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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Softball (14-24, 8-20 GAC) hosts senior weekend against Henderson State in their final four-game home set of the season starting Friday and concluding Saturday
- The Bulldogs are coming off of a weekend split against Oklahoma Baptist a weekend ago, winning the first and the last contest of the series to finish 2-2 against the Lady Bison
- Last season, Henderson State swept SWOSU including a pair of shutouts and a game where the Dawgs only scored one run
 
The Opponent
Henderson State (17-25, 11-18 GAC)
- HSU comes into the weekend ranked tied for sixth in the Great American Conference, tied with Southern Nazarene
- The Reddies lost three out of four against Southern Arkansas last weekend, avoiding the sweep by closing out the series with a victory
- The HSU offense collectively ranks second to last in the GAC with a .250 team batting average
- In the circle however, the Reddies rank fifth best in the league with a 2.79 team earned run average
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kim Maher (14-24, 1st season)
- Named the fourth head coach in SWOSU Softball history on June 2, 2016, bringing with her a wealth of experience from the collegiate, professional and international levels of softball
- Spent eight seasons as the head coach at Purdue University, leading the Boilermakers to 240 victories and two NCAA Tournament appearances from 2006-13
- Previously coached at California-Berkeley as an assistant coach from 2000-05 following a playing career with USA Softball and the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL)
 
Henderson State: Beth Jackson (237-247, 9th season)
- Since her arrival to Henderson, Jackson has guided her teams to seven conference tournaments, including five straight Great American Conference Tournament appearances
- Jackson has coached 34 all-conference players, nine of which have earned multiple all-conference recognition. Six players have earned All-Region, with Ashlyn White and Sarah Gipson earning All-American honors
 
Checking the Standings
- Harding (28-2), Southern Arkansas (25-5), Arkansas-Monticello (21-7)
- Arkansas Tech (21-9), East Central (12-18), Henderson State (11-19)
- Southern Nazarene (11-19), Northwestern (11-19), Southeastern (10-18)
- Ouachita (10-20), SWOSU (8-20), Oklahoma Baptist (8-20)
 
SWOSU Notes
- The Dawgs ended last week with an even 3-3 record, splitting both the midweek GAC contests against rival Northwestern and the weekend with Oklahoma Baptist
- The offense came alive for the Dawgs who are batting .285 as a team this season and hit .345 in six games last week
- Sidney Kirk led the way with a .583 average, driving in five with four doubles in the four games she started in
- Abigail Schade hit an even .500 with 10 hits, playing in all six games
- Tori Hawk led the team with two homeruns, driving in the second most runs (9)
- Taya Haney edged Hawk in RBIs for the week with 11, four of which came on one swing of the bat against OBU in grand slam fashion 
- Haney also drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied in game one of the OBU series, bringing in the winning run in walk off fashion 
- In the final game of the series, Haney earned a save in the circle after coming in with bases loaded and no outs and retiring the next three Lady Bison batters in order
- Taylor Eaves collected all three wins for SWOSU on the week, sporting a 3-0 record in 19.0 innings of work
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs will play in their final home games of the season Tuesday (April 18) against Northwestern in a conference doubleheader with Northwestern for 'Pack the Park' day at the Athletic Complex
- Friday and Saturday (April 21-22) SWOSU heads to Arkadelphia to take on Ouachita Baptist in a four-game set with the Lady Tigers
- A week later, the Dawgs travel to Arkansas Tech to close out the season with the final series of the regular season