SEARCY – Harding baseball continues its quest for one of six spots in the Great American Conference Tournament this weekend as it hosts Henderson State for a three-game conference series.

Harding and Henderson State will play a doubleheader Saturday at noon at Jerry Moore Field and a single game Sunday at 1 p.m. All of the games will be streamed live on HardingSports.com and live statistics are available.

The Bisons opened the season with 18 wins in its first 24 games, but have lost five straight, all in conference, to fall to 18-11 overall and 3-6 in the GAC. Harding is currently tied for sixth in the conference standings.

Harding did not have a midweek game to remove the sour taste of a three-game series sweep at the hands of Southern Arkansas last weekend in Magnolia. The Bisons scored just two runs in the series.

If Harding is to reach the GAC Tournament, an improvement offensively is a necessity. The Bisons have a .253 team batting average and are scoring an average of 4.1 runs per game, both the lowest figures among the nine-team conference.

Harding's two offensive leaders this season have been junior Kyle Atkins (.920) and sophomore Matt Calhoun (.877). The two players are the only Bisons with an OPS (on-base pct. + slugging pct.) of over .800 this season. The conference average is .794.

Atkins is hitting .344 and also leads the team in runs (20), hits (31), walks (18), on-base percentage (.464) and stolen bases (20). His nine multi-hit games also is tops on the squad.

Calhoun is hitting .284 and leads the team in extra-base hits (13), RBI (18) and slugging percentage (.511). He has hit three of Harding's five home runs this season, including the only one at Jerry Moore Field.

Harding's pitching staff continues to be the best in the conference this season. The Bisons have a 3.15 team ERA and opponents are hitting a conference low .221 against Harding pitchers.

Changes are unlikely for the Bison rotation this weekend. The probable starters are junior Logan Holthaus (1-1, 3.12), junior Hayden Shirley (3-2, 2.52), and junior Lucas Waddell (3-2, 2.49). Waddell and Shirley are sixth and seventh, respectively, in ERA in the conference.

Henderson State (16-13, 5-7) enters the weekend fifth in the GAC in batting average (.282) and second in ERA (3.53).

The Reddies have two of the top 10 hitters in the conference in juniors Josh Salmon and Taylor Coleman. Salmon is third in the GAC with a .389 batting average. He has seven doubles and three home runs and has driven in 18 runs. Coleman is 10th at .363 and has 10 stolen bases.

Henderson State's top pitcher is senior right-hander Brittain Diamond, who is second in the conference with a 1.83 ERA. He is 5-2 with 46 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched.

Last season, Harding won all three games in the series in Arkadelphia by scores of 9-4, 8-4, and 9-8.