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MONTICELLO, Ark. – The Harding baseball team scored 32 runs in a doubleheader Saturday at Arkansas-Monticello, but that number might not have been enough to keep their hopes for the Gulf South Conference Tournament alive.
Harding won the opener 23-14, but lost game two 10-9. With the loss, the Bisons fell to 21-23 overall and 6-10 in the GSC West. Harding is now two games behind Henderson State for the fourth and final tournament spot and tied with Ouachita Baptist for fifth place. Henderson State's magic number to clinch the fourth spot is two. Any combination of Reddie wins and Bison losses equaling two will send Henderson State to the GSC Tournament.
Harding set a plethora of season highs in game one, the second-highest scoring baseball game in school history, and shattered the school record for doubles in a game with 10. It was the third-most doubles ever by a GSC team and the most in a game since Alabama-Huntsville had 10 against Lincoln Memorial in 2004. The 37 runs ranked second in Bisons history to a 36-10 Harding win over University of the Ozarks in 1999.
Arkansas-Monticello (20-22, 4-12) led the game 6-3 after five innings. The teams then combined for 15 runs in the sixth. Harding scored seven and Arkansas-Monticello answered with eight and led 14-10. The Bisons then scored 13 unanswered runs over the final three innings, including eight in the eighth.
Harding set season highs with 23 runs on 23 hits, 14 of them for extra bases. Clay West, Anthony Guglielmi and Jason Nappi had two doubles each and Erin McCarver became the first Harding player this season to hit two home runs in a game. The previous record for doubles in a game was six.
Nappi and Chase Presley both went 5-for-6 in the game, marking only the second time in the NCAA era that Harding had two hitters with five or more hits in the same game. In 1999, Mike Huebner (7) and Matt Wilson (5) became the first in the game against University of the Ozarks.
McCarver had six RBI, tying the most by a Bison this season.
Harding freshman Tyler Billen, the fourth pitcher of the game for the Bisons, earned the win and moved to 4-1. Billen allowed three hits and struck out one in 3 2/3 innings of relief.
Arkansas-Monticello used six pitchers. Brent Noble, who allowed five runs (three earned) in 1 1/3 innings, suffered the loss and fell to 6-2.
The game lasted 3 hours, 50 minutes, matching exactly the time of Harding's 18-16 loss to Christian Brothers earlier in the season.
Harding trailed 7-3 after three innings in game two, but scored four in the top of the fourth to tie it. Nappi had a two-run single in the inning.
Arkansas-Monticello retook the lead with a run in the bottom of the inning and added two more in the fifth to make it 10-7. The Bisons answered with Nappi's eighth home run of the season in the sixth to cut the lead to two. Nappi was 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI in game two.
In the seventh and final inning, Harding loaded the bases with one out. West drew the Bisons within one with a run-scoring infield ground out, but Harding stranded the last two runners on base.
Harding starter Kyle Cline (3-6) took the loss, allowing eight runs (six earned) in 3 1/3 innings. Craig Pellegrin (4-3) pitched a complete game for UAM and earned the win.
The two teams meet for the finale Sunday at noon.
