SEARCY, Ark. – Harding posted 7-0 and 10-5 victories over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday in Great American Conference play at Jerry Moore Field. For the Bison, they dipped their record to 9-5 overall and 3-3 in league play.
GAME ONE
HU limited the green and gold to five hits, the second-lowest total this season for OBU. Plus, the Bison did not record an extra-base knock for just the second time in 14 contests.
During the third, OBU stranded
Austin Gonzales in scoring position. The hosts then followed by taking a 1-0 lead in their half-inning of work.
After Collin Helms doubled and was moved to third on a bunt, designated hitter Sebastian Martinez drove in Helms with a sacrifice fly to center.
Harding was able to double its advantage in the fifth before the Bison came threatening in the sixth.
Jayden Shafer and
Spencer Dickinson each singled while
Alex Schroeder was hit-by-pitch. However, OBU suffered a double-play ball from shortstop Cooper Newsom to end OBU's scoring chance.
After that, the Bison were unable to get any more runners in scoring position.
Dickinson ended up with two hits for OBU while pitcher
Nolan Feazle tossed five frames, allowed two earned runs, fanned two and induced nine fly-ball outs.
GAME TWO
Harding scored a trio of runs in the second and fourth innings as it scored 10-plus runs for the fifth time this season.
Before that though, it was OBU that struck first. In the opening frame,
Isiah Lissade scored from second after a wild pitch from HU's Will Roguske.
That advantage was short-lived, though, as HU got a two-run homer from Martinez in the home half of the first.
Then in the second, Harding got its third, fourth and fifth runs courtesy of Sawyer Price and Drew McNeel. Price delivered a two-run triple to right center while McNeel plated Price with a sacrifice fly.
Troy Shields and Dickinson then spurred on OBU to pull within two runs. In the third, Shields dialed up a run-scoring single that scored Lissade before Dickinson pushed Shafer across home with a groundout to second. That run brought the scoreboard to 5-3 Harding.
Once more though, Harding bumped its lead back up. A couple innings passed before the hosts got two home-run blasts. In the fourth, Michael Dewald, who went 3-for-3, socked a solo bomb to left. A few batters later, Helms smashed a two-run homer to boost Harding's lead to 8-3.
Jaden Wiley kept OBU in the fight in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, the newcomer singled down the left-field line and scored Dickinson and
Jacob Campbell.
That, unfortunately, was the last of the Bison's scoring as Harding added its ninth and tenth runs in the bottom of the sixth.
OBU will return to the diamond on Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. when Missouri Southern comes to Shawnee.
