ENID, Okla. – Southern Arkansas captured its fourth straight Great American Conference Baseball Tournament Championship as Tournament MVP Landon Simpson won his second game of the tournament and Bryon Reichstein delivered a crushing three-run double in a 6-3 victory from David Allen Memorial Ballpark.
| GAC Baseball Championships - Game 11 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
R |
H |
E |
| #4 Henderson State (27-19) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
0 |
| #1 Southern Arkansas (39-16) |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
6 |
13 |
2 |
HOW THEY SCORED:
SAU 2nd – Trevor Rucker homered to left center.
HSU 3rd – Hunter Mayall grounded out to second; Andrew Reynolds scored.
SAU 4th – Carver Rademacher singled to left field; Korey Keith scored.
SAU 4th – Chris Quinn singled to right center; Billy Germaine scored.
HSU 5th – Mayall singled to left field; Conner Brackhahn scored.
SAU 5th – Byron Reichstein doubled to right center; Rademacher, Keith and Jon Phillips scored.
HSU 7th – Claude Johnson reached on a fielder's choice; Rodriguez scored on a throwing error.
AT THE PLATE:
HSU –Mayall: 2-for-4, 2 RBI; Rodriguez: 1-for-3 R
SAU –Rucker: 3-for-4, HR, RBI; Reichstein: 1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Keith: 2-for-4, 2 R; Rademacher: 2-for-4, RBI, R
ON THE MOUND:
W – Landon Simpson (9-4): 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R/2 ER, 1 K/2 BB
L – Colton Lorance (5-4): 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R/3 ER, 2 K/1BB
NOTABLE:
- SAU joins OBU men's tennis as the only two GAC programs to have won all four GAC Tournament titles
- SAU improves to 11-0 when facing elimination at the GAC Championships
- In its four wins: SAU hit .426 (20-for-47) w/ runners in scoring position, its opponents hit .158 (6-for-38)
- In the four wins, SAU hit .365 (19-for-52) with two outs; in its loss to Harding, went 0-for-8.
- Simpson: Named Tournament MVP after going 2-0, 3.00 ERA, 15.0 IP, 1 CG, 4 K/3 BB
- HSU started 2-0; only one of the five teams to ever start the GAC Championships 2-0 has won the title (SAU, 2012)
WHAT'S NEXT:
Southern Arkansas: Earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament
Henderson State: Ranked sixth in Central Region poll, will await an at-large bid - NCAA.com selection show: 9 p.m. on Sunday
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
SP Landon Simpson (Southern Arkansas) – Tournament MVP
C Justin Buchanan (Southern Arkansas)
OF Byron Reichstein (Southern Arkansas)
SP Yumezo Densaki (Southern Arkansas)
2B Chase Harvey (Southern Arkansas)
OF Trevor Rucker (Southern Arkansas)
SS Carlos Rodriguez (Henderson State)
OF Tadarious Hawkins (Henderson State)
1B Hunter Mayall (Henderson State)
3B Claude Johnson (Henderson State)
C - Davis Richardson (Harding)
SP - Connor Eller (Ouachita Baptist)
OF Dylan Helms (Southeastern Oklahoma State)