now holding a commanding 7-1 lead, a Justine Burch single in the top of the fifth scored the Reddies' eighth run. After just missing out the eight-run run-rule possibility, the Lady Statesmen were able to get to HSU's pitching staff a bit, scoring four runs to close the gap to 8-5.
 
David Martinez's group did not flinch, though, putting up three more runs in the sixth to extend the lead back out to 11-5 thanks to two more home runs from Johnson and a two-run bomb from Lexi Trejo. Delta was only able to muster three more runs the rest of the way as Henderson took game one of the doubleheader, 11-8.    
 
Game 2: Delta State 6, Henderson State 2
Just like the first game, Moore started things off with a lead-off hit. Unlike the early afternoon contest, the Reddies were unable to do anything with it, with the next three batters going down in order. Not a single run was scored, in fact, until Delta scored on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead, followed by two more runs to seize a 3-0 advantage.
 
Henderson got on the board in the top of the fourth after sophomore Bre Jones registered just the second double of her career to score Trejo and Monica Monreal, who each singles earlier in their respective at-bats. The Lady Statesmen had not intentions of giving up their lead, however, as three more runs from the home side put DSU ahead for good, 6-2.