ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — A big early hole proved to be too deep to climb out of for the Reddies on Saturday as Ouachita Baptist used timely swings of the bat to defeat Henderson State 12-9 in the series finale and win the GAC weekend series.

The series win over the Reddies is the first for Ouachita since 2018. Henderson State had won five-straight Battle of the Ravine series over the Tigers.

Cal Jones finished 4-for-5 at the plate with four RBIs to lead the Reddies. Luke Farrar hit his second home run of the series and 14th of the season to drive in two runs in the sixth for HSU.

Henderson scored first with two runs in the first inning to go in front 2-0, but the lead did not last long. The Tigers broke it open quickly by scoring the next 10 runs, eight of which came on two grand slams in the second and fourth, to seize a 10-2 lead after four complete.

The Reddies did their best to claw back into the game over the remaining five innings. HSU got a two-run homer from Luke Farrar in the sixth, as well as a bases-clearing double from Cal Jones in the seventh, to plate five runs and trim the deficit down to 10-7. Henderson nearly added another in the seventh, but a hard lineout ended the rally.

Ouachita added insurance with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, which proved to be huge for the Tigers. Down 12-7 with three outs to work with, the Reddies scratched across two runs and brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but a deep fly out ended the game.

Henderson will be either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed in the 2025 GAC Tournament next week in Enid, Oklahoma depending on the results of remaining contest around the league.