Luke Tebbetts struck out a career-high 10 batters to lead Henderson State to a 6-2 win over Southern Arkansas in the opening round of the Great American Conference Tournament best-of-three series, Friday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia, Ark.

The Reddies 28-23 on the season are one win away from advancing to the four-team tournament round next week to be played at Clyde Berry Field.

Tebbetts' last win came on April 1 in a 5-0 shutout against Southwestern Oklahoma. On Friday, the junior from Winnsboro,
Texas put together one of his best performances of his collegiate career limiting one of the top hitting teams in the GAC to six hits in 7 1/3 innings of work to improve to 4-4 on the year.

After Southern Arkansas scored a run in the top of the first, the Reddies scored two in the bottom half of the inning as Tadarious Hawkins hit a two-out RBI double followed by a run-scoring single by Joseph Gary.

The Reddies plated two more runs in the second thanks to a two-run double by Hayden Lessenberry that scored Luke McGuire and Hunter Mayall who both walked in the frame.

Alex Morgan helped the Reddies add a run in the fourth when he led off with a double and scored on a Jordan Taylor single.

Henderson would score its final run in the sixth-inning as Morgan walked and advanced on a single by Mayall. Taylor would collect his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly that forced home Morgan.

Kris Priddy would pitch the remainder of the eighth to get Tebbetts out a jam recording a big strikeout to end the inning.

Nick Vanthillo pitched the final inning for the Reddies.

The two teams will play game to of the series Saturday at 1 p.m. with a third game to be played 30 minutes following game one if necessary.