BENTONVILLE, Ark.  – The Harding softball team run-ruled Southern Nazarene 8-0 in five innings behind Jenna Hipp's no-hitter in the first round of the Great American Conference Tournament.

Harding, the No. 3 seed, will play the winner of No 2 seed Arkansas Tech and No. 7 seed Southwestern Oklahoma, Saturday at 1 p.m., at Bentonville High School.

Hipp's no-hitter was the third no-hitter in program history. Autumn Humes had two no-hitters in the 2017 season.

Harding improves to 35-22 overall. Southern Nazarene ends its season with a 25-30 record.  

Key Innings (Harding 8, Southern Nazarene 0 – 5 Innings)

-         Harding got on the board in the first inning when Amanda Fields reached on a fielding error that allowed Lindsey Duncan to score.

-         The Lady Bisons added two more runs in the fourth on three hits and a Southern Nazarene error. Madison Leggett hit a single to center that scored Hanna Jones and Kyndal Pirtle hit a single to center field that scored Leggett.

-         Harding scored five runs on five hits and one error in the bottom of the fifth inning to force the run-rule. Mason McCord hit a single to right center that scored two runs, Lindsey Duncan hit a single to center that scored a run and Briley Feringa drove in Kyndal Pirtle for the final run of the game.

Key Statistics

-         Harding had 12 hits in the game. Kyndal Pirtle, Lindsey Duncan, Briley Feringa and Madison Leggett each had two hits.

-         It was the fourth no-hitter in the conference tournament and the first since Jalissa Gum threw one for Arkansas Tech against Southern Nazarene in 2016.

-         Jenna Hipp, a freshman from Rose Bud, Arkansas, improved to 17-6 in the circle for Harding. She had two walks and two strikeouts against 18 batters.

-         Mahina Sauer started and received the loss for Southern Nazarene. She went 3 2/3 innings, gave up seven hits, two earned runs and struck out two.