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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After an eight-game non-conference slate, Henderson State (5-3) will begin Great American Conference action this weekend with a three-game series against Southwestern Oklahoma State from Clyde Berry Field beginning Friday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 12 p.m. with game three immediately following.
 
REDDIES REPORT
Ahead of Henderson's 12th season as part of the GAC, the Reddies will begin the journey of claiming their ninth consecutive winning season in conference play, compiling a 143-92 league record during that eight-year span. Southern Arkansas is the only other GAC school to have a longer streak of conference winning seasons. Concerning conference games played at Clyde Berry Field during those eight years, HSU is 77-37.
 
Throughout non-conference play, Henderson St. is seventh in the league in batting average (.292), fourth in combined team ERA (4.50) and sixth in fielding percentage (.969). On the mound, HSU is tied with Southeastern Oklahoma State for the most strikeouts thrown with 70. Conversely, when at the plate, the Reddies have struck out the fewest amount of times of any GAC program this season.
 
Graduate student Greyson Stevens, who set the program's all-time hits record last weekend, leads the club with 12 hits while University of Arkansas-Rich Mountain-transfer Luke Rice is batting a time-high .379. Henderson's heavy-hitters from a year ago have yet to really go off as Dillon Thomas, Stevens and Kaden Argenbright are hitting a combined .306 through the early going. Last year, the trio was hitting a combined .347 by season's end.
 
Henderson has had Southwestern's number in Arkadelphia as the Reddies have not lost a game to the Bulldogs at Clyde Berry Field since 2013. In the last meeting between the two programs, SWOSU was able to steal the series from HSU, two games to three. After dropping the first two contests of the three-game tilt, Henderson took the final outing, 10-8, thanks to a pair of hits and three RBIs from Luke Farrar.  
 
SCOUTING SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA ST.
After opening the season with three straight losses, the Bulldogs have won three of their last four, all of which have come against Adams State, including an 18-7 run-rule victory in SWOSU's last time out on the field. In Southwestern's three wins, it has scored at least seven runs. In the four losses, it has exceeded four runs just once.
 
Southwestern currently has the seventh best pitching ERA in the conference at 5.04 while being 10th with a .248 batting average. The Bulldogs have struggled through the early going in the fielding department, accumulating 13 errors in seven games for an 11th-best fielding percentage of .943.
 
Of SWOSU's 53 hits this season, nearly a fifth of them have come from sophomore infielder Caleb Clines, who has nine hits on 16 at-bats for a team-leading .563 batting average. Clines also has seven RBIs, second only to Geoff Marlow's 10, courtesy in large part to Marlow's five doubles as more than half of his hits have been for extra bases.