ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southern Nazarene worked through a tough road series over the weekend in Arkadelphia, falling short to Henderson State in two of the three games, just their second GAC series loss this season. 


Game 1 

Southern Nazarene (20-25, 11-16 GAC)  stunned the Reddies (31-14, 20-7) early with a four-run burst that was powered by singles from Kristen Mullendore, Mikayla Franks, and Emma Swearengin as well as Mikayla Oaks reaching on a fielder's choice that scored Kenedi Morelock. Henderson State was quick with a response as they cracked out a double and a single to combine for three RBIs, coming within just one run of the Storm. 

A Hailey Evans solo homerun had the SNU dugout excited in the second inning, bumping the Storm up to a two-run lead with just a single out in the top of the inning. The Storm unfortunately were cut off with that single run after two consecutive outs moving into the bottom half of the inning. The SNU defense delivered a quick outing the way of the Reddies to defend their two-run gap after the side was retired. 

The Storm faced a quick third inning at the plate and Henderson State capitalized on offense as they launched a double to left center that scored one to make it a one-run game after reaching their final out. That was the final run of the game between both squads as the contest became a duel between the defense through the next four innings. 

A back-and-forth battle came down to Henderson's last appearance at the plate, but Maddie Southerland and the Storm defense defended their single-run lead, taking the final victory 5-4 to start the series off 1-0. 

Game 2 

Henderson State found an edge in the opening game of the doubleheader on Saturday and caught SNU in a bit of a slump. After a scoreless first inning, the Reddies broke out a single with two on base, pushing one home to achieve a 1-0 lead. 

Southern Nazarene had difficulties finding any action at the plate and HSU capitalized, lifting another single to the left side that plated another Reddie, putting the Storm in a 2-0 hole. The Storm found a few bright spots in the top of the fifth, but still couldn't send a runner across home plate. The Reddies turned an SNU fielding error into a run after all runners advanced, dropping SNU back even further to 3-0 deficit. 

The theme remained in the sixth inning as a scoreless top frame for the Storm opened up more opportunities for the home team in the bottom half of the inning. After a few reached base on Storm errors and a few singles, a two-RBI double capped off a fiery sixth inning for the Reddies, extending their lead to 5-0 moving into the final inning. 

Southern Nazarene needed five runs to keep the game alive, but their bats were still too quiet to challenge the Reddies, who ended up surprising SNU with the 5-0 win to open up the doubleheader. 

Game 3 

The Reddies took that Game 1 surge and transferred it over to the series conclusion, where they stunned the Storm with a 9-1 run rule to claim the 2-1 series victory. 

Henderson began their onslaught with an opening-inning sacrifice fly that sent one home for a run. The Storm had no response to open inning number two and HSU put on a monstrous scoring display after the side was retired, singling to center to score one then following with a jaw-dropping grand slam to quickly rocket their lead to 6-0. 

Ashley Larson stepped in to relieve Katelyn Woodard to help stop the damage, forcing two pop-ups to end the frame. 

The offense wasn't clicking for the Storm as they quickly suffered back-to-back ground outs and a pop-up in the first three at-bats of the third inning. The Reddies added to their tear in the same inning, tacking on two singles good for three runs and they soon saw a 9-0 lead after just three innings of play. 

Luckily for SNU, the fourth inning was much quieter for both squads, but Southern Nazarene had one more shot at escaping the run rule moving into the top of the fifth. After a Peyton Norvele double, Allyson Haessly was able to put one run on the board for SNU with a single to the shortstop, cutting HSU's lead back to eight at 9-1. Southern Nazarene was still in good standing after facing their first out of the inning from a fly-out. 

Unfortunately for the Storm, they were dealt with a ground out and a strike out back-to-back to hand over the 9-1 run-rule victory to Henderson State.

Up Next 

Southern Nazarene will return home to host Ouachita Baptist April 19th-20th for a Friday 4 p.m. single game and a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon.