Harding Baseball
Harding (14-7, 6-3) vs. #3 Southern Arkansas (20-4, 9-3)
Location: Jerry Moore Field, Searcy, Ark.
Time: Friday, Mar. 14 at Noon (DH); Saturday, Mar. 15 at Noon
Series: SAU leads 106-48
Coaches: Harding – Dr. Patrick McGaha (248-190, 9th season at Harding); Southern Arkansas – Steve Browning (135-54, 4th season at SAU)
Coverage: Link available for live stats on HardingSports.com.
Harding will host nationally-ranked Southern Arkansas for a three-game Great American Conference series at Jerry Moore Field. The teams will play a noon doubleheader Friday and a single-game at noon Saturday.
Harding, ranked No. 9 in the NCBWA Central Region Poll, enters the series 14-7 overall and 6-3 in conference play, good for third place in the GAC standings. The top six teams reach the GAC Tournament at the end of the regular season.
The Bisons enter the series ranked fourth in the GAC in batting average (.276) and are averaging 6.6 runs per nine innings. Harding's top hitter, Matt Calhoun, also leads the conference with a .435 batting average.
Calhoun has been one of the premier hitters in the GAC this season. He ranks sixth in hits (30), second in home runs (4), fourth in doubles (8), third in RBI (22), fourth in total bases (50), ninth in walks (14), and first in both on-base percentage (.523) and slugging percentage (.725).
Harding has the top pitching staff in the GAC with a 3.33 ERA. Both sophomore Collin Campbell (6th, 2.35) and Logan Holthaus (7th, 2.35) rank in the top 10 in the conference.
Southern Arkansas enters the series ranked No. 3 in the Collegiate Baseball News Poll and No. 2 in the NCBWA Central Region Poll. The Muleriders have won seven straight and are second in the GAC with a 9-3 record.
The Muleriders have the top offense in the GAC with a .307 batting average. Southern Arkansas averages 8.6 runs per nine innings.
SAU junior Jon Phillips is second in the GAC with a .400 batting average. Tyler Cameron (5th, .379) and Carver Rademacher (9th, .357) are also in the top 10.
Southern Arkansas is seventh in the conference with a 3.83 team ERA, but average a GAC-best 2.62 walks per nine innings.
