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Harding University Athletics

Grant Guest
Grant Guest went 3-for-3 with two runs scored.
3
Northwestern Okla. NWOSU 12-29, 9-16 GAC
9
Winner Harding HU 19-21, 11-14 GAC
Northwestern Okla. NWOSU
12-29, 9-16 GAC
3
Final
9
Harding HU
19-21, 11-14 GAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Northwestern Okla. NWOSU 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 8 2
Harding HU 0 0 2 0 5 0 2 0 X 9 17 1

W: Fiddler, Andrew (4-6) L: Pat Delano (1-4)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Scott Goode (4/15/16)

Harding Baseball Collects 17 Hits in 9-3 Victory over Northwestern Oklahoma

SEARCY – All nine players in Harding's starting lineup had hits, and the Bisons plated five runs in the fifth inning in a 9-3 Great American Conference victory over Northwestern Oklahoma on Friday at Jerry Moore Field.

Harding (19-21, 11-14) remained in seventh place in the conference standings with the victory. Northwestern Oklahoma (12-29, 9-16) lost its fifth straight and fell two games behind the Bisons. The Rangers and Arkansas Tech were tied for eighth entering the weekend.

Harding and Northwestern Oklahoma conclude their series Saturday with a noon doubleheader. There will be a pregame ceremony honoring former Harding head coach Dick Johnson beginning at 11:45 a.m. All former Harding players who played for Coach Johnson are invited for the ceremony.

KEY INNINGS
  • Harding led 2-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning. Noah Chandler led off the inning with a single. One out later, Harrison Hunter singled to right and Blake Coward chopped an infield single over the head of Pat Delano, the 6-foot-7 starting pitcher for Northwestern Oklahoma, to load the bases. Harding's cleanup hitter, Davis Richardson, hit a hard ground ball to Ranger first baseman Alex Phillips, who tried to throw home for a force out but drilled Richardson with the throw as he raced toward first base. Two runs scored on the error. Another scored on Grant Guest's double and two more scored on Chris Taylor's single to left.
  • Northwestern Oklahoma's first three hitters reached in the top of the sixth, and two of them scored before Harding starter Andrew Fiddler retired three straight hitters.
  • Leading 7-3, Harding put the game away with two more runs in the seventh. Richardson singled and later scored on a wild pitch, and Taylor drove in Guest from third with a ground out.
  • Harding scored twice to take the lead in the third. With one out, Noah Chandler hit a bloop single into right field that tipped off the end of the glove of a diving second baseman Casey Dickerman. Zac Stewart then lined a high fastball off the 14-foot wall in straight away center field to score Chandler with the first run of the game. It was Stewart's team-leading sixth triple of the season. One out later, Coward shot a two-out, run-scoring single through the right side, scoring Stewart with the second run for the Bisons. It was Coward's 21st RBI of the season and his eighth with two outs.
KEY STATS
  • Coward was 4-for-5, his first four-hit game of the season. Guest and Chandler both had three hits for Harding. It was Guest's fourth game of the season with three or more hits and Chandler's third.
  • Fiddler (4-6) earned the win, pitching a strong 7 2/3 innings. He allowed eight hits and three earned runs with five strikeouts.
  • Fiddler moved into second place in career strikeouts at Harding with 205 in his four seasons as a Bison. He passed Robert Helvering, who pitched from 1970-73 and had 201 career strikeouts.
  • Delano (1-4) gave up 14 hits and nine runs (eight earned) in taking the loss. He pitched 6 2/3 inning and had four strikeouts.
  • Joshua Spears got the last four outs for the Bisons.
  • All eight of Northwestern's hits came from the first four batters in the lineup. Jacob Long led the Rangers, going 3-for-4 with a run.
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