SEMINOLE – Henderson State came back from a Friday-night loss to win the doubleheader over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday at Crawford Memorial Sports Complex in Great American Conference action.
The Reddies were victorious by 7-2 and 2-1 counts and kept the Bison (25-19, 15-15 GAC) in sixth place in the GAC standings with three remaining.
GAME ONE
Henderson pitcher Reese Weaks made things uncomfortable all game long for the Bison bats. And to boot, HSU's defense turned a pair of double-plays and got some strong defensive outs to slow down the Bison attack.
Weaks ended up tossing 7.1 innings, allowed one run and struck out five. Plus, the five hits he scattered were only singles. That was quite the change from a day ago when the Bison attained three homers.
Offensively, the Reddies scored in the first three innings and attained a 4-0 advantage.
Luke Rice's RBI single in the first broke the scoreless tie before a second-base error in the second pushed Dillon Thomas home. HSU's third run came via Rice again who singled up the middle in the second and scored Logan Cowart.
Henderson's fourth run, an RBI groundout from Thomas in the third, made the tally 4-0.
In that time, the Bison managed to get just one player in scoring position.
During the final third of game action, Henderson got two homers from Cade Tucker to aide in its win. As for the Bison,
Isiah Lissade scored in the eighth during a stolen-base situation while
Trey Furrey provided an RBI single in the ninth.
GAME TWO
Fans in attendance got a defensive gem from OBU pitcher
Jake Hamilton and HSU's Andrew Howard and Tucker.
For Hamilton, who took the tough-luck loss, he went the distance, fanned nine and gave up two hits and two runs.
The Reddies' pitchers, Howard and Tucker, were awfully impressive, too.
Howard tossed five frames and only allowed two hits. He struck out four Bison and induced six ground-ball outs.
As it turned out, there was scoring in only two innings.
During the first, Rice and Greyson Stevens moved into scoring position with two out after a wild pitch. In the very next at-bat, Kaden Argenbright made the Bison pay with a single to center field scoring both of his teammates.
That 2-0 score remained until the sixth when the Bison looked primed to take the lead.
Austin Gonzales and Lissade led off with singles before a wild pitch moved both into scoring position. Then, a first-base fielding error during a
Jayden Shafer plate appearance pushed Gonzales home, making the score 2-1.
There were still no outs at the point, however, the Reddies would escape. A strikeout from pitcher Henry Coppens followed by a 4-3 ground-ball double-play ended the Bison's chances of tying or taking the lead.
In the seventh, OBU managed one base runner on a
Troy Shields walk. But the equalizing run wasn't found.
The Bison will resume play on April 25 at Northeastern State at 5 p.m.
