Four days after clinching the regular-season Great American Conference title over Southeastern Oklahoma, the number one-seed Henderson State softball team will take on eighth- seeded Southern Arkansas in the GAC Tournament located in Bentonville, Ark. on Thursday.
The Reddies, No. 4 in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings, are on a hot streak after winning the last three games of the four-game series against second-seeded SEOSU last weekend. HSU comes into the tournament with an overall record of 37-11 and a 27-7 GAC record, while SAU is 26-22 overall and 16-17 in the GAC.
During the regular season, HSU split with SAU 1-1 in a series played on March 7.
"SAU has great hitters and we've got to keep them off balance," head coach
Beth Jackson said. "It's going to come down to which team hits better. Right now I'm pleased with how solid our defense has been lately."
Sarah Gipson leads HSU in batting average, batting a .438 average, while also leading the team in hits(71), RBI(59), and home runs(9). Gipson also leads the GAC in hits and RBI.
The senior from Grand Saline, Texas has 154 career RBI, and needs two more to break the all-time HSU record for career RBI held by Kelcie Glidden(155).
Keirsten Seahorn has had a strong season and is second on the team in batting average, sporting a .386 average.
The sophomore has accumulated 54 hits and 46 RBI this season, while also scoring 29 runs.
With 59 hits,
Tricia Hock is second on the team and holds a .369 batting average. She has scored 45 times to lead the Reddies this season.
Senior
Amy Halter has plated 43 times in the 2015 campaign, and is second in the GAC with 25 stolen bases.
In HSU's win earlier this season over SAU,
Ashlyn White had a stellar game from the plate and the circle.
White homered in the third inning to send HSU up 6-1, and also pitched four strikeouts in five innings of work to pick up the win.
Freshman
Michelle Sorensen leads HSU from the circle with a 2.03 ERA and a 16-8 overall record. Opponents are batting just .182 against the Sherwood, Ark. native.
White has also been consistent with a 2.54 ERA and a 12-3 record, while
Ali Hargis holds an 8-0 record in 15 appearances.
The Lady Muleriders are led by Ashton Atwell, who bolsters a .408 batting average and has 69 hits on the season. She also has driven in 53 RBI this year to go along with 14 home runs.
Audrey Farfan has been solid from the plate as well for SAU, holding a .361 average and cranking out 52 hits.
Henderson State and Southern Arkansas will be playing at the Tiger Athletic Complex located at Bentonville High School, with the first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.
The winner of that game would take on the winner between fourth-seeded Arkansas Tech and fifth-seeded Harding, while the losers of the two games would also play each other, with both games beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday night.
Thursday's games will be aired on ESPN 106.9 FM in Arkadelphia. Fans can also listen via the internet at www.hsusports.com.
In addition, all games will be live video streamed by the GAC Sports Network at www.gacsportsnetwork.com. Fans can also find a link to the GAC Sports Network on the HSU athletic web site.
