COVERAGE LINKS I TOURNAMENT PAGE | TICKETS
 
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Making its first appearance in the GAC Tournament since 2018, the Henderson State softball team will face No. 5 seed Arkansas Tech in the opening round. The first pitch between the Reddies and Golden Suns is at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 2, from the Tiger Athletic Complex in Bentonville, Ark.
 
REDDIES REPORT
HSU (22-29, 13-20 GAC) secured the last spot for the conference tournament on the final day of regular season play with a 7-1 victory in a win-or-go-home rubber match against Southwestern Oklahoma State. Henderson wrapped up the year with five GAC series wins and went 9-9 in non-conference action.
 
Finishing off the regular season on a high note, Hilary Akers recorded back-to-back multi-hit games against SWOSU in the Reddies' 9-2 and 7-1 wins and ended the year with 12 multi-hit contests. In her last two GAC series, Akers has seven hits, including two doubles, and has recorded a pair of RBIs on a .388 batting average. The Houston native helps lead an HSU squad that is hitting .281 on the year with 386 hits and 206 runs scored. 

Presley Applegate continues her impressive run in the circle, having allowed just three runs across 18.0 innings in her last five GAC appearances. During this stretch, the Pittsburg, Texas native has given up just one free pass while striking out nine batters, including three in a 9-1 win against Southern Nazarene. Applegate paces the side with a 1.35 ERA and recently got her second save of the year after going 3.0 innings in relief in the series finale against SWOSU, giving up zero hits and runs. 

In the series earlier this year, HSU and ATU went to a rubber match after the Reddies evened the series with a 9-5 win, but the Golden Suns came out on top with a 5-2 win in the series finale. Warren had five hits over the three games, while Akers helped HSU to its 9-5 victory with three hits and three RBIs. Allen recorded her first win in relief during game two, pitching the final 2.0 frames and striking five batters.
 
Thursday's contest will be the 57^th meeting between Henderson and Arkansas Tech and the fifth time the two sides have met in the conference postseason. The last time HSU and ATU matched up against each other in the GAC Tournament was in 2016 when the Reddies blanked the Golden Suns 6-0.
 
SCOUTING ARKANSAS TECH
Arkansas Tech earned the fifth seed in the GAC Tournament with a 17-16 conference record and finished the regular season 25-20 overall. The Golden Suns had won three straight GAC series entering this past weekend's series against the regular season champions Oklahoma Baptist, who defeated ATU 3-0 in the series.
 
ATU has been one of the best teams in the circle this season, as they rank third in the conference in ERA (2.86), hits allowed (305) and runs allowed (153). Alexis Findley and Bradi Basler have been the two most featured arms with 88.0 and 83.1 innings of work, respectively. Basler leads the side with 72 strikeouts and a 7-5 record, while opponent batters are hitting a low of .237 against Findley.
 
Batting has not come easy for the Golden Suns, as they rank 12^th in hits (298) and home runs (10) and are 11^th in both batting average (.254) and slugging percentage (.348). However, Arkansas Tech has notched the fourth most triples this year with nine and has 61 doubles, which ranks seventh in GAC. ATU has two batters hitting over .300, led by Maycie Hardy with a .314 hitting clip, and has tallied 37 hits, 17 RBIs and a team-high three home runs.
 
TICKETS
For those looking to attend the GAC Tournament in Bentonville, Ark., all tickets are digital and can be purchased using this LINK. General admission tickets are $8 for all ages and are valid for all games that day.