SEARCY – The Harding baseball team had to take batting practice Friday in their indoor facility without electricity while utility workers checked on the power at Jerry Moore Field. After the way the Bisons hit Saturday in a doubleheader sweep of East Central, Harding may take batting practice by candlelight from here on out.
Harding used two big innings in game one to win 9-6, and Jaxon Mohr hit a grand slam as part of a six-run fourth inning to win 11-2 in game two. Harding and East Central will conclude the series Sunday with a single game at noon.
The Bisons improved to 14-13 overall and 7-5 in Great American Conference games. East Central fell to 11-10 overall and 7-6 in conference.
With the score tied 5-5 entering the bottom of the sixth inning in game one, Harding mounted a rally against East Central reliever Quentin McGrath. Shane Kinnear walked to lead off the inning, and Kyler Offenbacker and John Chapman followed with bunt singles to load the bases. Harrison Hunter walked to force in the go-ahead run, and Zac Stewart's sacrifice fly gave Harding a 7-5 lead. Noah Chandler broke the game open with a two-run single to left to put Harding ahead by four.
Dustin Torres homered in the ninth to cut the lead to three runs, but Stewart came on to retire three straight hitters for his third save.
Harding starter Andrew Fiddler (3-2) went six innings and earned the win. He allowed seven hits and five earned runs and struck out five.
East Central took a 4-0 lead on a grand slam Bryce McKee in the top of the third inning, but Harding answered with five in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Stewart's bases-loaded double to score two was the key hit in the inning.
The Tigers tied the game at 5-5 on Luc Pomales' solo home run in the fifth.
McGrath (0-3) took the loss in relief of East Central starter Lucas Kaplan, who pitched five innings and yielded six hits and five earned runs.
In game two, East Central starter Cam McKay struck out six of the first 10 batters he faced before hitting Stewart and Chandler to jumpstart Harding's six-run rally in the fourth. Zach Beasley walked with the bases loaded to score the first run and tie the game at 1-1, and Mohr gave the Bisons the lead for good by hitting a 1-0 fastball over the left field wall for Harding's second grand slam of the season.
Harding tacked on two more in the fifth and three in the sixth.
Collin Campbell (3-1) allowed only six hits and two earned runs in six innings and tied his career high with seven strikeouts. McKay (3-4) gave up seven earned runs in 4 2-3 innings.
Davis Richardson had two hits for Harding in each game and went 4-for-7 in the doubleheader.
