No. 4 Harding (36-22, 26-18 GAC) vs. No. 2 Southern Arkansas (46-8, 33-8 GAC)
Bentonville, Ark. (Bentonville HS) • April 30 • 2 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Internet:
    Live Stats: www.HardingSports.com
    Live Video: www.HardingSports.com

THE COACHES
Phil Berry, Harding
    at Harding: 91-80 (3rd season)
    Career: same
    vs. SAU: 1-8
Jason Anderson, Southern Arkansas
    at SAU: 72-32 (2nd season)
    Career: 338-90 (8th season)

THE SERIES
Series Record: SAU leads 8-1
in Bentonville: HU 1-0
First Meeting: SAU 4-1 (3/14/14)
Last Meeting: SAU 12-4 (4/2/16)
Current Streak: SAU 4 games

The Harding softball team will continue Great American Conference Tournament action on Saturday when it takes on No. 2 seed and No. 18 in NCAA Division II Southern Arkansas at 2 p.m. The Lady Bisons defeated No. 5 seed Arkansas-Monticello 10-3 in the first round and then defeated No. 1 seed and No. 8 in Division II Arkansas Tech 1-0 in 10 innings in the second round.

In Harding's three years of participating in the tournament it hasn't won two games in tournament in the same year. The Lady Bisons are 4-4 in GAC Tournament games. It will be the second time Harding has faced Southern Arkansas in tournament. The Lady Bisons defeated the Lady Muleriders, which were the No. 8 seed, 5-0 last season.

Harding has a 7-3 record on a neutral field and has a 6-0 record in the city of Bentonville this season.

The Lady Bisons have won 10 of their last 11 games. Its only loss during that stretch was against Southwestern Oklahoma 8-5 at home.

Harding Team Notes:
Harding is coming off a 1-0 win over Arkansas Tech on Friday. The game was scheduled to be played at 8 p.m., but due to games running late, the game didn't start until 11:45 pm. Harding won the game 1-0 in the bottom of the 10th inning on a walk-off double by Alexus Lawellin. The game ended at 2:13 a.m. Harding starting pitcher Hannah Johnson threw her 18th complete game and fourth shutout of the season. She pitched all 10 innings, gave up four hits and struck out a season-high seven batters. Johnson faced 37 batters and threw 134 pitches.

In conference games this season, Harding was led by Alexus Lawellin who hit .423. She had 58 hits, 27 RBIs and 39 runs scored. As a team, the Lady Bisons hit .327, had 399 hits, scored 258 runs, had 67 doubles, 10 triples, 36 home runs and 241 RBIs.

Harding ranks first in the GAC and 30th in NCAA Division II with a .326 batting average. Alexus Lawellin ranks second in conference hitting .416, Kinsey Beck ranks seventh hitting .374 and Peyton Mills ranks 10th hitting .369.

The Lady Bisons rank first in the GAC in hits with 522. Harding has four players in the top seven in the conference in hits. Courtney Derrick ranks third with 73, Alexus Lawellin ranks fourth with 72, Kinsey Beck ranks fifth with 71 and Peyton Mills ranks tied for sixth with 66.

Kimmy Hendricks leads the GAC and ranks 13th in NCAA Division II in RBIs with 60. She had three RBIs in the first round game against Arkansas-Monticello. Hendricks is hitting .293 on the season and has eight home runs, three have been grand slams.

In Harding's brief history, the Lady Bisons have only hit three walk-off home runs. Two have been by Peyton Mills as she hit both at home as the first one was against East Central and the second one was against Arkansas-Monticello. Amanda Berdon hit the third one this past weekend against Southwestern Oklahoma.

Harding ranks first in the GAC in runs scored with 346 which sets a new school record and is six off setting a new GAC record. The Lady Bisons have three players ranked in the top 10 in the GAC in runs scored. Peyton Mills ranks tied for first with 56, Courtney Derrick ranks third with 52 and Alexus Lawellin ranks fifth with 48.

Harding ranks first in the GAC and ninth in NCAA Division II in stolen bases with 135 (2.34 per game). The Lady Bisons have 54 more stolen bases than second place in the GAC (Southeastern Okla. - 81). The Lady Bisons have five players ranked in the top 10 in the GAC. Peyton Mills and Courtney Derrick are tied for second with 32 and Kimmy Hendricks ranks eighth with 19.

Harding ranks seventh in the GAC with a 3.80 team ERA. Hannah Johnson leads the Lady Bisons with a 2.43 ERA. Her 20 wins this season set a new school record previously held by Amber Rollins (2014-15) who had 18 wins last season.

Freshman pitcher Kelly Beth Ernest ranks tied for first in NCAA Division II in saves with 10 saves. Ernest had two saves against Southwestern Oklahoma last weekend.

Harding has hit 45 home runs this season to rank fourth in the GAC. Of the 42 home runs, five have been grand slams and Harding has had at least two runners on during 14 of the home runs.

Harding ranks seventh in the GAC with a .957 fielding percentage. The Lady Bisons have turned three double plays in the GAC Tournament thus far. Harding now has 29 double plays on season to rank first in the GAC.

Kinsey Beck is currently on a 16 game hitting streak and Alexus Lawellin is on a 12 game hitting streak. Beck had a 19 game hitting streak earlier this season.

Alexus Lawellin has reached back in her last 19 games and Kinsey Beck has reached in her last 16. Peyton Mills set a new school record for the most consecutive games to reach base earlier this season. She reached base in Harding's first 35 games.

Harding is 2-6 against ranked opponents. Both of the wins came against Arkansas Tech this season.

Harding ranks first in the GAC in:
Batting Average: .326
Runs scored: 346
Hits: 522
RBIs: 316
Doubles: 85
Stolen Bases: 135
Saves: 12

Harding ranks second in the GAC in:
Slugging Pct.: .479
On Base Pct.: .401
Triples: 12


Opponent Notes:
Southern Arkansas heads into the game with a 43-8 overall record. The Lady Muleriders have won their last six games including wins over East Central (3-2) in the first round of the GAC Tournament and Henderson State (5-3) in the second round.

Southern Arkansas is led on the season by Darian Harris who has a .404 batting average to rank fourth in the GAC. She leads the team in hits with 63 and doubles with 16. Brooke Goad is hitting .372 and leads the team in runs scored with 56, home runs with 20 and RBIs with 48. Her home runs lead the GAC.

The Lady Muleriders have a 1.74 team ERA which ranks second in the GAC. Kimmy Beasley leads the team with a 1.07 ERA and a 21-3 record. She has thrown 18 complete games and has eight shutouts.

Southern Arkansas Ranking in the GAC:

Batting Average: .318 – 2nd
Hits: 424 – 4th
Home Runs: 61 – 1st
Wins: 43 – 2nd
ERA: 1.74 – 2nd
Strikeouts: 360 – 3rd

Southern Arkansas Players Ranking in the GAC:

Batting Avg.: Darian Harris - .404 – 4th
Slugging Pct.: Brooke Goad - .851 – 1st
On Base Pct.: Brooke Goad - .518 – 3rd
Runs Scored: Brooke Goad – 56 – T-1st

RBIs: Brooke Goad – 48 – T-4th
Home Runs: Brooke Goad – 20 – 1st

ERA: Kimmy Beasley – 1.07 – 3rd

Opposing Batting Avg.: Kimmy Beasley - .182 – 2nd
Wins: Kaylee Garner – 22 – 1st

Series:
When the two teams played this season in Magnolia, Southern Arkansas won the series 4-0. It was the only series Harding was swept this season.

Harding was led at the plate by Alexus Lawellin who hit .444 in nine at bats. She had for hits, scored three runs had one home run and one RBI. As a team, Harding hit .174 and was held to only 16 hits in the four games.

Hannah Johnson went 0-2 against the Lady Muleriders in three appearances. She threw 12 1/3 innings, gave up 16 hits, eight earned runs, walked three and struck out four.