ST. CLOUD, MN – Henderson State advanced to the NCAA Division II Central Region Baseball Championship with a 9-6 win over fifth-ranked Minnesota State, Saturday in St. Cloud, Minn.
Playing in their first-ever NCAA Regional, the Reddies entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed and have beaten the top three seeds in this year’s field.
With the win, Henderson State advances to the NCAA Central Region Championship game set for Sunday at Noon with a right to advance to the NCAA Division II World Series in Cary, N.C. beginning Saturday May 23.
For the third straight game, the Reddies scored in the first-inning to set the tone as Hunter Mayall led off the game with a single to right field. Mayall would later score on a shot down the left field line by Lance Fields that was ruled an error.
Leading 1-0, Henderson gathered five hits in the third-inning and scored three more runs to take a 4-0 lead.
Mayall again was the catalyst leading off with a double followed by a RBI single by Claude Johnson.
With one out, Fields would single and then Tadarious Hawkins would lay down a bunt to move Johnson to third and Fields to second.
Conner Brackhahn would score Johnson with a base hit to right-field, while AJ Kruzel singled up the middle to score Fields.
Henderson put together another big inning in the fifth as the Reddies loaded the bases with Fields reaching on a walk, a single by Hawkins and a bunt single by Brackhahn.
Kruzel, who went 4-for-5 in the game, delivered a two run single to make the score 6-0.
Carlos Rodriguez would collect Henderson’s 11th hit of the game with a base hit to score Brackhahn.
Mayall would make the score 8-0 with a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Kruzel.
Rodriguez would drive home another Reddie run in the seventh when he grounded out to second to score Brackhahn who reached on a base on balls and advanced to third on a Kruzel single.
HSU starting pitcher Cody Jones limited the nation’s top offensive team to just three hits through the first eight-innings.
The Mavericks, 43-8 on the season, entered the tournament with a .363 team batting average. MSU threatened in the fourth and fifth innings, but key defensive plays by the Reddies kept the No. 5 ranked team in the nation off the scoreboard.
Jones was one strike away from recording a complete-game shut out before Kevin Kramer laced a single to right field to plate two runs.
Kyle Toth then singled to make the score 9-3 and end the day for Jones.
Reddie relief pitcher Josh Henderson walked both batters he faced and the Mavericks cut the deficit to 9-4.
Jordan Taylor entered the game to pitch for the Reddies, Hunter Harnich reached out and singled to drive in two more runs for MSU making the score 9-6.
With runners on the corners, Taylor got Conner McCallum to line out to right field to end the game.
The 8 2/3 innings was Jones’ longest outing of the year with the right-hander striking out a season best nine batters to improve to 6-3.
Henderson totaled 14 hits in the game with Kruzel leading the way while driving in three runs.
Mayall, Johnson, and Brackhahn had two hits each with all three driving home a run.
In the three games at the NCAA Central Regional, the Reddies are hitting .336 while opponents have just a .216 average off Henderson pitchers.
Mayall leads the way in the tournament going 8-for-12 with five runs scored, while Brackhahn is 5-for-13 with four runs scored and four RBI.
Kruzel is 4-for-8 with 4 RBI in the three games, with Fields going 5-for-12 and Johnson 4-for-13 with a double, home run and 5 RBI.
Henderson State recorded just its fourth 30-win season in school history as the Reddies improves to 30-19 on the year.
Henderson’s three wins have come against teams that have a combined record of 133-28.
(Courtesy: Henderson State Sports Information)
Playing in their first-ever NCAA Regional, the Reddies entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed and have beaten the top three seeds in this year’s field.
With the win, Henderson State advances to the NCAA Central Region Championship game set for Sunday at Noon with a right to advance to the NCAA Division II World Series in Cary, N.C. beginning Saturday May 23.
For the third straight game, the Reddies scored in the first-inning to set the tone as Hunter Mayall led off the game with a single to right field. Mayall would later score on a shot down the left field line by Lance Fields that was ruled an error.
Leading 1-0, Henderson gathered five hits in the third-inning and scored three more runs to take a 4-0 lead.
Mayall again was the catalyst leading off with a double followed by a RBI single by Claude Johnson.
With one out, Fields would single and then Tadarious Hawkins would lay down a bunt to move Johnson to third and Fields to second.
Conner Brackhahn would score Johnson with a base hit to right-field, while AJ Kruzel singled up the middle to score Fields.
Henderson put together another big inning in the fifth as the Reddies loaded the bases with Fields reaching on a walk, a single by Hawkins and a bunt single by Brackhahn.
Kruzel, who went 4-for-5 in the game, delivered a two run single to make the score 6-0.
Carlos Rodriguez would collect Henderson’s 11th hit of the game with a base hit to score Brackhahn.
Mayall would make the score 8-0 with a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Kruzel.
Rodriguez would drive home another Reddie run in the seventh when he grounded out to second to score Brackhahn who reached on a base on balls and advanced to third on a Kruzel single.
HSU starting pitcher Cody Jones limited the nation’s top offensive team to just three hits through the first eight-innings.
The Mavericks, 43-8 on the season, entered the tournament with a .363 team batting average. MSU threatened in the fourth and fifth innings, but key defensive plays by the Reddies kept the No. 5 ranked team in the nation off the scoreboard.
Jones was one strike away from recording a complete-game shut out before Kevin Kramer laced a single to right field to plate two runs.
Kyle Toth then singled to make the score 9-3 and end the day for Jones.
Reddie relief pitcher Josh Henderson walked both batters he faced and the Mavericks cut the deficit to 9-4.
Jordan Taylor entered the game to pitch for the Reddies, Hunter Harnich reached out and singled to drive in two more runs for MSU making the score 9-6.
With runners on the corners, Taylor got Conner McCallum to line out to right field to end the game.
The 8 2/3 innings was Jones’ longest outing of the year with the right-hander striking out a season best nine batters to improve to 6-3.
Henderson totaled 14 hits in the game with Kruzel leading the way while driving in three runs.
Mayall, Johnson, and Brackhahn had two hits each with all three driving home a run.
In the three games at the NCAA Central Regional, the Reddies are hitting .336 while opponents have just a .216 average off Henderson pitchers.
Mayall leads the way in the tournament going 8-for-12 with five runs scored, while Brackhahn is 5-for-13 with four runs scored and four RBI.
Kruzel is 4-for-8 with 4 RBI in the three games, with Fields going 5-for-12 and Johnson 4-for-13 with a double, home run and 5 RBI.
Henderson State recorded just its fourth 30-win season in school history as the Reddies improves to 30-19 on the year.
Henderson’s three wins have come against teams that have a combined record of 133-28.
(Courtesy: Henderson State Sports Information)
