ENID, Oklahoma - Harding and Henderson State clinched spots in the Great American Conference Baseball Championship finals series as the Bisons slugged their way past top-seeded Arkansas Tech and the Reddies rallied against Arkansas-Monticello.
BRACKET #2, GAME 6 - No. 6 Henderson State 4, No. 3 Arkansas-Monticello
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Courtesy HSUSports.com - Henderson State overcame a late deficit with a 3 run 7th inning and relied on masterful relief pitching to defeat Arkansas Monticello Saturday night, 4-3.
The Reddies managed to reach base just once in each of the first three innings, but UAM's defense and starting pitching held strong, keeping Henderson off the scoreboard. Meanwhile, the Weevils were able to eke out a run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly; Caleb Wilson came in out of the bullpen to stop the bleeding and limit Monticello to just one run in the frame.
After a Luke Rice double chased UAM starter Ruben Macias in the sixth, Jeremy Schork capitalized on the new pitcher, ripping a single into centerfield that scored Rice and tied the game. Back-to-back singles by Monticello in the bottom of the inning gave the Weevils the lead once again, but Mitchell Szcycgiel was able to work around two hit batsmen and a walk to minimize the damage.
The top of the seventh was where the Reddie offense broke through; Cal Jones started the inning by drawing a walk and stealing second base. Nate Moore followed with a single of his own, advancing Jones to third, where Louis Holt drove him in with a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Luke Farrar then stepped to the plate, having been one for his last nine at-bats. But the senior second baseman was more than prepared for the moment, sending a long drive to the left centerfield gap for a two run home run, giving Henderson State their first lead of the game. Dawson Goines pitched a scoreless seventh, yielding just one hit, and Tyler Bates worked a perfect eighth and ninth inning to secure the save. Szcycgiel earned his second win in as many nights to improve to 4-2 on the season.
BRACKET #1, GAME 6 - No. 4 Harding 11, No. 1 Arkanas Tech 5
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Courtesy HardingSports.com - Harding defeated Arkansas Tech 11-5 on Saturday in the Bracket 1 Championship Game of the Great American Conference Tournament at David Allen Ballpark. As the No. 3 seed and winning of Bracket 1, Harding will host No. 6 seed and Bracket 2 winner Henderson State in the best-of-three GAC Championship series next weekend at Jerry Moore Field in Searcy. Game times will be announced when they are available.
Harding (37-16) jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Logan Lacey hit a solo home run, Harrison Griffith singled to drive in another run, and Chance Resetich followed with a three-run homer, giving Harding a 5-0 advantage.
Arkansas Tech (31-21) responded with a run in the second on a single by Grant Jones, scoring Simon Murray. The Wonder Boys added three more runs in the third. Brendyn Bard doubled down the third-base line, driving in two, and Luke Ray singled to right-center, scoring Bard, making the score 5-4.
Harding extended its lead in the seventh. Lacey homered again, this time driving in two runs. Cooper Newsom then doubled to left-center, scoring two more. Resetich scored on a wild pitch, putting Harding ahead 10-4. Harding added another run in the eighth on an RBI double by Griffith.
Lacey now has 15 home runs this season, one off the school record of 16 set by Adam Darby in 2009. It was Lacey's second career two-HR game, also vs. East Central on Mar. 15, 2025.
Arkansas Tech scored a final run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Sawyer Duddleston.
Seth Johnson (1-0) earned the win for Harding, pitching 4.1 innings of scoreless relief and striking out four. Cole Dickson (2-3) took the loss for Arkansas Tech.
Lacey finished the game 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs for Harding. Griffith went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, and Resetich was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.
BRACKET #2, GAME 5 - No. 3 Arkansas-Monticello 18, No. 2 Southern Arkansas 7 (8)
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Courtesy UAMSports.com - The Arkansas-Monticello baseball team kept its postseason alive in dominant fashion on Saturday afternoon, defeating rival Southern Arkansas 18-7 in eight innings of an elimination game at the 2025 Great American Conference Tournament.
Southern Arkansas grabbed an early lead with single runs in the first and second innings.
UAM tied the game twice. First in the top of the second inning when Roc Hawthorne drove in a run with a single to center, and again in the third on a Camden Tanner RBI single.
The Weevils broke the game wide open in the fifth inning, plating nine runs on a combination of disciplined plate appearances and timely hitting. Tanner walked with the bases loaded, Aidan Garrett followed with an RBI single, and Will Owens added a fielder's choice RBI. Cade Cancilla beat out an infield single to bring in another run, then Kirk Woolf punched a two-run single up the middle. Capping off the frame, Chaz Poppy launched a three-run homer to right field, giving UAM an 11-2 advantage.
In the sixth, Hawthorne struck again with a two-run single up the middle to stretch the lead to 13-2.
Southern Arkansas responded with a brief rally in the bottom half of the sixth, cutting into the deficit with a couple of extra-base hits and home runs.
UAM tacked on one in the seventh via an Elijah Nichols RBI double, then added four more in the eighth. Poppy singled home Woolf, Santoyo blasted a two-run homer, and Nichols followed with a solo shot to right — his second extra-base hit of the game — pushing the score to 18-5.
SAU added a pair of late runs in the bottom of the eighth but never seriously threatened, as the Weevils cruised to a dominant win.
Tyler Bribiescas started the game, going 2.1 innings. He allowed 2 earned runs on 5 hits across 58 pitches. Bryce Louis earned the win in relief, tossing 5.2 innings and allowing 5 earned runs on 8 hits with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts over 84 pitches.
Offensive Showcase:
- Chaz Poppy – 3-for-5 with a home run, 4 RBI, 4 runs scored, and 1 walk
- Kirk Woolf – 3-for-5 with a double, 2 RBI, 3 runs scored, and 1 HBP
- Roc Hawthorne – 3-for-5 with 3 RBI, 1 run scored, and 1 walk
- Justin Santoyo – 2-for-5 with a home run, 2 RBI, 3 runs scored, and 1 HBP
- Elijah Nichols – 2-for-6 with a double, home run, 2 RBI, and 1 run scored
BRACKET #1, GAME 5 - No. 1 Arkansas Tech 20, No. 8 Southeastern Oklahoma State 10 (7)
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Courtesy ArkansasTechSports.com - The Arkansas Tech baseball team came out absolutely on fire in their elimination game against No. 8-seed Southeastern Oklahoma on Saturday morning and rode a 14-run first inning to a 20-10 win in seven innings.
The win keeps the top-seeded Wonder Boys alive in the GAC Tournament and sets up a rematch with No. 4-seed Harding later on in the afternoon on Saturday. The Wonder Boys are needing to avenge their loss yesterday against the Bisons to force the "If Necessary" game at a time to be determined on Sunday.
In their monster first inning, the Wonder Boys nearly batted around twice and got RBI hits from Simon Murray, Christian Olea, Kirby Jenkins (x2), Luke Ray, Tyler Sardelli, Cole Dawson and Sawyer Duddleston. The big hits in that inning were a bases-clearing double from Ray and a grand slam home run from Jenkins.
The lead would grow as large as 15 as Dawson hit a solo home run in the second.
Southeastern Oklahoma would score five runs in the third. Tech got a run back in the fourth on RBI single from Olea. The Savage Storm struck for three more in the fifth to make it an eight-run game, but Tech would score a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings to push back up by a dozen.
Southeastern scored twice in the top of the seventh, but the Wonder Boys were able to keep secure the run-rule victory.