Harding (17-17, 8-7) vs. Arkansas-Monticello (12-11, 9-7)
When: Friday, Apr. 3 at 10:30 a.m. & Saturday, Apr. 4 (DH) at 12 p.m.
Where: Searcy, Ark. (Jerry Moore Field)
Series: Harding leads 84-70 (UAM leads 6-3 in GAC regular-season games)
Harding Notes
Teams separated by only one-half game in the Great American Conference standings square off Friday and Saturday in a three-game conference series in Searcy. Harding is 8-7 and in seventh place in the conference standings, and Arkansas-Monticello is 9-7 and tied for fourth. The top six teams in the GAC standings qualify for the conference tournament in Enid, Oklahoma, in May.
Because of schedule changes due to weather, Harding has only played two GAC games at home this season, winning both against East Central on March 21.
Harding is hitting .288 as a team in GAC games this season averaging 6.3 runs. Junior Davis Richardson is the Bisons' top hitter in conference with a .360 average and a .560 slugging percentage. He has four doubles and two home runs among his six extra-base hits, has a seven-game hitting streak in GAC games, and has five straight two-hit games in conference.
Junior Harrison Hunter is hitting .353 and has a team-best .492 on-base percentage in GAC games. Junior Noah Chandler has reached base in all 15 conference games and leads the team with 13 runs scored. Junior Zac Stewart has a team-leading 16 RBIs in GAC games.
Junior Collin Campbell is the only Harding pitcher to have started a game in all six GAC series. He is 3-2 with a 4.79 ERA in those six starts and has 29 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings. Junior Andrew Fiddler is 3-1 with a 4.83 ERA in five conference starts, and junior Jacob Stripling is 1-1 with a 4.07 ERA in his four GAC starts.
Fun stats: Hunter is hitting .600 (12 for 20) with runners on base and .194 (6 for 31) with the bases empty in GAC games … freshman Zach Beasley has reached base 70 percent (7 for 10) of the time he has led off an inning in conference games … HU's leader in two-out RBIs in GAC games is senior Kyler Offenbacker with six … opponents are hitting only .222 (36 for 162) against Harding's starters with runners on base in GAC games … Harding has scored 34.7 percent (33 of 95) of its runs in conference games in the fourth inning and has not scored any runs in the eighth inning … Harding has had 10 or more hits in its last four games, the first time it has had such a streak since Feb. 27-March 6, 2011 … the last time Harding had 10 or more hits in five straight games was April 4-7, 2009 (three games vs. Christian Brothers and two games vs. Williams Baptist) … Alan Copeland leads Harding with 11 multi-hit games and Stewart leads the Bisons with six multi-RBI games … Copeland enters the series with a team-best five-game hitting streak … Hunter has reached base in 32 consecutive games, Harding's record … Chandler has reached in 21 straight games.
Arkansas-Monticello Notes
Arkansas-Monticello enters the series 12-11 overall and 9-7 in the GAC. The Boll Weevils, who are 2-3 on the road, have alternated wins and losses in their last eight games.
Arkansas-Monticello ranks ninth in the GAC with a .255 team batting average and fifth with 5.9 runs per game. The Boll Weevils have hit 20 home runs and rank second in the GAC with 0.91 home runs per game.
Corey Wood, a left-handed hitting junior outfielder from Fredericton, New Brunswick, leads the Arkansas-Monticello offense. He is hitting .358, good for ninth in the GAC, and ranks fourth in slugging percentage (.679) and sixth in on-base percentage (.471).
UAM's pitching staff ranks fourth in the GAC with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Austin Braddock, a senior right-hander from Columbus, Mississippi, is the staff ace. He is 6-1 with a 2.00 ERA, the second-best in the conference. Braddock also leads the GAC with a .166 opponents' batting average and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his seven starts.
Series
Harding and Arkansas-Monticello played six games against each other last season. The Boll Weevils swept the regular-season series in Monticello. The Bisons won 13-3 in a non-conference game in Searcy, and the teams split two games at the GAC Tournament.
Derek Reeves tied a Harding record with three doubles vs. UAM in 1999 … Justin Phillips set a modern-day Harding record with 17 strikeouts vs. UAM in 2007 … Harding set a school record with 10 doubles vs. the Boll Weevils in 2010.
Harding Hitters vs. Arkansas-Monticello: Noah Chandler (.211, 4 for 19, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI), John Chapman (.333, 6 for 18, 4 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI), Alan Copeland (.000, 0 for 1), Harrison Hunter (.444, 4 for 9, 3 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI), Kyler Offenbacker (.167, 3 for 18, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI), Davis Richardson (.438, 7 for 18, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI), Zac Stewart (.111, 1 for 9, 2 RBI).
Harding Pitchers vs. Arkansas-Monticello: Collin Campbell (1-1, 6.08, 13 1/3 IP, 14 K), Alan Copeland (0-0, 2.57, 7 IP, 5 K), Andrew Fiddler (0-0, 0.00, 2 saves, 8 IP, 10 K), Hunter Payne (0-0, 16.88, 2 2/3 IP, 2 K), Zac Stewart (0-0, 0.00, 4 IP, 2 K), Jacob Stripling (1-0, 6.00, 3 IP, 1 K).
