SEMINOLE, Okla. – The Henderson State Reddies came into Saturday needing two wins to win the series against Oklahoma Baptist and two wins is what they got, taking the doubleheader over the Bison, 7-2 and 2-1.
 
The red-and-gray have now won five consecutive GAC series', including their fourth straight when dropping the series' first game, and have clinched a spot in the 2023 GAC Tournament.
 
Henderson got a pair of terrific pitching performances from Reese Weaks (4-1) and Andrew Howard (6-3) as the twin bill starters combined for nine strikeouts while allowing just seven hits in 12.1 innings of work. Cade Tucker earned his seventh save of the season in the series finale.
 
Kaden Argenbright went 4-for-8 at the plate on the day with two runs scored and two RBIs as he, Greyson Stevens and Luke Rice each claimed three hits in the first contest of the afternoon.
 
Before meeting Ouachita Baptist for the regular season finale, Henderson St. (28-18, 19-11) will head to Jonesboro, Arkansas, for a special one-off with Division I opponent Arkansas State Tuesday, Apr. 25 at 6 p.m.    
 
GAME ONE: Henderson State 7, Oklahoma Baptist 2
The Reddies scored in each of the first three innings, using seven of their game-total 15 hits compared to just one hit for OKBU in that time. A two-out RBI single from Argenbright brought the first run across the plate before HSU added two more in the second off the bats of Greyson Stevens and Luke Rice.
 
The fourth run in the third came off a Dillon Thomas groundout to score Argenbright, who led off the frame with a single. That 4-0 advantage was sustained until the top of the seventh as starting pitcher Weaks continued to hold the Bison at bay. Weaks' work allowed HSU to open a 6-0 lead before Mitchell Szczygiel relieved him in the bottom of the eighth.
 
A single run for the Bison came in the eighth before the Reddies added one final insurance run in the ninth thanks to Cade Tucker's second home run of the game, going yard on consecutive plate appearances. Now sporting a 7-1 lead, OKBU closed it to 7-2 with one on and one out before Szczygiel forced a flyout and then struck out the final Bison for the win.
 
GAME TWO: Henderson State 2, Oklahoma Baptist 1
The Reddies only got two hits in the series' rubber match, but thanks to Howard on the bump, two hits was all they needed. Both hits came in the first inning as Argenbright continued from where he left off in game one with a two-out single to score Stevens and Rice.
 
The teams' next six batters were all sat down in order as a pitching duel ensued between Howard and OKBU's Jake Hamilton. After the first inning, neither hurler allowed more than two hits until the sixth inning.
 
Henry Coppens relieved Howard in the second-to-last inning with the 2-0 lead, but after two straight singles, a wild pitch and an error, the lead was trimmed to 2-1 as the Bison had runners on the corners with zero outs. After Coppens recorded his first strikeout of his outing, second-baseman Luke Farrar made the defensive play of the series, turning a ground ball into a double play as action moved to the seventh with the lead staying on the side of the visitors.
 
As the scoreboard read 2-1 heading into the final half-inning of regulation, Cade Tucker came to the mound and for the seventh time this season, maintained the slim lead for his seventh save of the season and HSU's fifth consecutive GAC series victory.