No. 4 Harding (37-22, 26-18 GAC) vs. No. 2 Southern Arkansas (47-9, 33-8 GAC)
Bentonville, Ark. (Bentonville HS) • May 1 • 10 a.m.

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

THE COACHES
Phil Berry, Harding
    at Harding: 92-80 (3rd season)
    Career: same
    vs. SAU: 2-8
Jason Anderson, Southern Arkansas
    at SAU: 73-33 (2nd season)
    Career: 339-91 (8th season)

THE SERIES
Series Record: SAU leads 8-2
in Bentonville: HU 2-0
First Meeting: SAU 4-1 (3/14/14)
Last Meeting: HU 5-4 (4/30/16)
Current Streak: HU 1 game

The Harding softball team will play in the Great American Conference Tournament Championship game on Sunday at 10 a.m., against No. 2 seed and No. 18 Southern Arkansas.  The Lady Bisons are 3-0 in the tournament after beating No. 5 seed Arkansas-Monticello 10-3, No. 1 seed and No. 8 Arkansas Tech 1-0 in 10 innings and No. 2 seed and No. 18 Southern Arkansas 5-4.

It will be Harding's first time in its three seasons to take part in the tournament championship game. It is also the first time the Lady Bisons have won three games in the GAC Tournament.

Harding has an 8-3 record on a neutral field and has a 7-0 record in the city of Bentonville this season.

The Lady Bisons have won 11 of their last 12 games. Its only loss during that stretch was against Southwestern Oklahoma 8-5 at home.

Harding Team Notes:
Harding is coming off a 5-4 win over Southern Arkansas on Saturday. The Lady Bisons had eight hits in the game led by Kimmy Hendricks who had two. Courtney Derrick, Mackenzie Jones and Kinsey Beck each drove in a run for Harding. Hannah Johnson got the win after throwing a complete game. She gave up five hits, three earned runs and struck out four.

Hannah Johnson has thrown every pitch for Harding in the GAC Tournament. She has pitched in 24 innings, gave up 14 hits, seven runs, five earned runs, walked seven, struck out 14, gave up one double and one home run. She has a 1.46 ERA in the tournament and batters are hitting .167 against her.

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 .407, Kinsey Beck ranks seventh hitting .373 and Peyton Mills ranks 10th hitting .368.

The Lady Bisons rank first in the GAC in hits with 530 which sets a school record. Harding has four players in the top seven in the conference in hits. Courtney Derrick ranks third with 74, Alexus Lawellin ranks fourth with 72, Kinsey Beck ranks fifth with 72 and Peyton Mills ranks tied for sixth with 67.

This season Harding has set school records in: hits (530), home runs (45), RBIs (322), stolen bases (138), wins (37), saves (12) and shutouts (5).

Kimmy Hendricks leads the GAC and ranks 13th in NCAA Division II in RBIs with 60. She has three RBIs in the tournament, all coming in the first round game against Arkansas-Monticello. Hendricks has had 15 multiple RBI games this season to set a new school record. She has had five RBIs in a game three time this season. Hendricks is hitting .314 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 351 which sets a new school record and ties a GAC record.

Harding has 530 hits this season which ranks first in the GAC. The Lady Bisons need 10 more to set a new GAC record.

The Lady Bisons rank first in the GAC in RBIs with 322. Harding needs three more to set a new GAC record.

Harding ranks first in the GAC and ninth in NCAA Division II in stolen bases with 138 (2.34 per game). The Lady Bisons have five players ranked in the top 10 in the GAC. Peyton Mills ranks second with 33, Courtney Derrick ranks second with 32 and Kimmy Hendricks ranks tied for seventh with 20.

Harding ranks seventh in the GAC with a 3.79 team ERA. Hannah Johnson leads the Lady Bisons with a 2.45 ERA. Her 21 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 17 game hitting streak. She had a 19 game hitting streak earlier this season.

Kinsey Beck has reached base in her last 17 games. 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 3-6 against ranked opponents. The first two wins came against Arkansas Tech this season and the last win came against Southern Arkansas on Saturday.

In the GAC Tournament Harding is hitting .329, has scored 16 runs, has 28 hits, four doubles, one triple, 14 RBIs, slugging .400 and has a .414 on base percentage. The Lady Bisons have also stolen seven out of 10 bases.

Harding ranks first in the GAC in:
Batting Average: .326
Runs scored: 351
Hits: 530
RBIs: 322
Doubles: 86
Stolen Bases: 138
Saves: 12

Harding ranks second in the GAC in:
Slugging Pct.: .478
On Base Pct.: .401
Triples: 13

Opponent Notes:
Southern Arkansas heads into the game with a 44-9 overall record. The Lady Muleriders have won seven of their last eight games. In the GAC Tournament, Southern Arkansas defeated East Central 3-2 in 12 innings in the first round then defeated Henderson State 5-3 in the second round. The Lady Muleriders lost to Harding 5-4 then reached the championship game after defeated Henderson State again 8-1.

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: .316 – 2nd
Hits: 429 – 4th
Home Runs: 62 – 1st
Wins: 44 – 2nd
ERA: 1.79 – 2nd
Strikeouts: 362 – 3rd

Southern Arkansas Players Ranking in the GAC:

Batting Avg.: Darian Harris - .396 – 4th
Slugging Pct.: Brooke Goad - .840 – 1st
On Base Pct.: Brooke Goad - .515 – 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:
Harding is 1-4 against Southern Arkansas this season. The Lady Muleriders won all four games played in Magnolia this season.

Harding is hitting .202 against Southern Arkansas this season. Alexus Lawellin led the Lady Bisons at plate hitting .308 with four hits. Peyton Mills is hitting .286 with four hits and three RBIs.

Hannah Johnson is 1-2 in four appearances against Southern Arkansas this season. The Lady Muleriders are hitting .266 against her.