ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – It's always good to win your home games … wherever they may be played.
Harding and Ouachita Baptist had to move their three-game Great American Conference series to Henderson State's artificial turf Clyde Berry Field due to soggy playing conditions at Harding's Jerry Moore Field. Sunday, Harding won both "home" games 5-2 and 4-3, it first doubleheader sweep of the season.
The final game of the series will be played in Arkadelphia on Monday at 1 p.m.
The wins were important in the early GAC standings. Harding and Ouachita Baptist entered the weekend tied for eighth place, both with 3-6 conference records. The top eight teams advance to the GAC Tournament at the end of the season.
With the victories, Harding improved to 6-14 overall and 5-6 in the GAC. Ouachita lost its eighth straight and fell to 5-17 overall and 3-8 in conference.
In the opener, Harding plated multiple runs in the first inning for the first time this season. The Bisons had four hits in the inning with Luke Van Dover starting the rally with a one-out single. He went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Myles Humphrys' single to right. Chris Taylor followed with an infield single, and Zach Beasley scored both runners with the first of his two doubles.
Harding starter Austin Allen (3-2) cruised through the first six innings, scattering three hits. Ouachita struck in the seventh. Austin White lined a single off the glove of diving third baseman Grant Guest and advanced to second on a balk. White scored on Ryan Hammer's single to center. Hammer stole second and went to third on Aaron Studdard's single to left.
Junior Mason Faulkner relieved Allen and induced a ground out from Kord Offenbacker that scored Hammer to cut Harding's lead to 3-2. Faulkner retired the next two hitters to get out of the jam.
Harding tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on Van Dover's single to center that scored Ben Brauss, who led off the inning with a double, and scored again in the eighth when pinch hitter Jesse Cox drove in Beasley, who hit his second double to lead off the inning.
Allen earned the win, allowing six hits and two earned runs with one strikeout. Faulkner collected his third save with three innings of work. He allowed two hits and struck out two.
Ouachita starter John Franklin Matros (1-3) suffered the loss. He gave up nine hits and five earned runs with five strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings.
Harding had four players with two hits. Beasley had two doubles for the first time in his Harding career.
In game two, Ouachita's Kyle Alexander hit a two-run home run in the third as a part of a three-run inning that put the Tigers ahead 3-1.
The Harding comeback began in the bottom of the inning. Chris Taylor hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track with the bases loaded to score Jack Thomas and cut the Ouachita lead to 3-2.
In the fifth, Humphreys laced a triple down the right field line that scored Guest with the tying run.
The winning run came in the sixth. J. Paul Fullerton led off the inning with a walk. Brooks Pitaniello pinch ran for Fullerton and moved to second on Connor Kelly's sacrifice bunt. Pitaniello went to third on a Ben Brauss ground out, the second out of the inning. Thomas was next for the Bisons, and he hit a ground ball to the left of Studdard, Ouachita's second baseman. Studdard moved to his left but dropped the ball and was not able to recover in time to throw out Thomas at first, and Pitaniello scored to put Harding ahead.
Reed Roberts started for Harding and lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing 10 hits and three earned runs with two strikeouts.
Sophomore Raiff Beever came on in the sixth with runners at second and third and one out. On his second pitch, Ouachita's Ty Owens grounded to Guest at third, who threw home to Fullerton to tag out Hammer. Jakahari Howell grounded out on the next pitch to end the threat.
In the Ouachita seventh, Josh Weigle led off the inning with a bunt single, but Beever (1-0), who threw all 11 of his pitches for strikes, retired the next three batters to earn the victory.
Van Dover was 2-for-2 for Harding in game two. He had Harding's only multi-hit effort in game two.
