Skip To Main Content

Harding University Athletics

Blake Coward
Blake Coward had five hits in the doubleheader and raised his average to .329.
11
Harding HU 12-18, 5-12 GAC
13
Winner East Central ECU 8-19, 8-9 GAC
Harding HU
12-18, 5-12 GAC
11
Final
13
East Central ECU
8-19, 8-9 GAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Harding HU 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 4 0 11 18 2
East Central ECU 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 7 X 13 12 2

W: C. Childers (1-0) L: Stewart, Zac (1-3) S: S. Edmonds (2)

6
Winner Harding HU 13-18, 6-12 GAC
4
East Central ECU 8-20, 8-10 GAC
Winner
Harding HU
13-18, 6-12 GAC
6
Final
4
East Central ECU
8-20, 8-10 GAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Harding HU 0 1 0 2 3 0 0 6 10 1
East Central ECU 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 8 1

W: Payne, Hunter (5-4) L: Kyle Britt (2-4) S: Roberts, Reed (2)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Scott Goode (3/26/16)

Harding Baseball Splits Doubleheader at East Central

ADA, Okla. – Harding and East Central split their Great American Conference doubleheader Saturday with both teams earning a come-from-behind win.

Harding led 7-0 in game one, but East Central rallied to win 13-11. East Central led 4-1 in game two, but Harding clawed back to win 6-4.

Harding moved to 13-18 overall and 6-12 in the GAC. East Central is now 8-20 overall and 8-10 in conference games.

The Bisons do not have a midweek game and will return to action Friday at 3 p.m. with the first game of a three-game series against Southern Arkansas.

GAME ONE KEY INNINGS (East Central 13, Harding 11)
  • Harding had five hits and scored twice in the top of the second inning. Blake Coward hit his second home run of the season to lead off the inning, and Alan Copeland added an RBI single to make it 2-0.
  • Harding added five more runs on six hits in the third to go up 7-0. Grant Guest had a solo home run, his second. Noah Chandler drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Chris Taylor hit a three-run home run, also his second home run of the season.
  • East Central scored five in the fourth and one in the fifth to cut Harding's lead to 7-6.
  • Harding answered with a four-run eighth inning to pull out to an 11-6 lead. The runs scored on a Zac Stewart RBI single, a two-run single from Harrison Hunter and a Coward double to left that plated Hunter.
  • East Central sent 12 batters to the place in a seven-run bottom of the eighth. The first nine hitters of the inning all reached safely and seven of them scored.
GAME ONE KEY STATS
  • Harding had 12 hits through the first three innings but did not collect its next hit until the eighth.
  • Harding totaled 18 hits in the game, one off its season high of 19 against Southern Nazarene on March 14.
  • Harding had seven players with multiple hits, including Hunter, Coward and Copeland. Coward was a triple short of the cycle.
  • Harding's three home runs tied a season high.
  • Harding used seven pitchers in the game. Stewart took the loss to fall to 1-3.
  • East Central reliever Carson Childers (1-0) earned his first win of the season, collecting the last two outs in the eighth. Shae Edmonds pitched the ninth for his second save.
GAME TWO KEY INNINGS (Harding 6, East Central 4)
  • Harding's first three hitters in the second inning singled. The third single, from Taylor, drove in Davis Richardson to give the Bisons a 1-0 lead.
  • East Central scored three in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead. The Tigers used three hits, a walk, a wild pitch, two stolen bases and an error to take the lead.
  • A solo home run from East Central's Jake McKeel gave the Tigers a 4-1 advantage.
  • Harding's comeback began in the fourth. Copeland reached on an error that should have been the third out. Stewart tripled to score Copeland and Chandler, who had walked to lead off the inning, to cut East Central's lead to 4-3.
  • Harding retook the lead in the fifth. The first four batters each notched base hits. Richardson drove in a run with a double, and Chandler placed Coward with an RBI single. Richardson scored the third run on Jaxon Mohr's RBI ground out that made the score 6-4.
GAME TWO KEY STATS
  • Hunter Payne improved to 5-4, earning the win as the starting pitcher for Harding. He pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed seven hits and four runs (three earned).
  • Reed Roberts allowed only one hit and no runs over the last 2 2/3 innings, earning his second save. Roberts has given up only one earned run in his last five outings, covering 9 1/3 innings.
  • Coward was 2-for-4 with a run in game two. He was 5-for-9 with three runs scored and two RBIs in the doubleheader.
  • Stewart had his team-leading fourth triple of the season.
  • East Central reliever Kyle Britt (2-4) gave up hits to all three batters he faced to start the fifth inning and took the loss.
Print Friendly Version