SEARCY – The Harding baseball team plays its final home series of the 2013 season this weekend as the Bisons host Ouachita Baptist for three critical Great American Conference games. The teams open the series with a doubleheader Saturday at noon and conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jerry Moore Field. Harding will have its Senior Day activities on Sunday.
Harding enters the weekend 24-16 overall and 13-11 in GAC play. The Bisons are in sixth place in the conference standings, one game behind fifth-place Arkansas Tech and one game ahead of seventh-place Southeastern Oklahoma. Only the top six teams advance to the GAC Tournament in Enid, Okla., on May 4-7. Ouachita Baptist is 11-13 in conference play and still alive in eighth place.
Harding is coming off three wins in four games against Henderson State. The Bisons took two of three conference games from the Reddies last weekend in Arkadelphia and won a non-conference game 4-2 in Searcy on Tuesday.
Harding has won six of its last eight games overall and is 7-5 in conference games at home this season.
Harding's offense is led by senior Jeremy Bohnett, who is hitting .324 and leads the team with 14 multi-hit games. He is also the top Bison in hits (44) and doubles (10) and is a perfect 8-of-8 in stolen base attempts.
Senior Billy Ninemire is hitting .319 and carries a team-best 11-gam hitting streak into the weekend. He is the team leader in RBI (24), slugging percentage (.430) and on-base percentage (.400).
Harding enters the series ranked sixth in the GAC in batting average (.281) and seventh in runs per game (5.30). The Bisons are fourth in ERA (4.01) and third in runs allowed per game (5.3).
The Bisons will likely continue using the same three pitchers that have started conference games all season. Junior Cameron Walker struck out a career-high 11 in an eight-inning shutout last Saturday against Henderson State and is the reigning GAC Pitcher of the Week. He is 3-2 with a 3.31 ERA, the best among Bison starters this season.
Seniors Hayden Shirley (6-4, 4.27) and Lucas Waddell (4-3, 4.55) will also start for the Bisons.
Ouachita Baptist (19-21-1) suffered two one-run losses to No. 1-ranked Delta State on Tuesday and Wednesday but took two of three games from Arkansas Tech in GAC play last weekend at home.
The Tigers are 7-8 on the road this season and 3-6 in road conference games.
Ouachita Baptist is 10th of 11 teams in the GAC with a .255 batting average and 10th with 4.44 runs per game. The Tiger pitching staff is third in the conference with a 3.92 ERA and fourth with 5.4 runs allowed per game.
OBU's offense is led by Landon Flax, a .320 hitter who leads the team in runs (22) and on-base percentage (.460). Chris Tavares is the top Tiger in hits (40), home runs (5), RBI (33) and slugging percentage (.441).
The Tigers' probable pitching starters include Davis Ward, one of the top starting pitchers in the GAC. Ward is 8-2 on the season with a 1.89 ERA. He has eight complete games in his 11 starts and has struck out 71 in 85 2/3 innings. Josh Everett (1-8, 3.84) and Austin Watson (2-5, 5.06) are also likely to start.
Harding and Ouachita Baptist have met 159 times in baseball with the Tigers leading the series 80-77-2. The Bisons are 10-10 against the Tigers under head coach Dr. Patrick McGaha and won two of three in last season's GAC series in Arkadelphia.
