COVERAGE LINKS | 2023 GAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - After finishing the 2023 regular season as one of the hottest teams in the league thanks to six straight conference series victories, the Henderson State baseball program moves to postseason play when it hosts Arkansas-Monticello at Clyde Berry Field for the first round of the 2023 GAC Tournament.

The opening round will be played in a true best-of-three format with the first team to garner two victories advancing on to the semifinals in Springdale, Arkansas, at Arvest Ballpark. Game one is scheduled for Friday, May 5 at 6 p.m. with game two set for 1 p.m. Saturday, May 6. Game three (if necessary) will immediately follow game two at approximately 4 p.m.  

REDDIES REPORT (30-20, 21-12 GAC)
Capitalizing Henderson's strong run to close the regular season was its series win over No. 26 Ouachita Baptist at Rab Rogers Field by taking the first two games of the three-game series. The Reddies rode to victory on the left arm of Henry Coppens as he earned the save in each one-run triumph, becoming the first HSU pitcher to earn two saves in one weekend since Taylor Langston did so in 2018.

Greyson Stevens joined Coppens with the historic performances, becoming the first HSU batter to log five hits in a single game since Caleb Carr did it on the same field against Ouachita Baptist back on April 27, 2019. In game two of the weekend series, Stevens went 5-for-6 at the dish with two RBIs and one home run.

Henderson closes the regular season with the fourth-best team-ERA (5.40) and the 10th-best team-batting average (.292), though the red-and-gray do boast some of the best top-end hitters. Luke Rice, Kaden Argenbright and Stevens have each recorded more than 60 hits this season, making HSU one of only three teams in the eight-team tournament whose top three hitters according to batting average each have over 60 hits.

The Reddies, as one of the hottest teams entering tournament play, get to play where they are the hottest. Of the Top-4 teams who are hosting a first-round GAC Tournament series this weekend, HSU has the best home record at 20-6. Henderson has also won more GAC series' (9) this season than any other team in the field and has not lost a best-of-three at home in 2023. 

Henderson and the Boll Weevils met earlier this season for a three-game series at Clyde Berry Field. After UAM took the opening game, 9-4, the Reddies rallied with a pair of one-run wins in the final two games to win its first GAC series against Monticello since 2013. In the history of the GAC Tournament, HSU has been the No. 4 seed the most often, where they are 13-10. In last season's conference tournament, Henderson's 2-1 over Arkansas-Monticello was the red-and-gray's first win over the Weevils in tournament history. 

SCOUTING ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO (31-19, 20-13 GAC)
Monticello comes into the postseason similar to the Reddies after closing the regular season by winning six of its last seven GAC series, including series-victories over then-No. 18 Arkansas Tech and No. 12/10 Southern Arkansas. The one series loss during that time came at Henderson State, landing UAM the No. 5 seed while HSU grabbed the four seed.

History is on the Boll Weevils' side heading into the opening round of the GAC Tournament. Of the five conference postseason meetings, Monticello is 4-1 against Henderson while the tournament's four seed has not won a league postseason game since 2018. The last four seed to claim victory in the conference postseason session was the Reddies.

Arkansas-Monticello and HSU come into this weekend's contests similar on offense and defense. The Boll Weevils are hitting .298 compared to Henderson's .292 while HSU holds the edge on team-ERA, 5.40 to 5.97. For UAM, their offense is led by sophomore outfielder Kirk Woolf, who is tied for 12th in the league with 65 hits. The Weevils also boast four guys with 41 or more RBIs, led by sophomore catcher Chaz Poppy (44).