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Harding University Athletics

Andrew Fiddler
Sterling McMichael
Andrew Fiddler won for the third straight starts.
6
Winner Harding HU 21-23, 13-15 GAC
2
Southwestern Okla. SWOSU 27-13, 17-8 GAC
Winner
Harding HU
21-23, 13-15 GAC
6
Final
2
Southwestern Okla. SWOSU
27-13, 17-8 GAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Harding HU 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 6 12 2
Southwestern Okla. SWOSU 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 1

W: Fiddler, Andrew (5-6) L: J. Chidester (7-4)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Scott Goode (4/22/16)

Harding Baseball Uses Quick Start to Defeat Southwestern Oklahoma, 6-2

WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Harding won for the sixth time in its last seven Great American Conference games Friday with a 6-2 victory over GAC co-leader Southwestern Oklahoma.

Harding scored in each of the first four innings and had 12 hits in the victory. The Bisons improved to 21-23 overall and 13-15 in conference. Harding is in seventh place in the GAC, only one-half game behind East Central for sixth and 2½ games ahead of Northwestern Oklahoma, who is eighth.

Southwestern Oklahoma (27-13, 17-8) fell a game behind Arkansas-Monticello into second place in the GAC.

Harding and Southwestern will conclude the three-game series with a doubleheader Saturday at noon.

KEY INNINGS
  • Harding senior Zac Stewart hit Southwestern starter Jon Chidester's fourth pitch of the game over the left field wall to give the Bisons a 1-0 lead.
  • Southwestern answered with a run in the bottom of the first. Tanner Dearman doubled to lead off the inning and scored on Zach Barton's sacrifice fly.
  • Back-to-back singles to lead off the second led to a 2-1 Harding lead. Chris Taylor singled up the middle, and Zac Beasley singled to left. Alan Copeland moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt, and Noah Chandler drove in Taylor with a ground ball to second.
  • Harding tacked on two more runs to take a 4-1 lead in the third. Harrison Hunter led off the inning with a double and moved to third on Blake Coward's single. Hunter scored on a wild pitch, and Coward scored on Grant Guest's RBI single.
  • Southwestern closed to within 4-2 with a run in the bottom of the third, but Fiddler escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam with only one run scoring.
  • Harding extended its lead to 5-2 in the fourth. Copeland became the fourth straight Harding leadoff hitter to reach. He singled through the left side and scored on Hunter's second double of the game.
  • Harding's final run was unearned. Copeland reached on an error to lead off the eighth. Chandler sacrificed Copeland to second, and Stewart drove him in with a single up the middle.
KEY STATS
  • Fiddler pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed only two earned runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked one. Twelve of the 20 outs he recorded came on fly balls.
  • Fiddler improved to 5-6 with the win. He has won each of his last three starts.
  • Senior Joshua Spears pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, his sixth straight outing without allowing a run over a stretch of nine innings.
  • Sophomore Reed Roberts pitched a scoreless ninth.
  • Chidester (7-4) lost for the first time in his last four starts. He allowed a season-high 10 hits and tied his season high with five earned runs allowed. His one strikeout was a season-low.
  • Stewart, Hunter, Coward and Copeland each had two hits for Harding. Hunter had two doubles in a game for the second time this season (also at East Central, Mar. 25).
  • Taylor walked three times in the game, tying the season high by a Harding player.
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