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Harding University Athletics

Cody Smith
0
Arkansas Tech ATU 25-19, 15-15 GAC
1
Winner Harding HU 29-17, 19-12 GAC
Arkansas Tech ATU
25-19, 15-15 GAC
0
Final
1
Harding HU
29-17, 19-12 GAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Arkansas Tech ATU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
Harding HU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 2

W: McCall, Carter (6-2) L: Grant Shahan (0-3)

4
Arkansas Tech ATU 25-20, 15-16 GAC
5
Winner Harding HU 30-17, 20-12 GAC
Arkansas Tech ATU
25-20, 15-16 GAC
4
Final
5
Harding HU
30-17, 20-12 GAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Arkansas Tech ATU 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 8 2
Harding HU 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 13 0

W: Lane, Kyle (5-1) L: JT Cafferty (1-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Scott Goode (4/29/22)

20 Innings, Two Walkoffs, 20 GAC Wins for HU Baseball

SEARCY – In front of hundreds of Harding students celebrating their last week before final exams, the Bison baseball team did a little celebrating itself.

Harding won a pair of 10th-inning walk-offs Friday to secure the team's seventh 30-win season and first since the 2019 team won 34 games. Harding won the opener 1-0 with Cody Smith driving in the winning run, and won game two 5-4 with Smith scoring the winning run.

The wins sent Harding to 30-17 overall and 20-12 in the GAC. The 20 conference wins are the most ever by a Bison team in any conference. Harding sits in third place in the GAC standings after Friday's games. Despite the losses, Tech (25-20, 15-16) also qualified for the tournament because of other results.

The series finale is Saturday at 1 p.m.

The opener went to extra innings scoreless. In the 10th, Owen Martin doubled to lead off the inning and went to third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Smith laced a line drive to right field that scored Martin and set off the first of two on-field celebrations.

Senior Carter McCall handled all the pitching for Harding in the opener, becoming the first known Harding pitcher to pitch 10 or more innings in a game since Preacher Roe in the 1930s. McCall (6-2) allowed five hits and struck out eight, throwing 90 strikes. He got 14 flyball outs.

Chris Witzke went 1-for-3 and doubled to run his hitting streak to 26 games. Drew McNeel was 2-for-3.

Harding took a 3-0 first inning lead in game two but Tech came back and tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth.

Both teams had chances to score late, and the teams combined to strand 27 runners (Tech 12, Harding 15).

With two outs in the 10th, Smith was the first of two Harding hitters to be hit by a pitch. With a 3-2 count, Witzke fouled off three pitches before lining a single to center to score Smith on a head-first slide into home.

The Bisons had 13 hits in the night cap. Smith was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles. He leads the team with 15 two-baggers. Doyle, Witzke (streak continues at 27), McNeel and Caleb Stull each had two hits.

Joel Barker started and went 6 2/3 innings. Dylan Adcock relieved and recorded three outs, before Kyle Lane (5-1) came on to shut down Tech's offense over 2 1/3 innings for the win.
 
 
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