SEARCY – Two nationally-ranked teams will square off for a doubleheader Tuesday at Jerry Moore Field as the 20th-ranked Harding Bisons host the 19th-ranked North Alabama Lions for a doubleheader beginning at noon.

Harding (10-2) won three of four games against William Jewell on Saturday and Sunday is tied for the best 12-game record in program history.

Junior third baseman Billy Ninemire enters the doubleheader with a five-game hitting streak. Ninemire is hitting 9-of-16 (.563) with seven RBI during the streak.

Junior Kyle Atkins leads the team in hitting at .361 and has a four-game hitting streak. Atkins leads Harding in runs (15), hits (13), and stolen bases (10).

The Bisons probable starters for the doubleheader are freshman Andrew Fiddler and senior Alex Smith.

Fiddler, who will be making his first collegiate start, has a 1-0 record with one save. He has not allowed a hit and has five strikeouts in four innings.

Smith will be making his second start. He is 0-1 and has pitched five innings in his first two appearances.

North Alabama swept a three-game series over Quincy in Florence last weekend. The Lions have won six straight after dropping the first game of a doubleheader against Missouri Western on Feb. 19.

Harding and North Alabama played four times last season, splitting those games. The teams split two games in Searcy on March 9. A Harding victory over North Alabama on May 7 in Millington, Tenn., sent the Bisons into the winners-bracket championship game at the Gulf South Conference Tournament. The final meeting came on May 20 in Pensacola, Fla., as North Alabama gave Harding its first loss in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament.

Harding will begin Great American Conference play next weekend at Arkansas-Monticello.