Henderson State clubbed out 14 hits and got a solid pitching performance from Chris Hunt as the Reddies beat Southern Arkansas 9-5, Saturday at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia, Ark.

The Reddies, 29-23 on the season, claimed the best of three series after winning on Friday 6-2 and will advance to the four-team double-elimination format of the Great American Conference Championship beginning Thursday at Clyde Berry Field.

Henderson will open the tournament against Arkansas Tech at 1 p.m. The Wonder Boys upset top-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma in Weatherford, Okla.

Things didn't look good for the Reddies in the early going as the Muleriders took a 3-0 lead in the second-inning with the help of a two-run home run by David LaFleur.

The Reddies, however, responded in the bottom half of the inning as Joseph Gary led off with a single and scored on a triple by AJ Kruzel.

Kruzel scored on a sacrifice fly by Jared Gage to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Henderson wasn't done.

With two-outs, Alex Morgan reached on an error followed by Hunter Mayall receiving a walk. The two advanced on a wild pitch before Hayden Lessenberry delivered a two-run single to left field to put the Reddies on top 4-3.

Gary increased the Reddie lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the third when he led off the frame with a home run. It was Gary's first round-tripper of the year.

Henderson continued to add runs on the board with two runs in the fourth and one more in the fifth.

Tadarious Hawkins tripled in a run and scored on a Gary single in the fourth, with Morgan and Mayall having back-to-back doubles in the fifth.

The Reddies scored their final run in the seventh when Southern Arkansas committed an error on a double-steal attempt that allowed Gage to score.

Meanwhile, Hunt worked into the eighth-inning for the first time this season before exiting the game following a two-out home run by Billy Germaine.

The junior from Greenwood, Ark. pitched 7 2/3 innings and struck out three batters in picking up his fifth straight win, improving to 5-6.

Blake Patterson retired the final four batters in order, including striking out two to secure the victory for Henderson.

Henderson outhit the Muleriders in the series 21 to 16 with Joseph Gary going 5-for-9 including a 4-for-5 performance on Saturday.

Lessenberry, Kruzel, and Hawkins all had three hits in the two games with Morgan having two doubles.