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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State returns to the friendly confines of Clyde Berry Field this weekend after back-to-back road series when it hosts instate rival Arkansas Tech for a 6 p.m. single game on Friday and a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.

REDDIES REPORT
- The Reddies enter the weekend 23-10 overall and 13-8 in GAC action. HSU is in a three-way tie for second-place in the conference alongside Ouachita Baptist and Southeastern Oklahoma State. Henderson went 1-2 last weekend on the road at No. 9 Southern Arkansas, but came back home and defeated the first-place Muleriders 11-10 on Tuesday night in a non-conference game. 

- Henderson's remaining GAC schedule features important series against Arkansas Tech, Ouachita and Southeastern — all of whom are in the top half of the GAC standings — but the Reddies host all nine of those contests at Clyde Berry Field where they are 16-3 this season.

- As a team, HSU is batting .293 on the year and a nearly identical .294 against conference opponents. The offense has come from up and down the lineup for the Reddies, who boast 12 players with 10 or more RBIs this season. Greyson Stevens, Kaden Argenbright and David Vilches are the only three players who have played in every game this spring, and the three have combined for 126 hits, 23 home runs and 88 RBIs.

- Vilches had one of his best games of the season against SAU on Tuesday night as he nearly hit for the cycle. The senior from Sheridan, Arkansas finished 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and a home run. Vilches has 12 home runs this year, which is tied for fourth-most all-time at HSU in a single season. The school record for home runs in a year is 15 by Hall of Honor inductee Jarrod Eason in 2005.

- The Reddies will send senior right-hander Spencer Taack to the mound on Friday evening. Taack carries a 3.71 ERA and 6-1 record in 53.1 innings and nine starts this season. He has struck out 47 batters, walked just 19 and is limiting opponents to a .233 average on the year. Henderson has won the last 12 games Taack has started at Clyde Berry Field, which includes last year's GAC Championship game against the Wonder Boys where he threw seven innings and allowed just one run on four hits. 

- Collectively, Henderson has the best ERA in the GAC (4.35) and is limiting opponents to a league-low .232 average at the plate. HSU is 13-1 this spring when it does not commit an error and is 9-1 when it hits two or more home runs in a game. Henderson is 18-3 when it out-hits its opponent and 14-0 when it scores double digit runs.

- Henderson is 18-27 against Arkansas Tech in the last decade and was 2-4 against the Wonder Boys in six meetings last year. The Reddies met ATU in a midweek game two weeks ago in Russellville, Arkansas that Tech won 12-6. The last time the GAC series between the teams was played in Arkadelphia was in 2020, with HSU taking two of the three contests. Arkansas Tech's last game at Clyde Berry Field was the 2021 GAC Championship game where it fell to the Reddies 6-1.

SCOUTING ARKANSAS TECH
- The Wonder Boys are 18-13 overall and 11-10 in GAC play this year. Tech has been a dominant at home in Russellville (14-2), but is just 2-10 in true road contests. ATU took two of three games last weekend against Ouachita Baptist and also has conference series wins over UAM and East Central.

- Arkansas Tech is batting .300 as a team in 2022 and its top all-around hitter has been outfielder Yadier Medina, who is hitting .385 with nine doubles, five home runs and a team-best 24 RBIs. Two-way player Shelby Quiggins leads the Wonder Boys with eight home runs while freshman Sam Stephenson has a club-high .406 average.

- Tech has a team ERA of 5.58 and boasts one of the top pitchers in the GAC in right-hander Patrick Miner. Miner, who was a First Team All-GAC pick in 2021 and is the reigning conference Pitcher of the Week, has a 3.28 ERA and 6-1 record in nine starts. He has pitched 57.2 innings this season for ATU, has struck out 62 batters and walked just 15. Miner has pitched two complete games this year for the Wonder Boys, including one last weekend against Ouachita Baptist.