Postgame Interview with Davis Richardson
ENID, Okla. – Harding switch-hitting junior Davis Richardson hit two home runs, one from each side of the plate, including a game-winning, three-run blast with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Bisons an 8-5 victory over Southern Arkansas at the Great American Conference Tournament.
Harding (27-24) advanced to meet Southeastern Oklahoma on Monday at 3:30 p.m. Southern Arkansas (36-16) will play Monday at noon.
Harding trailed 5-3 entering the bottom of the ninth and had one on with two out when the rally began. Harrison Hunter hit a ground ball to Southern Arkansas Chris Quinn that looked like the game-ender, but Quinn slipped and the ball went through to left field, moving Kyler Offenbacker to third. Southern Arkansas removed starter Colton Strother and inserted right-hander Travis Johnson.
Zac Stewart welcomed Johnson with a single through the left side to score Offenbacker to cut the Mulerider lead to 5-4. Noah Chandler, with an 0-2 count, tied the game with Harding's third straight single, plating Hunter and bring Davis to bat.
Davis, batting left-handed for the first time in the game, hit the first pitch he saw the opposite way over the left field wall.
It was the second game-winning home run in GAC Tournament history. Southern Arkansas' Jason Dahl hit the other to beat Ouachita Baptist in the 2012 championship game.
Southern Arkansas took a 4-0 lead in the second inning, scoring all four runs off Harding starter Jacob Stripling.
Junior Hunter Payne relieved Stripling and shut down the Muleriders over the next four innings.
In the fourth, Richardson, batting right-handed against the lefty Strother, cut Southern Arkansas' lead to 4-2 with his first home run of the game. Richardson became the first Harding player to hit two home runs in a conference tournament game since Justin Cone and Morgan Trotter both hit two home runs against North Alabama in the 2002 Gulf South Conference Tournament.
Richardson also had a two-home run game last season against Arkansas-Monticello in Searcy.
Both teams scored single runs in the seventh. Payne gave Harding five innings and allowed only the run in the seventh. Stewart (4-3) relived Payne and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the win. He also scored the game-winning run on Davis' second home run.
Hunter went 4 for 5 with a run and an RBI and was one of six Bisons with multi-hit games. It was his first four-hit game of the season and only the second by a Harding hitter.
Johnson (2-4) did not retire a hitter and suffered the loss.
