ALVA, Okla. – The Harding softball team split with Northwestern Oklahoma Saturday in Great American Conference action. The Lady Bisons won 3-2 but fell in game two 4-2.
Harding will be the No. 6 seed in the upcoming GAC Tournament held in Bentonville, Arkansas May 2-5. The Lady Bisons will play the No. 3 seed Southeastern Oklahoma at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday in the first round.
Harding moves to 30-24 overall and 22-22 in the GAC. It marks the fourth time in the program the Lady Bisons have won 30 games in a season.
Northwestern Oklahoma moves to 17-33 overall and 16-28 in the GAC.
Game One Key Innings (Harding 3, Northwestern Okla. 2)
- Northwestern Oklahoma took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Brittany Corrales hit a solo home run.
- Harding tied the game in the third when Briley Feringa homered. It was her first of the year.
- The Rangers took the lead again in the fourth when Brittany Corrales reached on catchers interference with the bases loaded. Morgan Kirk scored on the play.
- The Lady Bisons took the lead for good in the fifth when Peyton Mills hit a two-run home to left field. It was her team-leading 10th of the season. It marks the second career 10 homer season for Mills. She hit 11 her freshman year in 2016.
Game One Key Statistics
- Harding had six hits with Mills going 2-for-4.
- Northwestern Oklahoma had seven hits led by Katie Bell who had two.
- Harding starter Amanda Berry got the win to improve to 10-7. She pitched five innings and struck out two. Emma Dwyer received the save, her fifth of the season, in two innings of work.
- Karly Murray received the loss and falls to 9-16 overall.
Game Two Key Innings (Northwestern Okla. 4, Harding 2)
- Northwestern Oklahoma broke the scoreless tie in the third when Jordan Sutton singled up the middle to score Madi Parrott.
- Harding took the lead in the fifth scoring two runs on two errors. Katie Carney singled in a run and eventually scored on the play after two Ranger errors.
- The Rangers tied the game in the sixth when lead-off batter Jordan Sutton homered to left field. Northwestern added two more runs in the inning.
Game Two Key Statistics
- Northwestern Oklahoma had six hits with Jordan Sutton going 2-for-3.
- Harding had five hits led by Peyton Mills who went 2-for-4.
- Madison Garza received the win for Northwestern and improves to 11-10. She pitched the complete game, walked six and stuck out eight.
- Emma Dwyer received the loss and falls to 11-10 in 2/3 innings of relief. Harding starter Emily Garrett went five innings and gave up one earned run.
