ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Harding baseball team will play its second Gulf South Conference series Saturday and Sunday against Ouachita Baptist. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 11 a.m., and Sunday's single game begins at 1 p.m. All three games are at Rab Rogers Field on the OBU campus.
Harding (12-13) is coming off a doubleheader sweep of Williams Baptist on Tuesday in Searcy. The Bisons got a complete game shutout from freshman Lucas Waddell to take game one 2-0. Sophomore Chase Presley had three hits, including his second home run of the season, to lead Harding to a 7-3 victory in game two.
The Bisons are 0-3 in GSC West play after dropping all three games to No. 3-ranked Southern Arkansas last weekend in Magnolia.
To climb back into the race for the GSC Tournament, Harding will need its offense to improve on a slow start. The Bisons are hitting .269 as a team, the lowest average in the conference. Junior Jason Nappi has been a bright spot for Harding, ranking fifth in the conference with a .418 batting average. He is also third in the GSC in on-base percentage (.554), fifth in walks (19), and sixth in slugging percentage (.687).
Nappi, Presley and Anthony Guglielmi each enter the weekend with team-leading three-game hitting streaks.
Harding will also need solid starting pitching against Ouachita Baptist, which enters the series with a .312 team batting average. The Bisons will likely send sophomore Hayden Shirley (0-3, 9.45 ERA), sophomore Kyle Cline (2-3, 5.60) and senior Troy Keith (1-2, 8.76) to the mound as starters against the Tigers.
Ouachita Baptist has a 15-10 overall record and a 2-1 mark in conference play after taking two of three games against nationally-ranked Delta State last weekend in Cleveland. The Tigers continued their strong play with a doubleheader split against 16th-ranked Valdosta State on Wednesday.
OBU senior Will Gowdy is one of the top two-way players in NCAA Division II. Offensively, the right-handed hitting Gowdy is batting .375 with five home runs and 22 RBI. As a left-handed pitcher, Gowdy is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA. The Amarillo, Texas native has been injured and did not pitch last weekend against Delta State. He did throw one inning against Valdosta State and could be back in the rotation this weekend against the Bisons.
Ouachita Baptist's other possible starting pitchers include sophomore Beau Martin (2-0, 4.15), junior Kolby Moore (1-3, 4.50) and junior Sam McGill (3-2, 4.87).
Last season, Harding took two of three games from 29th-ranked Ouachita Baptist in Searcy. The Tigers lead the Bisons 78-71-2 in the all-time series, but the Bisons lead all-time GSC matchups, 19-12-1. Harding coach Dr. Patrick McGaha is 4-8 against Ouachita Baptist.
