Harding Baseball
Harding (16-13, 8-7) vs. Northwestern Okla. (16-13, 5-10)
Location: Jerry Moore Field, Searcy, Ark.
Times: Saturday, Mar. 29, 1 p.m. (DH); Sunday, Mar. 30, 1 p.m.
Series: Harding leads 2-1
Coaches: Harding – Dr. Patrick McGaha (250-196, 9th season at Harding); Northwestern Okla. – Ryan Bay (141-101, 6th season at Northwestern Okla.)
Coverage: Links available for live stats and live video on HardingSports.com.
Harding will look to get back on track in Great American Conference play as it hosts Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday and Sunday at Jerry Moore Field. The teams play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. and a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.
Harding enters the weekend in fifth place in the GAC standings with an 8-7 conference record. The top six teams reach the GAC Tournament in Enid, Okla., on May 3-6. Northwestern Oklahoma is 10th of the 11 teams in the conference with a 5-10 GAC mark, but the Rangers are ineligible for the tournament as provisional members.
Harding is 5-1 in GAC home games and 3-6 on the road in conference games. The Bisons are hitting .308 and averaging 7.0 runs per nine innings in their 15 GAC games.
Senior Matt Calhoun has hit .491 in conference games this season with a .557 on-base percentage and .792 slugging percentage. James Anderson (.373) and Erin McCarver (.327) have also played all 15 conference games and are hitting over .300.
Anderson is Harding's top hitter at home this season, hitting .379 with 22 hits and 11 RBI. Calhoun is hitting .373 with a .476 OBP and .510 SLG, and Trent Wooldridge has walked 13 times (.449 OBP) and scored 16 runs in 17 home games.
Harding is expected to start senior Logan Holthaus (3-1, 3.19 ERA), sophomore Collin Campbell (4-1, 3.21), and senior Cameron Walker (2-2, 4.79) in the three games against Northwestern Okla. The trio has pitched 87 of Harding's 116 conference innings (75 percent) this season. Holthaus, Campbell, and Walker are a combined 6-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 11 starts at home this season.
Harding's pitching staff leads the GAC with a 3.42 ERA with Northwestern State in third at 3.64. The Bisons have a 2.20 ERA in home games this season, allowing only 34 earned runs in 139.0 innings. Harding's opponents are hitting only .228 at Jerry Moore Field with a .314 OBP and .272 SLG.
Northwestern Oklahoma, located in Alva, enters the series with a 5-6 road record. The Rangers' offense is led by senior Jonathan Freemyer, who is hitting .394 with 8 home runs and 27 RBI. Senior Joe Coto leads the Ranger pitching staff. He is 4-4 with a 3.75 ERA. Coto has four complete games and has struck out 44 in 48.0 innings.
Harding won two of the three games against Northwestern State last season in Alva. Erin McCarver was 4-for-9 (.444) with four runs scored and an RBI in the series. Walker earned the win in game one of the series. He allowed nine hits and three earned runs with six strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
