ADA, Okla. — Henderson State rallied from a four-run deficit to win the series opener 9-7 on Friday afternoon at East Central, then thoroughly dominated the second half of the doubleheader 17-3 to clinch the road series over the Tigers.

The Reddies (28-12) will go for the sweep tomorrow when they face ECU for the final time at 1 p.m. 

GAME 1: Henderson State 9, East Central 7
After trailing 7-3 in the fifth, the Reddies scored six unanswered runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to rally and defeat ECU 9-7 in the series opener on the road in Ada, Oklahoma.

Greyson Stevens and Dillon Thomas each finished with two hits and two RBIs to lead HSU. Both of Stevens' hits were doubles, while Thomas launched his third home run of the year in the third inning. 

David Vilches hit his 14th home run of the season in the sixth, leaving him just one blast shy of tying the program record for homers in a single season (15). 

The Reddies had a 2-0 lead after two innings, but the Tigers jumped on HSU starter Spencer Taack from the beginning and scored all seven of their runs on nine hits in the first five innings of play. ECU put up crooked numbers in the second, third and fifth frames to seize a 7-3 advantage.

Henderson got a much-needed spark on Vilches's deep fly in the sixth, which plated two runs and cut the deficit in half, 7-5. In the sixth, Thomas came through with a clutch hit to deliver another run in the seventh, as he muscled an RBI single up the middle on an 0-2 count with two outs to make it 7-6.

Leading 7-6. ECU had a chance to take full control once again in the bottom half of the seventh when the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs. In a huge jam, the Reddies turned to reliever Andrew Howard, who promptly recorded back-to-back strikeouts. The third and final out of the inning came courtesy of Vilches, who made a diving grab on a ball hit into the outfield to rob East Central of multiple runs and help HSU escape with no damage done.

The good fortune continued for the Reddies in their half of the eighth. With two runners on base and one out, Kaden Argenbright hit what looked like a routine double-play ball to the ECU second baseman, but the Tigers' infielder could not handle the grounder and committed a costly error which allowed HSU to load the bases. Henderson immediately capitalized, as Cade Tucker tied the game with a sacrifice fly to right and Greyson Stevens cleared the bases with a two-out double to give the Reddies the lead, 9-7.

East Central brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth and the winning run to the plate in the ninth, but was turned away in both frames by Howard, who closed the door to earn the win. Howard pitched the final three innings for HSU and allowed no runs on three hits with four strikeouts. 

GAME 2: Henderson State 17, East Central 3
Henderson scored 11 runs in the first three innings of the second game to overwhelm the Tigers from the jump and race away for a series-clinching 17-3 victory.

Thomas had another big game at the plate for the Reddies, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk. Bryson Haskins also had a strong performance and finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Argenbright had a double, drove in two and scored three times. 

HSU racked up 12 hits in just six innings and also took advantage of 13 walks issued by the Tigers' pitching staff. Braden Carpenter was the catalyst of the walk-fest for the Reddies, drawing four free passes and scoring three runs in the win.

Ryan Galvan improved to 5-0 on the mound this season by pitching all six innings of the darkness-shortened contest. Galvan surrendered three runs on nine hits and struck out six ECU batters.

The Reddies led 2-1 after one inning, but seize complete control in the second when they scored seven runs on four hits, four walks, three wild pitches and an error. Only two of the seven Henderson runs in the inning came off of RBI hits.

ECU got two back in the bottom half of the second, but never truly threatened again. Meanwhile, HSU scored twice more on RBI hits from Argenbright and Tucker in the third, then hung six runs in the sixth inning on just two hits. 

The 13 walks drawn by the Reddies in the second game were the most in a single contest for the program in the last four seasons.