Game -1

Game -2

SEARCY, Ark. – The Bisons completed the three-game sweep of Evangel on Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 and a 7-0 victory over the Crusaders. Harding improved to 3-0 and Evangel fell to 0-3.

Harding senior Justin Phillips has earned the label as the Bisons' staff ace and lived up to the billing Saturday with a 2-1 complete victory over Evangel. Phillips (1-0) allowed only two hits and struck out seven to earn his sixth career victory.

Harding used a hit batter and three walks to score a run in the first inning to take the lead. Junior Dare Saul scored from third on junior Matt Stevens' fielder's choice. The Bisons plated another run in the second. Sophomore Randall Hunt led off the inning with a double and went to third on an error. Hunt then made it 2-0 when he scored on junior Ben Rodriguez's infield ground out.

The two-run advantage was all Phillips would need. The Waco, Texas native faced the minimum through the first four innings. In the fifth, Evangel's Phil Reed led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Designated hitter Tyler Templeton lined a single to left center to score Reed with two out. Phillips ended the inning by fanning Justin Harper for the second time.

Harding's leadoff hitter reached in each of the first four innings, but the Bisons struggled to score, stranding seven runners. Harding left 16 runners on base in its 11-9 victoy Friday in the series opener.

Evangel junior Rafael Frias (0-1) started and suffered the loss for the Crusaders. He allowed four hits and two earned runs in 4.0 innings. Junior Jeff Putman pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.

The Bisons turned up the heat on both sides of the plate in the second game of the doubleheader. Freshman Troy Keith (1-0) started on the mound and went five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out seven. Keith's classmate Gilbert Tellez pitched two more scoreless innings for the save. It was the Bisons' first shutout since March 17 of last season when they defeated Ozarks (Mo.), 4-0.

Harding totaled 11 hits in the second game and no errors. Adam Darby, Bo Whitaker, and Dare Saul had two hits and one RBI each for the Bisons. Each of Harding's runs was scored by a different Bison.

Evangel's Scott Ditzfeld claimed the loss. Ditzfeld allowed three runs in his five innings on the mound. Seth Thompson relieved him for the last inning and allowed four Bisons to cross the plate.

Harding came away from the weekend with twice as many runs as Evangel and 25 hits. The Bisons are a perfect 7-for-7 on the base paths and the Bison pitchers have struck out 27 batters.

The Bisons travel to play Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday, Feb. 6, for one non-conference game, beginning at 1:00 p.m.