Harding Baseball
Harding (9-5, 2-1) vs. Southeastern Oklahoma (9-5, 4-2)
Location: Jerry Moore Field, Searcy, Ark.
Time: Friday, Feb. 28 at 2 p.m.; Saturday, Mar. 1 at Noon (DH)
Series: SOSU leads 13-4
Coaches: Harding – Dr. Patrick McGaha (243-188, 9th season at Harding); Southeastern Okla. – Mike Metheny (1,246-584-2, 33rd season at SOSU)
Coverage: Live stats, audio, and video available through links on HardingSports.com.
· The top defensive team in the Great American Conference will meet the GAC's top pitching staff for a three-game series Friday and Saturday at Jerry Moore Field. Harding has a conference-best .975 fielding percentage and is second in the conference with 15 double plays turned. Southeastern Oklahoma leads the GAC with a 2.79 team ERA.
· Harding split a midweek non-conference series with Henderson State on Tuesday in Arkadelphia to move to 9-5 on the season. The Bisons opened their GAC season last weekend by winning two of three games at Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Okla.
· Southeastern Oklahoma swept Oklahoma Christian in a home doubleheader on Tuesday and ran its winning streak to five straight games and its record to 9-5. The Savage Storm swept Ouachita Baptist at home last weekend after dropping two of three at Henderson State to open conference play.
· Senior Matt Calhoun has driven the Harding offense this season. Calhoun is hitting .357 with three home runs and 14 RBI. He is tied for the GAC lead in home runs and ranks fifth in RBI. He ranks fifth in the GAC in slugging percentage (.619) and eighth in on-base percentage (.474).
· Harding senior Trent Wooldridge leads the GAC with 14 walks and is fifth in the GAC with a .483 on-base percentage.
· Harding's probable starting rotation for the weekend will include sophomore Collin Campbell (2-0, 2.19 ERA), senior Logan Holthaus (1-0, 4.02), and senior Cameron Walker (1-0, 5.19). Campbell's ERA would be among the conference leaders, but a pitcher must pitch one inning per team game to qualify. Campbell has pitched 12 1/3 innings in Harding's 15 games.
· Southeastern Oklahoma has a .243 team batting average and is scoring 6.0 runs per nine innings. Storm senior Chevis Springer ranks second in the GAC with 17 runs scored.
· SOSU's strength has been in its pitching staff, which has four of the top 10 pitchers in the conference in ERA. Sophomore Mathew Benedict, who has a 2-1 record, is third in ERA at 1.84. Senior Canyon Conley is 1-1 and ranks fourth at 1.93, junior Nick Johnson is 2-2 with a 2.12 ERA (7th), and senior Jaime Paxton is 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA (10th).
· Harding and Southeastern met in Durant, Okla., last season. The Storm took two of three in the GAC series. The teams last met in Searcy in 2012 with Harding winning the opener of the three-game series.
