Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

SEARCY – A pair of complete game pitching efforts, one by each team, led to a doubleheader split Tuesday at Jerry Moore Field in a clash of two teams ranked regionally by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Harding used a complete game by sophomore Lucas Waddell to win the opener 3-1, but North Alabama took game two 4-0 behind junior starter Jake Sloan.

The game one victory was the 10th straight for Harding, which moved to 16-4 on the season. The Bisons entered the games ranked No. 5 in the region, while North Alabama, now 14-6, was ranked No. 4.

Waddell (2-0) allowed only two hits and had a shutout until North Alabama scored a run in the top of the seventh. He struck out five and walked none.

Harding scored all three of its runs with two outs in the fourth inning. After a pair of strikeouts, Erin McCarver's single, the first of four straight hits for the Bisons, scored Jason Nappi from second. Nappi had walked with one out and stolen second.

North Alabama replaced starter Chad Boughner (2-1) with two outs in the inning. Boughner was on a 60-pitch limit, which he reached on the second strikeout of the inning. Trent Kinnear and Matt Calhoun then followed with two more RBI singles to give Harding the 3-0 lead.

Sloan (2-1) struck out eight Bisons in game two and allowed only three hits, two more of them by McCarver, including his second double of the season.

Harding used five different pitchers in game two, trying to get some work in for relievers who have seen very little action in the last few games due to the Bisons' outstanding starting pitching.

Freshman Bronson Smith (1-2) started and took the loss, allowing three earned runs and four hits in two innings. North Alabama scored three in the second and added a fourth in the sixth off senior Daniel Niehls.

Harding will play five times in four days this weekend beginning with a three-game series against College of the Ozarks on Saturday and Sunday.