Alva Review-Courier -

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — A walk-off hit from Alexia Lopezand a two-hitter in the circle from Sydney Bonner helped Henderson State win the first game on Saturday afternoon against East Central to split for the day and win the series outright, three games to one.

The Reddies (18-13, 10-10) return to Dee White Field on March 30 and 31 when they take on Arkansas-Monticello, with doubleheaders scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.

GAME THREE: Henderson State 1, East Central 0

Henderson State got a gem in the circle from pitcher Sydney Bonner and a walk-off RBI single from Alexia Lopez to defeat East Central 1-0 in the first game Saturday and clinch the Great American Conference series win.

In what turned out to be a pitcher's duel, it looked as though the Reddies would jump on ECU early, when they moved runners to second and third with no outs in the bottom of the first inning. The early opportunity amounted to no runs, though, as Bethany Allen was thrown out at the plate and Courtney Warren was stranded to keep the game a scoreless tie.

For the next five innings, the game remained scoreless, as both pitchers proved tough to hit. Bonner particularly was in top form and retired 17 of the first 18 batters she faced, including the first 10 in a row.

As things moved to the seventh, Bonner continued her dominance and sat the Tigers down in order for the fifth time on the day to give Henderson a chance to walk it off.

The Reddies capitalized on the opportunity to end it in the bottom half. Green started things off with a perfectly placed bunt single to give HSU a baserunner, and after two fly outs, Lindsey Williams worked a good at-bat to earn a walk and keep the Reddies' hopes alive. With runners on first and second, Lopez came to the plate with a chance to be the hero, and she delivered, hammering a line drive single into right field. Henderson waved Green home as she rounded third, and what could have been a close play at the plate proved painless, as the throw from right field was off target and high, allowing Green to score and give the Reddies a 1-0 walk-off victory.

Bonner turned in one of the best games of her career to pick up her sixth win of the season, going all 7.0 innings and allowing no runs, on just two hits, with no walks. She never faced more than four batters in an inning. The fielding behind Bonner was also solid all game long, particularly Ashleigh Erb, who had five assists from her position at third base.

Offensively, five Reddies finished with hits on the day, including Green, who had two bunt singles. Lopez, Warren, Allen and Williams each had one hit in the game.

GAME FOUR: East Central 4, Henderson State 2

Henderson jumped out to the early lead, but stranded 10 baserunners, as East Central rallied to defeat the Reddies 4-2 and salvage the final contest in the four-game series.

After two and a half scoreless innings to start the game, the Reddies finally broke through in the third. With two outs, Lindsey Williams drilled a single into left field and Alexia Lopez made ECU pay by lifting her first home run of the season over the wall in left field to give Henderson a 2-0 lead.

In the fifth inning East Central got its bats going and scored three runs on five hits, two of which came off of a two-run home run from Ellanee Allison. The Tigers tacked on another run in the sixth on a two out, RBI double to extend its lead to 4-2.

Trailing by two runs in the sixth, the Reddies got the first two batters of the inning on base, but could not get a bunt down to move them over. The next three hitters went down in order to end the potential scoring chance. Down to its final three outs in the seventh, Henderson could not get the bats going, as the last three batters each grounded out to end it in ECU's favor.

Kelsey Rhine, in just her second appearance of the season, took the loss in the circle for the Reddies despite a solid outing that saw her pitch 4.0 innings and allow three runs, on just four hits. Nine different players had hits in the game for Henderson, including Bethany Allen, who was 2 for 2 on the day.

Much like in the first game of the day, it looked as though Henderson would jump on the Tigers early, as the Reddies loaded the bases in both the first and second innings. HSU came away empty handed early for the second-straight game, however, as it left all three runners stranded in both innings. Of the 10 stranded runners in the game, six came in the first two innings and two were left in the sixth.