SEARCY – The Harding baseball team continues its Great American Conference schedule this weekend when the Bisons travel to Arkadelphia, Ark., to take on the Henderson State Reddies in a three-game series.
The teams will play a single game Friday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. Harding enters the weekend 21-15 overall and 11-10 in GAC play. The Bisons are sixth in the conference standings, the final spot that advances to the GAC Tournament in Enid, Okla., on May 4-7. The Reddies are 20-15 overall and 14-7 in conference, tied for second place with Southwestern Oklahoma. Southern Arkansas is 19-5 in conference and holds a 3½-game lead.
Harding is one game ahead of Southeastern Oklahoma for the final spot. Southeastern is on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma this weekend.
Live statistics will be available for the Harding-Henderson State series courtesy of the Henderson State Sports Information Office. A link will be available on the baseball schedule page of HardingSports.com.
Harding is coming off a doubleheader sweep of NAIA Central Baptist on Tuesday. The Bisons won the opener 4-3 and took game two 7-3. Senior Billy Ninemire was 3-for-6 in the doubleheader with two runs and a double. Junior Jeremy Bohnett had two doubles.
The Bisons will be seeking their second straight GAC road series victory. Harding won two of three games from Northwestern Oklahoma on Mar. 29-30 in Alva, Okla.
Harding enters the series ranked sixth in the GAC in batting average (.288) and fourth in ERA (4.08). The Bisons have four hitters batting over .300 this season.
Bohnett leads the Bisons with a .339 batting average. He also leads the squad in hits (42) and doubles (9) and is tied for the team lead with 24 runs. Ninemire leads Harding with a .445 slugging percentage and .410 on-base percentage. Junior Matt Calhoun has a team-high 23 RBI.
Senior Hayden Shirley leads Harding's starting pitchers in wins (6), ERA (2.98) and strikeouts (43). The last Harding pitcher to lead the team in all three categories was Justin Phillips in 2007. The Bisons will also likely start junior Cameron Walker (2-2, 3.92) and senior Lucas Waddell (3-3, 5.26).
The Reddies are seventh in the GAC in batting average (.287) and sixth in ERA (4.35). Henderson State's .969 fielding percentage leads the conference.
Henderson State is led by the GAC's top hitter, Zac Zdanowicz, who is hitting .432 this season. He leads the Reddies in runs (32), hits (48), slugging percentage (.586), on-base percentage (.504), and stolen bases (19).
Henderson State's weekend starters will likely include Austin Coble (6-2, 3.15), Nathan Eller (4-1, 3.83), and Dustin Hudson (5-3, 5.12). Eller leads the team with 37 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings.
Harding and Henderson State have played 142 games in the series with the Reddies leading 81-60-1. The teams split four meetings last season.
