Harding Baseball
Harding (19-14, 11-7) at Southwestern Okla. (17-14, 10-8)
Location: SWOSU Baseball Field, Weatherford, Okla.
Times: Friday, Apr. 4 at 3 p.m.; Saturday, Apr. 5 (DH) at 1 p.m.
Series: SWOSU leads 8-7
Coaches: Harding – Dr. Patrick McGaha (253-197, 9th season at Harding); Southwestern Okla. – Zack Saunders (74-49, 3rd season at SWOSU)
Coverage: Links available for live stats on HardingSports.com. There will be no live video of the games.
A pair of teams in contention for two of the six spots in the Great American Conference Tournament square off Friday and Saturday in Weatherford, Okla., as Harding, currently fourth in the GAC standings, travels to Southwestern Oklahoma, currently fifth.
Harding and Southwestern have met 15 times with the Bulldogs leading the series by one game. Last season, the teams split four games. Southwestern won the regular season series 2-games-to-1 in Searcy, but Harding won 5-4 at the GAC Tournament.
Harding snapped a five-game losing streak last weekend with a three-game sweep of Northwestern Oklahoma at Jerry Moore Field. The Bisons lost a non-conference game Tuesday 6-3 against Union (Tenn.).
Southwestern won 11-3 on Tuesday at Cameron, snapping a five-game losing streak that included three close losses last weekend in GAC action at Arkansas Tech.
The Bisons and Bulldogs are both middle of the pack in the GAC offensively. Harding is seventh in the GAC with a .276 batting average and scores 6.0 runs per nine innings. Southwestern is sixth in hitting at .278 and averages 5.7 runs per nine innings.
Harding boasts two of the top 10 hitters in the GAC. Senior Matt Calhoun is fourth in the conference with a .376 average. He is fourth in the GAC with five home runs and sixth with 29 RBI. Senior James Anderson is 10th with a .347 average. Calhoun and Anderson are tied for the team lead and sixth in the conference with 41 hits, and Calhoun is fourth in both on-base percentage (.458) and slugging percentage (.596).
Southwestern's top offensive threat is junior Dalton Daniels, who hits .369, good for fifth in the GAC. He also has 41 hits and is ninth in the conference with a .441 on-base percentage.
Harding's pitching staff leads the GAC with a 3.49 ERA and is second with a .255 opponents' batting average. The Bisons will start sophomore Collin Campbell (5-1, 3.32 ERA), senior Logan Holthaus (3-1, 3.75) and senior Cameron Walker (3-2, 4.94) against the Bulldogs.
Campbell is tied for seventh in the GAC with five wins, and Walker ranks fourth with 52 strikeouts.
Harding sophomore reliever Andrew Fiddler leads the GAC in opponents' batting average (.172) and WHIP (0.85). He has not allowed an earned run in his last eight appearances spanning 14 1/3 innings. During that stretch he has allowed only five hits and two walks while striking out 19.
Southwestern's top pitcher is senior Jonathan Johnson, who is 4-3 with a 2.36 ERA, the fifth-best in the GAC. He is third in the GAC with 61.0 innings pitched and second with five complete games.
Harding and Southwestern have the top two defenses in the GAC. The Bisons have a .975 fielding percentage and lead NCAA II with 39 double plays turned. Harding is also near the top of the conference with 15 runners caught stealing.
Southwestern has a .974 fielding percentage, good for second in the GAC. The Bulldogs are third with 29 double plays.
Harding's top hitters against Southwestern are Kyler Offenbacker (.375, 6-for-16, 2 R, 1 RBI) and Erin McCarver (.300, 3-for-10). On the mound, Walker will make his fourth appearance and second start against Southwestern. He has a 1-1 record. Holhaus is 0-1 against Southwestern, but allowed only one earned run in six innings in a start in 2012. Campbell has never faced Southwestern.
