BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Senior pitcher Amber Rollins pitched her third career shutout as the Harding softball team defeated Southern Arkansas 5-0 to stay alive in the Great American Conference Tournament on Thursday at Memorial Park. The Lady Bisons, the No. 5 seed, will face No. 3 seed Southeastern Oklahoma on Friday at 1 p.m., in another elimination game that will be played at the Tiger Athletic Complex.

With the loss, No. 8 seed Southern Arkansas (26-24) was eliminated from the tournament.

After two scoreless innings, Harding scored two runs in the third, two in the fourth and a run in the sixth to capture the win.

In the third inning with runners at first and second, Kimmy Hendricks laid down a bunt to move the runners over but the throw to first was wild which allowed Kinsey Beck to score from second for the Lady Bisons first run. With runners at second and third and no outs, Mackenzie Jones' ball four pitch was wild and got away from the catcher which allowed Brookelynn Moon to score from third to give Harding a 2-0 lead.

The Lady Bisons tacked on two more in the fourth when Jessica Greene hit a single to right field to score Emily Jones from second. Two outs later, Hendricks walked and then tried to steal second on the next batter but was thrown out but not before Greene scored from third.

Kimmy Hendricks scored the Lady Bisons fifth run when she homered to left center field. It was her sixth home run of the season.

With the win, Amber Rollins improved her record to 15-14. It was her 21st complete game this season as she only allowed three hits and struck out seven in the game. Abby Weaver (3-4) got the loss for Southern Arkansas.

Emily Jones went 2-for-3 to lead Harding in the game.

Despite being a higher seed in the tournament, Harding was the visiting team after a coin flip determined who was home and an away.