Written by Sarah Kyle
The Harding University Bison baseball team defeated University of Arkansas-Monticello 7-1 Sunday afternoon at Jerry Moore Field, overcoming a split doubleheader Saturday and winning the series.
After Sunday’s game, Harding (28-6, 7-2) is tied for second place with Arkansas Tech University in the Gulf South Conference West Division, trailing a game behind Delta State University in the lead.
After Saturday’s double-header, with Harding winning the first game 10-7 and Arkansas-Monticello (10-17, 1-8) taking the second 8-2, the Bisons came back strong in Sunday’s game with a four-run streak in the eighth inning.
The streak broke a three- inning dry spell for the Bisons, bringing the score to 7-1 and solidifying Harding’s lead.
Senior Charles Bradley, Bison lead hitter for the game, said the team cameinto the inning focused and ready to hit big.
“We kind of have this little switch that we turn on,” Bradley said. “We don’t know when it’s going to turn on, but when it’s turned on, we are a very good team…. Turning that little switch on there was big for us.”
Bradley finished the gamewith three RBIs, driving in Harding’s first two runs with a single in the second inning.
Sophomore pitcher Logan Holthaus returned to the mound for eight innings during Sunday’s game after being injured by a line drive to the shoulder during a game against Christian Brothers University on March 20.Holthaus is 4-0 for the season.
“Logan’s been outstanding for us,”said head coach Patrick McGaha. “We really missed him last week at [Ouachita Baptist University], and it was great to have him back on the mound…. He just kept throwing it all day anddid a great job.”
Holthaus’ return was joinedby the return of Arkansas- Monticello designated hitter Wayne Hawkins, who made his first debut since a colli- sion with a South Florida first baseman broke his jaw. Hawkins was named regional and national hitter of the week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association earlier this season.
Both teams faced strong winds all nine innings, but McGaha said the Bisons overcame the elements to clinch the series, hitting low and hard to avoid the wind.
“It’s so difficult with the wind and how it was today,” McGaha said. “I felt like we gave some at-bats away early, but as the game progressed we started getting some solid hits. We did that quite a bit yesterday in game two, so we felt a little snake-bit, but we ended up making some plays and forcing some mistakes on their defense when we had to.”
The Bisons beat Lyon College in Batesville 15-1 on Tuesday, April 5, heading into a three-game GSC series with Southern Arkansas on Saturday at Jerry Moore Field.
