Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

SEARCY – It was a most unusual doubleheader.

Harding needed 13 innings to defeat College of the Ozarks 9-8 in the opener and used a dropped fly ball in the bottom of seventh inning to win game two 10-9.

Ozarks scored a run in the top of the 13th to take an 8-7 lead.

With two outs in the bottom of the 13th, Harding leadoff batter Chase Presley reached on an error by Ozarks third baseman Denton Wolf. Presley stole second and scored the tying run on Billy Ninemire's single to right. Ninemire moved up to second on a wild pitch, and Harding senior Jason Nappi singled back up the middle to score Ninemire with the winning run in a game that last three hours and 31 minutes.

Freshman Bronson Smith (2-2) pitched the final 2 2/3 innings to earn the win. He allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out three. Ozarks' Brian Decker gave up the two unearned runs in the 13th and took the loss.

The two teams combined to strand 23 runners on base.

Harding (18-4) had a season-high 17 hits. Nappi was 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI. Anthony Guglielmi and Trent Kinnear had three hits each.

The Bisons overcame four errors and an 8-1 deficit after two-and-a-half innings to win game two.

Down 9-5 after four innings, Harding scored three in the fifth with two coming on a pinch-hit double by Jeremy Bohnett to cut the Ozarks lead to a single run. Nappi tied it in the sixth with an inside-the-park home run that tied the game at 9-9.

Harding reliever Alex Smith (2-0) retired the first two hitters in the top of the seventh before Wolf singled. Bison catcher Tyler Stanford then threw out Wolf attempting to steal second.

The Bisons overcame a base-running blunder of their own in the bottom of the seventh. Stanford led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a throwing error by Ozarks pitcher William Hoey, who then picked Stanford off second.

Heath Boyd then flied out for the second out of the inning. Paul Anzalone kept Harding's hopes alive with a two-out single to right. Anzalone stole second and scored the game-winning run when Presley's fly ball to right was dropped by Ozarks' right fielder Byron Richardson.

Harding had 15 hits in game two, with three from both Presley and Anzalone. Harding had seven extra-base hits.

The two teams play the third and final game of the series Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jerry Moore Field.