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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - Henderson State will play its first home weekend series since the conference opener when the No. 9 Southern Arkansas Muleriders come to Clyde Berry Field this Friday and Saturday. The first game of the showdown is set for Friday, Mar. 10 at 6 p.m. with games two and three to be played on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.

REDDIES REPORT (11-8, 5-4 GAC)
Henderson will look to snap a bit of a skid that featured a series loss to Arkansas Tech and a midweek loss to Delta St. However, the Reddies have won seven straight games at Clyde Berry Field. In league play, HSU swept its home-opening conference series against Southwestern Oklahoma State by a combined score of 25-16. 

Despite the recent losses, Colton Patterson is still seeing the ball extremely well as he is now second on the team with a .373 batting average. Luke Rice still holds the title as the top bat with a .404 average. Greyson Stevens completes the hitting trio with a team-high 29 hits as he is third on the club after hitting .363 through 19 games.

The last time Henderson and Southern Arkansas met, it was in the 2022 Central Sub-Regional and then later in the Sub-Regional Finals. Prior to that, the two programs faced off in the GAC Tournament Championship Game. In all three instances, the Muleriders claimed victory. During the regular season, the Reddies and SAU split the season-series, two games a piece. In the pair of wins, Stevens went 3-for-8 at the dish with one double. 

SCOUTING NO. 9 SOUTHERN ARKANSAS (13-5, 7-2 GAC)
Southern Arkansas comes into this weekend's series having defeated Harding two games to one at home in a weekend series, followed by a 17-4 midweek triumph over Arkansas-Monticello in non-conference action. This weekend will be SAU's second road GAC series off the season after taking 2-of-3 against Southeastern in Durant, Oklahoma to open the year.

Infielder Riley Orr is hitting .367 to lead the squad while fellow-infielder Brandon Nicoll paces the club with 24 hits. As a team, the Muleriders are hitting .306 as a team for sixth-best in the GAC, which is just a notch above Henderson's seventh-ranked bats (.302).

Reigning National Division II Pitcher of the Year Jeremy Adorno leads the entire league with 43 strikeouts in 29 innings thrown. Mikel Howell has seen the same amount of work on the bump for SAU as he is sixth in the conference with 36 strikeouts while leading the GAC with five wins. As a unit, the Southern Arkansas pitching staff boasts a league-second-best 4.41 ERA compared to the Reddies' third-best 4.80 team ERA.