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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State softball will clash with the Lady Bisons of Harding on Mar. 29-30 in a three-game GAC series in Searcy. HSU and HU will open the series with a doubleheader on Friday, starting at 4 p.m., and then play a single game on Saturday at noon.
REDDIES REPORT
Henderson State recently lost to Union in a midweek twin bill on Wednesday. The Lady Bulldogs took the first game 3-0 and the second 4-2 after eight innings. HSU struggled to get the bats going, with five hits across the two games, including just one knock in the first contest.
The Reddies saw both starting pitchers in the doubleheader go the distance, with
Presley Applegate pitching all 7.0 innings in game one and
Makenna Keeton going 8.0 frames in the second contest. Applegate, in just her third start this season, recorded a season-high five strikeouts, and Keeton would also see season-high numbers, punching out six batters.
Jorika Alvarez led the red-and-grey at the plate against Union with three hits in seven at-bats and saw a multi-hit game in the second contest, going 2-of-4. Alvarez leads the team with
Macy Hoskins with four doubles on the year and is third in hits (19) with a .264 batting average. In the last three games, the designated player has batted from the leadoff role and has five hits on a .454 batting average.
Errors continue to hurt the Reddies this season, having committed the second most across the GAC (38). In game one against Union, two of the Lady Bulldogs' three runs came off an error in the outfield, while another error in game two would help lead to the go-ahead runs in the top of the eighth inning. HSU's fielding percentage through 33 games is .963, which is ninth-best in the GAC.
Harding has seen more of the recent success in the head-to-head matchup with nine wins in the last three series against Henderson State. Since the formation of the GAC, HSU trails the Lady Bisons 13-21 and will be looking for its first series win over HU since 2015.
SCOUTING HARDING
Harding has put together an impressive 15-game win streak over the month of March and has swept its last three GAC weekend series. The Lady Bisons are second in the league standings with a conference record of 13-4 and are 23-9 overall. HU is 6-0 this season at the Harding Softball Field, having swept Arkansas-Monticello and Southwestern Oklahoma State.
The Lady Bisons lead the league in hitting with a .320 batting average and have scored 164 runs on 270 hits. Jordan Cabana and Macy Ham rank first and second, respectively, in hitting across the conference, with batting averages of .467 and .423. Cabana paces the team with 30 RBIs and a .689 slugging percentage, while Ham leads the team with 47 hits and 18 stolen bases.
Riley Price and Abby Burch have been the main staples of the Harding bullpen, having combined for 185.2 innings pitched of the 210.0 played this season. Price is 14-6 in 28 appearances and has 66 strikeouts in 113.0 innings with a 2.60 ERA. Burch was recently named GAC Pitcher of the Week after allowing just two runs in 15.0 frames last week in five appearances, and carries a 2.89 ERA on the year.
