ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State came from behind in both games on Saturday to pick up 8-2 and 6-5 wins over Southeastern Oklahoma State and sweep the weekend series at Clyde Berry Field.
The victories improved the Reddies to 33-12 overall and 21-9 in Great American Conference play. HSU's 21 conference wins match the most for the program in a single season since the inception of the GAC in 2012.Â
David Vilches, who hit a home run in both games of the doubleheader, set a new single-season school record for homers with 16 this year. His 16 blasts breaks the previous program record of 15 set by Hall of Honor inductee Jarrod Eason in 2005.
The Reddies return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Cleveland, Mississippi for their last non-conference game of the season with Delta State at 5 p.m.
GAME 1: Henderson State 8, Southeastern Oklahoma 2
After falling behind 2-0 in the early going, Henderson State scored eight unanswered runs to storm back and defeat the Savage Storm 8-2. The win clinched the weekend series for HSU.
The Reddies had 15 hits to just five for SOSU and hit three home runs. Bryson Haskins had a huge game for HSU and finished 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs. Haskins hit four home runs in four games this week for Henderson and hit a home run in three-straight contests.
Joshua Saulsbury got the first win of his career for the Reddies and pitched 3.2 innings of relief, allowing no runs on just two hits. Brayden Bebee earned his sixth save of the season by throwing the final 2.1 innings for HSU.
Down 2-0 in the third, Henderson got a big boost from Jacob Carroll, who hit a two-RBI single up the middle with two outs in the second inning to tie the game at 2-2. The game remained tied until the fifth, when the Reddies seize control on back-to-back home runs from Vilches and Haskins. The two blasts gave HSU a 5-2 advantage and all the momentum.
Southeastern brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Bebee got a strikeout to end the threat. Haskins added some insurance for the Reddies in the bottom half when he hit his second home run of the game to drive in two runs and make it 7-2. Carroll's third RBI of the game in the eighth provided the margin of victory for Henderson, who clinched its third-straight weekend series.
GAME 2: Henderson State 6, Southeastern Oklahoma 5
Down to their final three outs and trailing by a run, the Reddies scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to steal a 6-5 win from the Savage Storm and sweep the weekend series.
The final moments proved to be dramatic, as Henderson pinch hitter Colton Patterson slid under a tag at home plate on a passed ball to score the game-winning run for HSU.
The Reddies had just four hits in the win, but two were home runs from Greyson Stevens and Vilches, which drove in four of HSU's six runs.
Henderson trailed 3-0 in the fourth inning, but Stevens flipped the script for HSU with a towering three-run blast which tied the score, 3-3. Vilches got in on the action moments later when he launched his record-setting home run over the wall in left field to give the Reddies a 4-3 advantage.
Southeastern refused to go away, and got a two-out RBI single to tie the game in the sixth. After tying it back up, the Savage Storm regained the lead in the seventh as an error and two wild pitches allowed the go-ahead run to come score.
Trailing 5-4, the Reddies got to work quickly in the bottom of the seventh. Haskins was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, which was followed by a walk from Patterson and a fielding error on a sacrifice bunt to load the bases. In a jam, SOSU turned a double play to secure two outs, but the tying run came home for Henderson to make it 5-5.Â
With Patterson standing on third base and Dillon Thomas at the plate with two away, the Savage Storm catcher had a ball escape his grasp and trickle to the backstop. Reading the play, Patterson made a break for home and used a nifty slide to sneak into the plate under the tag and win it for the Reddies.
Vilches, who pitched the top of the seventh, earned his first win of the season for Henderson on the mound.
