ALVA, Oklahoma – The Harding softball team swept Northwestern Oklahoma in Great American Conference action on Friday. The Lady Bisons won 10-4 and 15-7. With the wins, Harding sealed a spot in the GAC Tournament held April 28-30 in Bentonville, Arkansas. The Lady Bisons will still be fighting, in the remainder conference games, for what seed they will be.
Harding improves to 29-21 overall and 21-17 in the GAC. Northwestern Oklahoma falls to 10-36 overall and 8-28 in the GAC.
Game One Key Innings (Harding 10, Northwestern Oklahoma 4)
- Peyton Mills got things started for Harding in the top of the first when she hit a solo home run to left field. It was her eighth home run this season.
- The Lady Bisons tacked on two more runs in the third on RBIs by Kimmy Hendricks and Kinsey Beck.
- Northwestern Oklahoma got on the board in the third scoring two runs on four hits and a Harding error to make it a 3-2 game.
- The Lady Bisons answered back with three runs in the fourth on a three run home run by Alexus Lawellin. It was her fifth home run of the season.
- The Rangers made it a 6-4 game in the fourth when Amber Mills singled in two runs.
- Amanda Berdon picked up two RBIs for Harding in the sixth when she singled to left field.
- Harding made it a 10-4 game in the seventh when Peyton Mills hit a single that scored Courtney Derrick and Alexus Lawellin.
Game One Key Statistics
- Harding had 16 hits in the game. It was the fifth time this season the Lady Bisons have had over 15 hits in a game.
- Alexus Lawellin, Peyton Mills and Kinsey Beck each had three hits for Harding.
- Madison McGraw had three of Northwestern Oklahoma's eight hits.
- Hannah Johnson got the win for the Lady Bisons and improves to 15-8 on the season. She threw her 14th complete game, gave up one earned run and struck out five.
- Northwestern Oklahoma's starter Madison Garza got the loss and falls to 5-16 on the season. She threw 3 1/3 innings and gave up six earned runs.
Game Two Key Innings (Harding 15, Northwestern Oklahoma 7)
- Mackenzie Jones drove in two runs when she doubled to left field in the top of the first for Harding.
- Peyton Mills got her first two RBIs in the second inning when she doubled to left center field for the Lady Bisons.
- Amanda Berdon hit her first home run of the game in the third inning on a solo shot to left field.
- Harding tacked on three more runs and made it an 8-1 game when Peyton Mills hit a three-run home run to left center. It was her eighth home run of the season which leads the Lady Bisons.
- Northwestern Oklahoma got another run in the fourth on three hits to cut into the Lady Bison lead.
- Harding blew the game open in the sixth scoring six runs on six hits and two home runs. Amanda Berdon hit her second home run of the game and Heather Montgomery hit her first home run of the season. Each blast had a runner on base.
- Northwestern Oklahoma didn't go down without a fight scoring five runs on five hits in the sixth inning to force a seventh inning.
- Chandler Little picked her first RBI of the season when she drove in Alexus Lawellin from third for the Lady Bisons in the seventh.
Game Two Key Statistics
- Harding had 17 hits in the game and four home runs. It is the fourth time in Harding history the Lady Bisons have hit four home runs in a game. Harding set the record of seven home runs in a game at Northwestern Oklahoma in 2014.
- It was the third time in her career Amanda Berdon has hit a school record two home runs in a game.
- Harding was led by Peyton Mills who went 4-for-5 with five RBIs, one double, one home run and one run scored. It was the sixth time this season a Lady Bison has had five RBIs in a game and it was the first for Mills.
- Ashley Smith got the win for Harding and improves to 8-7 on the season. She threw three innings, gave up five hits and two earned runs.
- Karly Murray got the loss for Northwestern Oklahoma and falls to 4-10 on the season. She threw 3 1/3 innings, gave up nine hits and six earned runs.
Up Next
- The two teams will wrap up their series tomorrow starting at 11 a.m. The doubleheader was originally scored for a noon start but due to weather the games were pushed up.
