RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Harding baseball concludes its regular season Saturday and Sunday with a three-game series against Arkansas Tech. The series has postseason ramifications for both teams.
Harding and Arkansas Tech open the series Saturday at 7 p.m. and play a Sunday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. All three games are at Tech Field in Russellville.
Harding (26-18) enters the weekend in sixth place in the GAC standings at 15-12, one game ahead of Southeastern Oklahoma for the final spot in the GAC Tournament that will be held May 4-7 in Enid, Okla.
Arkansas Tech (29-18) is one of three teams tied for third place at 16-11, just a game ahead of Harding.
Harding's Billy Ninemire enters the series on a school-record 15-game hitting streak. He broke the mark previously held by Ben James (1999) and Sean Camilleri (2002) with two hits Tuesday against Southern Arkansas.
He leads the team in batting average (.327), hits (48), slugging percentage (.429) and on-base percentage (.408). Kyle Atkins leads the team in runs (30) and is tied for the lead with 13 stolen bases. Matt Calhoun has a team-high 26 RBI.
Harding will continue to use the same the starters in its weekend rotation. Cameron Walker (3-3, 3.22) leads the team with 50 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings. Hayden Shirley (7-4, 4.01) leads the team in wins, and Lucas Waddell (4-3, 4.73) leads the team with 64 2/3 innings pitched.
Harding ranks seventh in the conference with a .277 batting average and 5.11 runs per game. The Bisons are fourth in ERA (3.98) and third with 5.2 runs allowed per game.
Arkansas Tech is led by Cesar Abreu, who has a team-best .396 batting average. He also leads the team in slugging percentage (.503), on-base percentage (.505) and stolen bases (18). Jonathan Finnigan leads the Wonder Boys in home runs (6) and RBI (32).
Ryan Taylor (8-3, 2.75), Mason Reynolds (2-5, 4.83), and Jake Bell (6-1, 5.01) are the likely starters for Arkansas Tech.
The Wonder Boys are fifth in the GAC in batting average (.300) and fourth in runs per game (6.04). The Tech pitching staff is eighth in ERA (4.82) and sixth in runs per game (5.6).
Arkansas Tech won a non-conference meeting between the teams 2-1 on Mar. 12 in Searcy. The Wonder Boys also swept last season's series at Harding's Jerry Moore Field.
