BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Harding softball team split its two games Saturday to open the Alvy Early/UAM Softball Classic. The Lady Bisons fell 9-2 to No. 1 ranked Rogers State but rebounded to defeat Missouri Southern 8-7 in 10 innings.
Harding moves to 5-2 on the season.
Rogers State improves to 3-0 and Missouri Southern falls to 5-2
GAME 1 (No. 1 Rogers State 9, Harding 2)
Sophomore Riley Price (2-1) started and took the loss in the circle for Harding (4-2).
At the plate, the Lady Bisons were paced by Nicole Shano, who went 2-for-3 on the day with a double, a walk and an RBI. Junior Chelsea Blankenship also chipped in for Harding, putting together two hits in three trips to the plate.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lady Bisons got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the top of the first inning. After Hanna Jones hit a double to lead off the game, Shano did the same to score Jones.
Rogers State answered back with four runs in the first inning.
Rogers State scored a run in the second and the fourth innings before Harding got back on the board in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.
Rogers State scored three more runs in the sixth on four hits and two Harding errors.
GAME NOTES
» Harding pitchers faced 34 Rogers State hitters in the game, allowing three ground balls and 11 fly balls while striking out four.
» Rogers State was led offensively by junior Paxton Donaldson, who went 2-for-2 with a double, a home run and an RBI.
» Junior Sara Llamas-Howell led the Hillcats pitching staff, throwing four innings and giving up one earned run.
GAME 2 (Harding 8, Missouri Southern 7 – 10 innings)
Sophomore Riley Price (3-1) got the win for Harding in relief. The right-hander went two shutout innings while giving up one hit, allowing no walks and striking out one. Junior Maegan Pistokache started the game and went eight innings. She had no walks and two strikeouts.
Sophomore Emma Curry led the way offensively for the Lady Bisons, going 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and an RBI. Senior Nicole Shano put together a noteworthy day at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with three walks and an RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 2-0 after the first inning, Harding got on the board on a sacrifice fly in the second.
The Lady Bisons deficit grew to 3-1 before their offense got back on the scoreboard in the third inning. Harding pushed across a run on Curry's two-out RBI double, which tightened the Lions lead to 3-2.
Harding took a 7-4 advantage in the sixth inning, scoring five runs on five hits. Four Harding players had an RBI in the inning. Hanna Jones highlighted the inning with a two-RBI double.
The Lions battled back in the seventh scoring three runs on back-to-back home runs.
After two scoreless innings, Harding broke the tie in the 10th when Macy Smith hit a single to score Riley Price.
GAME NOTES
» Harding went 8-for-18 (.444) with runners in scoring position.
» Harding pitchers limited Missouri Southern to just 2-for-14 (.143) with runners in scoring position.
» Harding pitchers faced 46 Missouri Southern hitters in the game, allowing 14 ground balls and 10 fly balls while striking out three
» The Lady Bisons drew five walks from Missouri Southern pitching.
» Missouri Southern was led offensively by senior Ashlynn Williams, who went 3-for-5 with a double and a two-run home run.
The Lady Bisons will be back in Sunday when it takes on Central Missouri at 11 a.m., and Pittsburg State at 1 p.m.
