SEARCY – Harding's and Arkansas-Monticello's baseball teams will not only be battling each other this weekend in a three-game Great American Conference series, they will also be battling early spring storms forecast for the Searcy area.
With the weather in mind, the first game of the series has been moved to Saturday at 10 a.m. at Harding's Jerry Moore Field. The teams plan to play two games Saturday and conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m.
Both teams enter the series in the hunt for the GAC Tournament in May in Enid, Okla. Harding, 14-8 overall and 7-5 in the GAC, is fifth in the conference standings. Arkansas-Monticello, 15-12 overall and 7-8 in the GAC, is seventh. The top six teams make the tournament.
Harding enters the weekend with losses in four of its last five games, but the losses have come by a combined six runs. The Bisons narrowly lost a bid for their second upset of No. 1-ranked Delta State on Wednesday in Cleveland, Miss. Harding fell 2-1 with Delta State scoring the winning run in the seventh on a pair of Bison errors.
Last weekend, Harding upset 17th-ranked Southern Arkansas in the second game of a three-game series in Magnolia. The Bisons had 24 hits in the game, the second-most ever by a Harding team.
Arkansas-Monticello has lost each of its last three games after being swept by Arkansas Tech in a series last weekend in Monticello. The Boll Weevils were outscored 34-11 by the Wonder Boys.
Harding ranks fifth in the 11-team GAC in batting average (.304) and in runs per game (6.32). Junior catcher Erin McCarver has a team-best four-game hitting streak, during which he is 5-for-15 (.333). Senior Billy Ninemire and junior Jeremy Bohnett lead the Bisons with eight multi-hit games.
Harding will likely continue with the same three weekend starting pitchers it has used throughout conference play. Senior Hayden Shirley (5-1, 2.40 ERA), junior Cameron Walker (0-1, 4.37), and senior Lucas Waddell (2-1, 6.16) are the probable starters. The Bisons are second in the GAC with a 3.83 ERA and are tied for second with 5.2 runs allowed per game.
Arkansas-Monticello is sixth in the conference in batting average (.295) but is tied for third in runs per game (7.00). Taylor Eaves, who is second on the team with a .347 batting average, enters with a team-best eight-game hitting streak. Ben Agredano, who is tied for the team lead with 11 extra-base hits, ha a team-high 11 multi-hit games.
Bobby Bryan (3-3, 5.72), Chris Guzman (0-1, 6.23) and Kenny Marshall (1-3, 6.33) have started on the mound for the Boll Weevils throughout the conference season. Arkansas-Monticello ranks eighth in the GAC in ERA (5.19) and ninth in runs allowed per game (6.9).
Harding leads the all-time series between the team 81-62 and won two of three games last season in Monticello.
