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Harding University Athletics

Harding Baseball
10
Winner Harding University HU 16-11
9
Union University UU 8-16
Winner
Harding University HU
16-11
10
Final
9
Union University UU
8-16
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Harding University HU 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 0 2 0 0 2 10 15 0
Union University UU 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 9 14 6

W: Bowers, Nick (1-0) L: Logan Portis (1-5) S: Adcock, Dylan (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Scott Goode (3/19/19)

Harding Baseball Steals Victory at Union, McGaha's 500th Career Win

JACKSON, Tenn. – Harding head coach Dr. Patrick McGaha certainly does not remember all of his 500 collegiate coaching victories, but his 500th he will never forget.

It went 12 innings and lasted more than 3½ hours. Harding used every available pitcher, including the winning pitcher, who had not appeared in a game in more than a month. Harding scored the go-ahead run in the 12th by stealing home in a 10-9 nonconference road victory over Union. It was that kind of game.

Harding improved to 16-11 by winning its longest game since playing 12 innings against Southern Nazarene on March 26, 2017. The Bisons's last win in a game of this length came on Feb. 19, 2016, a 6-5 victory over Henderson State in 12 innings. Union, a member of the Gulf South Conference, fell to 8-16.

McGaha, in his 14th season with the Bisons, has won 381 games at Harding and won 119 in four seasons as head coach at College of the Ozarks.

With two outs and nobody on and the score tied 8-8 in the top of the 12th, Harding's Luke Van Dover line his team-leading 12th double down the leftfield line. Connor Kelly's infield single moved Van Dover to third. With David Butterfield hitting, Kelly intentionally allowed himself to be caught in a rundown between first and second. When the throw went to first, Van Dover stole home to put Harding ahead 9-8.

Butterfield followed that with an infield single, his fourth hit of the game, that scored Kelly to give Harding a two-run cushion. They needed it.

Union's Eli Thibado led off the bottom of the 12th with a solo home run off Bison reliever Nick Bowers to cut Harding's lead to 10-9. Bowers (1-0), who last pitched on Feb. 18, had held Union scoreless in the 10th and 11th innings, gave way for freshman Dylan Adcock to finish it off.

Adcock retired the only three hitters he faced for his first collegiate save.

Harding looked to have won the game in the ninth. The Bisons scored two runs without the benefit of a hit in the top of the ninth to take an 8-5 lead. Van Dover, who reached base for the 27th consecutive game, walked to lead off the ninth and scored on a Ben Brauss sacrifice fly. Connor Kelly also walked and scored on a wild pitch.

Union answered with three runs on four hits, including a two-run triple, in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.

Union scored four runs in the first two innings, but Harding scored the next six runs and led 6-5 after seven innings.

Kelly and Butterfield both had four hits, the first four-hit game for each player this season. It was Kelly's second career four-hit game and Butterfield's first. Van Dover scored four runs for the second time in his career.

Union designated hitter Josh Bozoian was a double away from hitting for the cycle. He was 4-for-5 with a run and five RBIs.

Harding returns to Searcy this weekend to take on Southern Nazarene in Great American Conference play. The first game of the three-game series is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. The game will air live on HU16 in Searcy and stream live on the Harding Sports Network.
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