ENID, Okla. – The Harding baseball team will play its first Great American Conference Tournament game Saturday at noon at David Allen Ballpark against the tournament's top seed, Southern Arkansas.

Harding (27-20) finished sixth in the GAC standings with a 16-14 record to earn its first GAC Tournament berth. Southern Arkansas (36-14) had a 23-7 conference record and earned the top seed for the second straight season.

The winner of the Harding-Southern Arkansas game plays Sunday at 3:30 p.m. against the loser of Arkansas Tech and Henderson State. The loser of the Harding-Southern Arkansas game plays Sunday at noon against loser of the Southwestern Oklahoma-Arkansas-Monticello game.

Harding enters the tournament ranked seventh in the 11-team conference with a .273 team batting average. The Bisons are also seventh with 4.94 runs scored per game.

Harding's pitching staff is fourth in the GAC with a 4.00 ERA, and the team is also fourth with 5.3 runs allowed per game.

Harding's top hitter entering the tournament is senior Billy Ninemire, who is the only Bison regular hitting over .300. He leads the team with a .310 batting average, 49 hits, and a .392 on-base percentage.

Junior Matt Calhoun is hitting .273 and leads the team with four home runs and 29 RBI.

The Bisons have not publicly announced their starting pitcher for the Southern Arkansas game, but it is likely to be either senior Hayden Shirley (8-4, 3.77), senior Lucas Waddell (4-4, 4.83), or junior Cameron Walker (3-4, 3.86).

Southern Arkansas is the GAC leader with a .328 team batting average and 7.66 runs per game. The Mulerider pitching staff ranks third in the conference with a 3.85 ERA and second with 5.0 runs allowed per game.

Southern Arkansas has eight regulars hitting over .300 and are led by Jason Dahl at .381. David Harris is the Muleriders' most dangerous hitter. He is batting .361 and leads the team with eight home runs and 53 RBI.

Southern Arkansas' top pitcher is James Baune, who enters the tournament with a 10-1 record and 3.28 ERA.

Harding and Southern Arkansas played four times during the regular season. The Bisons won once, a 13-11 victory on Mar. 15 in Magnolia.