Harding Baseball
#30 Harding (16-9, 8-4) vs. Arkansas-Monticello (18-10, 8-7)
Location: Weevils Field, Monticello, Ark.
Times: Friday, Mar. 21 (DH, 1 p.m.); Saturday, Mar. 22 (noon)
Series: HU leads 82-66 overall – HU leads 27-26 in NCAA era (since 1997) – UAM leads 6-5 in GAC era (since 2012)
Coaches: Harding – Dr. Patrick McGaha (250-192, 9th season at Harding); Arkansas-Monticello – John Harvey (85-82, 4th season at UAM)
Coverage: Link available for live video and live stats on HardingSports.com.
Two teams ranked in the top 10 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Central Region Top 10 square off for a three-game Great American Conference series this weekend. Harding, No. 6 in the region rankings, travels to meet No. 9 Arkansas-Monticello beginning with a Friday doubleheader at 1 p.m. in Monticello. Saturday's finale is at noon.
Harding enters the series tied for third in the GAC standings at 8-4. The Bisons are tied with Southwestern Oklahoma and trail conference leader Arkansas Tech by only one game. Arkansas-Monticello is tied for fifth with Ouachita Baptist. The top six teams qualify for the GAC Tournament in Enid, Okla., in May.
Harding is coming off a 3-1 loss on Tuesday to No. 18 Delta State. Bison starter Jacob Stripling allowed only two hits and two earned runs over five innings. Junior Kyler Offenbacker went 2-for-3 for his second two-hit game of the season.
The Bisons are sixth in the GAC with a .274 batting average entering the weekend. Harding averages 6.2 runs per nine innings. The Bisons are eighth in slugging percentage (.366) and third in on-base percentage (.373).
Harding senior Matt Calhoun leads the GAC with a .418 batting average. He is also in the top 10 in the conference in hits (7th, 33), home runs (4th, 4), doubles (7th, 8), RBI (6th, 23), total bases (6th, 53), on-base percentage (1st, .510), and slugging percentage (2nd, .671).
Senior James Anderson also ranks in the top 10 in hitting. He is ninth at .359 and seventh with 33 hits. Trent Wooldridge leads the GAC with 21 walks and is eighth with a .449 on-base percentage.
Harding's starting pitchers for the Arkansas-Monticello series will be senior Logan Holthaus (3-0, 2.13 ERA), sophomore Collin Campbell (4-0, 2.57), and senior Cameron Walker (2-1, 3.96). Holthaus is third in the GAC in ERA, and Campbell is seventh.
Harding leads the GAC with a 2.96 team ERA with Arkansas-Monticello second at 3.54. Bison opponents hit only .243 (2nd in the GAC), and Boll Weevil opposition hits .267. Harding's strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.73) is second only to Southern Arkansas in the GAC.
Harding is tied for second in NCAA II with 27 double plays turned this season in its first 24 games. Arkansas-Monticello is sixth with 25 double plays turned. The Bisons lead th
Arkansas-Monticello is coming off a 3-1 win over Union (Tenn.) on Tuesday. The Boll Weevils lost two of three to Arkansas Tech last weekend in Russellville in their last conference series.
The Boll Weevils' top hitter is senior infielder Ben Agredano, a preseason All-Region honoree. He is hitting .349 and leads the team in runs (22), hits (38), triples (2), RBI, (23) and slugging percentage (.495).
Last weekend, Arkansas-Monticello employed Logan Johnson (3-2, 3.66), Kade Garlington (5-2, 3.96), and Zach McKnight (2-2, 3.78) as its weekend starting pitchers.
Arkansas-Monticello has found a way to average 6.2 runs per nine innings despite its .259 batting average (8th in the GAC). The Weevils lead the GAC and rank seventh in NCAA II with 120 walks. They are also ninth in NCAA II with 41 hit-by-pitches.
