GAME COVERAGE LINKS
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State will have one final shot at improving its GAC standing in front of the Reddie home crowd when the East Central Tigers come to Dee White Field for a single game Thursday, April 14 at 5 p.m. before Friday's doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
REDDIES REPORT
Henderson returns to Arkadelphia after dropping the weekend series to second-place Arkansas Tech in Russellville. The last two weekends for the Reddies have been a gauntlet, taking on GAC-leading Southern Arkansas and ATU in back-to-back series', going 1-5 in that stretch. A mid-week victory over Ouachita between the three-game stints is keeping HSU afloat for the postseason conference championships.
Over the weekend, freshman
Justine Burch reclaimed her spot as the team's leading hitter with a .342 batting average for a team-high 39 hits. Burch is also tied with
Abbie Moore for a team-leading 19 runs. Moore is pacing the squad in total bases (60), home runs (8) and RBIs (22), along with holding a slugging percentage of .526.
Currently ninth in the league standings at 8-16 in GAC play, Henderson is currently tied with two other squads and only one game behind eighth-place Ouachita at 9-15. One of those teams tied with HSU is East Central, who also still has to play OBU before season's end. With HSU's final two conference series' coming on the road, a series-win over the Tigers is crucial.
Lately, the series between the Reddies and the Tigers has belonged to the squad out of Ada, Oklahoma, as they have rattled off seven consecutive victories over HSU. The last time the two teams played in Arkadelphia, however, Henderson defeated ECU in three of four games.
SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
With East Central finding itself in the exact same position as Henderson St., it is in desperate need of a win after suffering six straight losses. The Tigers have struggled on the road this year as they are 2-12 away from Tiger Field.
Sophomore Gabi Quintanilla is leading ECU at the plate with a .378 average while boasting 34 hits, alongside redshirt sophomore Kenzie Lasker. Lasker herself is hitting .338, while also registering a GAC-leading three triples.
Redshirt junior pitcher Taia Harris serves as the Tigers' primary arm, having pitched 127 of ECU's 215 total pitches. Harris holds a 4.25 ERA and 138 strikeouts, which is third in the GAC. Behind East Central's ace is Taryn O'Brien, who's carrying a 5.79 ERA through 60.2 innings of work.
