DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma's Mike Metheny Field had not been too kind to Harding baseball over the years. The Bisons had not won a series against the Savage Storm in nine tries dating to 1997 – until Friday.
The Bisons opened Great American Conference play by blasting five home runs and getting solid pitching in a doubleheader sweep. Harding won the opener 7-3 and took game two 6-3. The final game is Saturday at 11 a.m.
Harding hit three home runs in game one. It was the fourth straight three-HR game by the Bisons at Southeastern's Mike Metheny Field. Harding hit three homers in each of its games in Durant in 2019.
Cody Smith hit a two-run homer in the fourth. David Butterfield hit a solo shot in the sixth, and Michael Chrisman added another two-run blast.
Butterfield was 3-for-4 with three runs scored. It was his fifth career home run. Smith and Chrisman had two hits each. Smith's homer was the second of his career, and Chrisman's blast was his third.
Andrew Bradshaw (1-0) started and went 6.0 innings, allowing only three earned runs with five strikeouts in the victory. Ryder Yakel picked up a 3.0-inning save, yielding only one hit and extending his scoreless innings streak to 30.1 innings.
Harding scored five runs on eight hits in six innings off Southeastern starter Jacob Potter (0-1).
Harding had 13 hits, including two more home runs, in the game two victory.
Bison starter Ty Hoecker worked out of trouble in the first inning, allowing only one run on three hits. The Savage Storm had runners at second and third with one out, but Hoecker struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
Harding responded immediately with a pair of solo home runs in the top of the second. Harrison Heffley hit his first as a Bison, and Smith hit his second of the day.
Harding scored four runs on five hits in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead. Connor Kelly had a two-run double in the frame and scored on Luke Van Dover's double off the wall. Van Dover scored on Butterfield's two-out single.
Southeastern tacked on two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a Colton Buckner home run. Both runs followed a Harding error and were unearned.
Hoecker (1-0) yielded only one earned run and struck out seven over 5.0 innings for his ninth win in 17 career starts for the Bisons. Carter McCall earned his first collegiate save with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.
Chris Witzke had his first career three-hit game, and Heffley and Butterfield had two hits each. Butterfield has eight hits in his first 12 at-bats to start the season.
The Bisons peppered Southeastern starter Mason Whitmarsh (1-1) for four runs on seven hits over 4.0 innings.
