It may not be April yet, but for the Bisons baseball team, opening day is right around the corner.
After a competitive campaign in 2015 that saw them make the Great American Conference (GAC) Tournament for the third straight year, the Bisons are poised to take the next step in 2016 on the back of a roster loaded with talent and experience.
“It’s huge,” head coach Patrick McGaha said. “It makes such a difference to have that many seniors back. The majority of those guys have been together for three years, so the mentality of a club like that and the expectations that they have for themselves is very, very important.”
The Bisons return 18 lettermen and eight starters from a team who finished third in the GAC in 2015, including three senior All-GAC performers: first-team catcher Davis Richardson, second-team pitcher Andrew Fiddler and honorable mention outfielder Harrison Hunter. Richardson, the 2015 GAC male scholar athlete of the year and the Bisons’ returning leader in batting average, RBI and homeruns, said the sky is the limit for this year’s team.
“Our team is really deep,” Richardson said. “So we have big goals and expectations for this season. But we don’t worry about the big picture much. We know if we go out and play the way we’re capable of and give each day its due, we’ll be able to win our last game.”
The Bisons aren’t the only ones setting the bar high in 2016. The preseason coaches’ poll for the GAC ranked the Bisons third out of 12 teams, trailing only three-time defending GAC champions Southern Arkansas University and 2015 College World Series participant Henderson State University. McGaha said that while the team doesn’t shy away from the predictions, they don’t give it too much attention either.
“We talk about the fact that anything that goes on outside of our baseball family doesn’t really matter,” McGaha said. “People may say we’re going to be successful or not, but we don’t worry about those things. We preach that if we take care of our business, and if we go through the process and do things the right way, that the results will take care of themselves.”
Although they did not lose many players from 2015, one loss the Bisons will have to overcome is that of pitcher Collin Campbell to a right elbow injury that will cost him his senior season. Campbell, the team leader in strikeouts last season with 51, played an integral part of the Bisons’ success the last three years. McGaha said now is the time for some of the Bisons’ young pitchers to show what they can do.
“Losing a young man like Collin Campbell, who has done so many things for you the last three years, is tough,” McGaha said. “It is going to change things (in the pitching rotation) a little, but it’s also going to give some young pitchers a chance to step up.”
Despite the loss of Campbell, there will still be plenty of players to choose from in the Bisons’ pitching staff, as they return eight pitchers who pitched 10 innings or more last season. That depth in the bullpen, coupled with the strength of 13 seniors, has set the bar high for the Bisons in 2016, but it is a bar Richardson says they are ready to take on.
“We’ve all worked very hard in our time here to better the culture of Harding baseball,” Richardson said. “Winning a conference championship would be a great way to put our seal on our time here.”
The Bisons open 2016 with a doubleheader against St. Edward’s University at noon and 3 p.m. on Jan. 30 at home.
