ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State saw its biggest win of the season in game one of the day's doubleheader, snapping the GAC-leading Southern Arkansas Muleriders' 10-game winning streak, 4-3, giving HSU its first win over SAU since 2017, before falling in the rubber match, 8-0. The lone win keeps the Reddies a single game out of eighth place in the conference rankings.
 
Madison Treutlein was the only HSU batter to claim a hit in each contest to maintain her title as the team's leading hitter at .354. Savannah Carrigan (3-8) allowed just one hit and one unearned run in the victory, while Erika Bittinger picked up her third save in two innings of work.
 
With only 13 league regular season games remaining, Henderson St. (10-29, 7-13) will host Ouachita Baptist, who holds a 6-14 conference record, in a crucial mid-week conference outing Tuesday, April 5 at 5 p.m.
 
Game 1: Henderson State 4, Southern Arkansas 3
For the second straight game, the Reddies chased the Muleriders' starting pitcher in the first inning, this time rattling off four runs in the bottom of the first inning after Carrigan retired SAU batters 1-2-3 to start things off. Four hits and four runs from HSU ended the Mulerider starting pitcher's day early.
 
A one-out sacrifice fly from Southern Arkansas in the top of the second put SAU on the board, but that was it as Henderson maintained its 4-1 lead. Similar to yesterday's game, after the early scoring and the Muleriders inputting their second pitcher, both pitchers settled in as Carrigan continued her tremendous outing, giving up just one hit to the GAC's top team the rest of the way.
 
Unfortunately for HSU though, only three hits were seen over the next three at-bats to keep both teams pat until the fifth inning. With Bittinger relieving Carrigan in the fifth, SAU looked to take advantage of the pitching change, using a pair of walks and fielding error to load the bases before a fly-out to center put an end to the threat.
 
With the Reddies going down in order in the bottom of the fifth, another threat was posed in the sixth by the visiting Muleriders, using a pair of hits and a walk to load the bases yet again, this time with only one out on the board. For the second straight time, Bittinger added validation to her eventual save, getting HSU out of the jam once more unscathed.
 
Another three up, three down from the home team gave SAU one final opportunity, which it appeared to finally cash in on. After a lead-off double in the seventh, a two-run homer cut the lead to one, 4-3, as HSU was still in need of three outs to end the game prior to the bottom half of the frame.
 
Back-to-back groundouts before a Hollywood-like ending that saw Bittinger strike out the final Mulerider sent the home dugout into celebration as HSU came away with its biggest win of the season, 4-3.  
 
Game 2: Southern Arkansas 8, Henderson State 0
With Southern Arkansas' 10-game winning streak snapped, a mad SAU squad put its anger into the bats as a 3-0 deficit stared HSU in the face before the third inning was through. A five-run inning in the top of the fourth put the game in run-rule territory.
 
A Reddie team that had exercised its best bet in the game prior could not find it in the second contest of the day's twin bill as they were retired in order in each of its final three at-bats to finish play after five innings, 8-0.