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Harding University Athletics

2019 baseball seniors
Jeff Montgomery/Harding Universi
1
Henderson State HSU 21-21, 15-13 GAC
11
Winner Harding HU 28-17, 17-12 GAC
Henderson State HSU
21-21, 15-13 GAC
1
Final
11
Harding HU
28-17, 17-12 GAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Henderson State HSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 1
Harding HU 2 0 1 0 3 0 3 2 11 14 0

W: McCall, Logan (2-4) L: Drake Salsman (2-3)

5
Winner Henderson State HSU 22-21, 16-13 GAC
4
Harding HU 28-18, 17-13 GAC
Winner
Henderson State HSU
22-21, 16-13 GAC
5
Final
4
Harding HU
28-18, 17-13 GAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Henderson State HSU 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 5 9 0
Harding HU 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 4 0

W: Zach Eschberger (4-2) L: Hoecker, Ty (5-2) S: Jon Youngblood (4)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Scott Goode (4/20/19)

Harding Baseball's Split with Henderson State Leaves Key GAC Series to Play

SEARCY – With an 11-1 run-rule victory over Henderson State in game one of Saturday's Senior Day Great American Conference doubleheader and a near comeback 5-4 loss in game two, Harding will enter the final weekend of the conference season in the middle of a logjam.

Seven teams, including Harding, have 16 conference wins or more. Only Arkansas-Monticello (22-5) and Southern Arkansas (20-9) have clinched one of the six GAC Tournament berths. Harding (17-13) will travel to Arkansas Tech (19-10) next weekend hoping to do enough to earn a trip to the tournament in Enid, Oklahoma.

Harding moved to 28-18 overall with the split. Henderson State is now 22-21.

GAME 1
Harding pounded out 14 hits against three Henderson State pitchers in the opener.

Harding took a quick 2-0 lead with two unearned runs in the first, the first run coming on error when Henderson State third baseman Daniel Colasanto dropped the ball attempting to tag Nolan Fertig in a rundown between third and home.

David Butterfield had four RBIs in the game, the first coming on an RBI single in the third to give Harding a 3-0 lead.

Connor Kelly and Butterfield both drove in runs in the fifth, and Kelly later scored on a wild pitch to put Harding up 6-0.

Henderson State's lone run came in the top of the seventh off Harding starter Logan McCall (2-4), who had one of his best outings of the season. McCall allowed only five hits and one earned run over six innings with seven strikeouts.

Ryder Yakel worked out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh to get the game's final five outs.

Harding tacked on three more runs in the seventh, two coming on a Brendan Perrett double. In the eighth, the Bisons ended the game early with two runs on RBIs from Butterfield and Ben Brauss.

Luke Van Dover went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and his team-leading 18th double.

GAME 2
Harding managed only four hits in game two, two each from Miles Humphreys and Kelly, but came up one run short after falling behind 5-0 after four innings.

Henderson State scored one in the third and four in the fourth, including a three-run home run from Joe Meyers.

Harding's comeback began in the fifth. Jack Thomas walked after an 11-pitch at-bat. Two wild pitches and a walk later, Harding had runners at the corners when Humphreys doubled to left center to score Thomas. Fertig scored on a Van Dover ground out, and Humphreys scored on a two-out single by Kelly to cut Henderson State's lead to 5-3.

Henderson State reliever Spencer Taack hit pinch hitter Ben Bailey with a pitch to open the sixth. Cody Smith came on to pinch run and later scored on a Brendan Perrett ground out. With a runner at second and two out, Fertig hit a hard liner to right that would have easily scored the runner with the tying run, but Henderson State right fielder Joseph Shepherd made a great running catch to end the rally.

With two outs in the seventh, Kelly singled and went to second on a wild pitch but a ground out ended the game.

Harding will be back in action Tuesday in its final home game of the season. The Bisons will play Union (Tenn.) in a nonconference game beginning at 6 p.m.
 
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