BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Harding softball team lead early but couldn't hold on as Southeastern Oklahoma defeated the Lady Bisons 2-1 in the semifinals of the Great American Conference Tournament Saturday. The loss snapped a 15-game win streak.
Both Lily Tanski and Hanna Jones were named to the GAC All-Tournament Team.
Harding ends its season with a 34-12 record. The Lady Bisons and the Harding community will miss Harding head coach Phil Berry who announced on April 20th that he is retiring after the end of the season.
Southeastern Oklahoma improves to 36-10 overall and will face Arkansas Tech for the GAC Tournament Championship with the winner earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Saturday's matchup marks the fourth time the two teams have played in 10 days. Harding faced Southeastern Oklahoma in the final regular season series May 6 and 7 in Searcy. The Lady Bisons swept the three-game series against the Savage Storm.
Key Innings
- B1 – Ashton Bryce, Harding's lead-off batter, hit a solo home run on the first pitch she saw. It was her second homerun of the season. (Harding 1, Southeastern Oklahoma 0)
- T5 – After a couple of defensive miscues, Southeastern Oklahoma had runners at second and third with no outs. Karissa Marshal hit a sacrifice fly the scored the first run and Kady Fryrear hit a double to right center that scored the second run. (Southeastern Oklahoma 2, Harding 1)
Key Statistics
- Harding had five hits in the game and were led by Makenzie Chappell who went 2-for-3.
- Southeastern Oklahoma had four hits all by different players.
- It was the first time this season Harding has out hit its opponent and lost.
- Amberlyn Walsworth got the win for the Savage Storm and improved to 18-5. She went all seven innings and struck out three.
- Lily Tanski received the loss and falls to 22-7 on the season. She didn't give up an earned run and struck out three.
