ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Advancing to their first-ever Great American Conference Tournament Championship Game, the No. 1-seed Arkansas Tech baseball team was overcome in the later innings by No. 7-seed Henderson State, ultimately losing to the Reddies by a score of 6-1.
 
The win for Henderson State gives the Reddies (26-17) the automatic qualifying bid from the GAC to the upcoming NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament and puts the at-large hopes of bubble teams in the region in jeopardy as this year, the overall field was reduced due to COVID-19 concerns. Unlike in year's past, this year only six teams will advance.
 
The GAC is the first league in the region to complete its conference tournament with the MIAA and NSIC scheduled to have their tournaments and AQs decided by Saturday, May 22. After the conclusion of the conference tournaments in the region, only three at-large berths will be given. Those at-large selections will be made during the NCAA Division II Baseball Selection Show that is scheduled for 9 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, May 23.
 
Despite earning a share of the Regular Season Championship in the GAC and capturing the top-seed in the highly-competitive league, the Wonder Boys (28-15) have been on the outside-looking-in when it comes to being in the mix for an at-large berth. Along with many things that have been affected by COVID over the last year-plus, and the attempts to adapt and persevere through it to have seasons, there was an inherent disparity in the number of games teams would be able to play this year.
 
With that in mind, none of the previously-released regional rankings saw any teams in any region actually ranked numerically. Rather those teams that were "under consideration" for a regional tournament were listed alphabetically. Unfortunately, the Wonder Boys have not appeared in a regional "under consideration" listing, placing them on the proverbial bubble to advance to the regional tournament and awaiting Selection Sunday.
 
In the game on Tuesday, the Wonder Boys fell behind 1-0 early as the Reddies scored a run in the top of the first. In that frame, the Reddies scored their run without the benefit of a hit as they took advantage of a pair of errors, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Despite all of that traffic, Tech starter Riyan Rodriguez was able to limit the damage to the one-run.
 
In the bottom of the frame, the Wonder Boys knotted the score at one-all on a RBI single off the bat of Josh Detweiler.
 
From there, Rodriguez and HSU starter Spencer Taack engaged in a pitcher's duel that saw neither team score over the next four innings.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Reddies forged ahead on a three-run home run and an inning later added a run to take a 5-1 lead through the top half of the seventh.
 
In the top of the seventh, Wonder Boys ace and unanimous First Team All-GAC pitcher Patrick Miner came on in relief with the bases loaded and one out. Miner would induce a double play to end the inning.
 
He then came back in the eighth inning and hung another zero while notching a pair of strikeouts in the frame, striking out the first and final batters. In getting those two Ks, Miner pushed his season total to an even 100. His 100 strikeouts are the second-most in a season in Wonder Boys history, just one shy of the record of 101 by Zach Skelton in 2016. It is also the 10^th time in GAC history that a pitcher has reached the century mark milestone.
 
The Reddies would add a run in the top of the ninth to bring the game to is final of 6-1.