Bahloul, Green, Smith open spring with GAC honors

RUSSELLVILLE — The Great American Conference office announced its first weekly awards for the baseball and softball seasons with several honors going to athletes at Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State.

Ouachita senior Adam Bahloul was named the GAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week. Henderson sophomore Madie Green was named the GAC Softball Player of the Week, while Ouachita’s Mabry Smith was named GAC Softball Freshman of the Week.

Bahloul, of Maumelle, pitched the Tigers (1-2) to a 5-3 victory against rival Henderson (1-1) and fellow senior ace Zach Eschberger on Friday. Bahloul struck out the first six hitters and finished with 12 strikeouts, the most for Ouachita since Connor Eller struck out 13 against Harding on Feb. 26, 2016.

The senior Tiger allowed only two hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings. It was the first victory for first-year Ouachita head coach Luke Howard.

Henderson’s Matthew Baker was also nominated after strikeouts out seven batters and giving up two hits in five scoreless frames against Union University (2-1) on Saturday. The Bulldogs defeated Ouachita Baptist once on Friday and once on Saturday, but they lost to the Reddies, 21-0, in seven innings.

Also nominated were Arkansas Tech’s Isaac Hale, Harding’s Ryder Yakel, Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Brandon Nesseralla, Southern Arkansas’ Matt Kortendick and Southern Nazarene’s Jefferson Harris.

Southern Arkansas sophomore third baseman Cooper King, of Harrison, was voted GAC Baseball Co-Player of the Week after hitting 7-for-8 for an .875 batting average with a .909 on-base percentage for coach Justin Pettigrew and Southern Arkansas in the opening series against Washburn (1-2). The transfer from Crowder College in Missouri started with a 4-for-4 performance in his debut on opening day with a stolen base and a run scored.

He scored four runs in the series.

Northwestern senior shortstop Carlos Andujar was voted the other Co-Player of the Week. Nominees included Arkansas Tech third baseman Tristan Thomas, Harding right fielder Jack Thomas, Oklahoma Baptist right fielder Jake Gozzo and Southwestern Oklahoma State designated hitter Braden Estraca.

Ouachita sophomore Tyler Riebock earned a nomination after hitting .385 with two home runs in the opening weekend. Senior outfielder Joseph Shepherd was Hendeson’s nominee after delivering a pair of bases-loaded triples for six RBIs against Union.

Henderson will play four games in four days this weekend in the HSU Invitational Clyde Berry Field, beginning with Northwest Missouri State on Thursday at Clyde Berry Field. Ouachita will play Missouri Western earlier on Thursday at 1 p.m. at Rab Rodgers Field. Southern Arkansas will also play four games in the HSU Invitational, opening on Thursday at 3 p.m. against Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Green, a sophomore outfielder from Keller, Texas, hit .833 with a .917 on-base percentage as the Reddies went

3-0 in three games to open the season in Henderson and Ouachita’s Ronnie Hawkins Invitational. She was 3-for-3 against Northeastern State and

2-for-3 against Southwest Baptist, walked five times, drove in four runs, scored three and went a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts.

The recognition is the first of Green’s career. She is just the fifth Reddie to ever earn Player of the Week distinction and the first since Alexia Lopez won the award last season.

Green was one of only three freshmen to be named First-Team All-GAC last season. Her slugging percentage is 1.000 after the opening weekend.

Ouachita infielder Natalie Jackson was nominated after hitting 5-for-13 with two doubles. Other nominees included Southern Arkansas first baseman Chelsea Fagan, Southern Nazarene outfielder Kai Sanchez and Southwestern first baseman Elexis Watson.

Smith, of Texarkana, Texas, struck out 16 batters in her first career start, a 3-2 eight-inning victory for Ouachita Baptist (1-3) against Christian Brothers. The 16 strikeouts represented the most by a Tiger since the program joined the GAC. She followed up her first start by striking out seven batters in a complete-game effort against UT-Tyler.

Abbie Moore was nominated from Henderson after hitting 6-for-10 in her debut weekend with five RBIs. Also nominated were Southern Arkansas’ Sarah Evans and Southern Nazarene’s Skye Ah Yat.

Southern Arkansas junior Victoria Taylor was voted the season’s first GAC Softball Pitcher of the Week.

Henderson is scheduled for four games on Friday and Saturday at Alabama-Huntsville’s Charger Chillout. Ouachita is scheduled for four games in Bentonville on Friday and Saturday in the Division II Crossover Classic.

Ouachita senior guard Alivia Huell, of Malvern, and Henderson sophomore forward Karrington Whaley, out of Springdale Har-Ber, were nominated for basketball awards. Huell was 12-for-22 shooting for 26 points and 14 rebounds as the Tigers (6-14,

4-10) split two home games at Bill Vining Arena. Whaley was 10-for-17 in two games and scored a career-high 18 points in a 55-48 loss for the Reddies

(14-6, 9-5) to Southern Nazarene (11-9, 10-4) at the Duke Wells Center.

The other nominees were Arkansas-Monticello forward Mackenzie Johnson, Arkansas Tech guard Hannah Villines, Harding guard Carissa Caples, Southeastern Oklahoma State guard Katie Webb, Southern Arkansas forward Jerica Bell and Southern Nazarene guard Madline Schroepfer.

The GAC’s Men’s Basketball Co-Players of the Week were Arkansas Tech senior guard Alex Brown and Southern Nazarene senior center Noah Starkey. Also nominated were Arkansas-Monticello guard K..J. Lesure, Southeastern forward Kevin Buckinham and Southern Arkansas forward DeVante Brooks.

Junior Rel Johnson was nominated after scoring 29 total points in a weekend home split for the Reddies (13-7, 8-6). Sophomore Kendarious Smith was nominated after scoring

20 points for the Tigers (810, 5-9) in a 77-71 win against Oklahoma Baptist (11-9, 10-4).

Henderson’s teams will be at home on Thursday against Southern Arkansas before traveling to Monticello on Saturday. Ouachita will be on the road on both dates, traveling to Russellville to face Arkansas Tech on Thursday and Searcy on Saturday to meet Harding.