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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Baseball (4-7) travels to Searcy, Arkansas for the second GAC series of the season against the Harding Bisons
- After falling to Central Oklahoma on Wednesday in their midweek contest, the Bulldogs have dropped their last seven games after starting the season 4-0
- Since the Great American Conference's creation and head Coach Zack Saunders has been at the helm, SWOSU and Harding are 8-8 against each other but HU leads the all-time Division II series 13-11
- The Dawgs have shown they can win in Searcy by holding a 5-1 mark against the Bisons in road series  
- Game one will be played Friday at 2:00 pm and the series will conclude Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon 
 
The Opponent
Harding (3-7, 2-1 GAC)
- In the opening weekend of conference play, HU took two out of three from Northwestern to begin their league play with a 2-1 record despite their 3-7 overall record
- As a team, the Bisons are batting .228 combined which is second worst in the GAC behind Northwestern
- Defensively however Harding is sound with the second best fielding percentage in the GAC at .970 having committed 10 errors through 10 games
- On the mound Harding is led by Austin Allen, who in three starts (16.2 IP) holds a 2-1 record and 1.62 ERA

 The Coaches
SWOSU: Zack Saunders (140-109, 6th season)
- Two-time Great American Conference Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2013 and 2016
- Inducted into the Muskogee Athletic Hall of Fame on October 13, 2016
- Earned his 100th career victory at SWOSU against Northwestern Oklahoma State on April 24, 2015
- Previously served as an assistant at SWOSU for six seasons under former Bulldog coaches Charles Teasley and Scott Selby
- Played collegiately at Kansas State following two seasons at Connors State playing on nationally-ranked junior college teams
 
Harding: Patrick McGaha (316-267, 12th season)
- Has led the Bisons to seven conference tournament appearances and its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth
- He became the winningest baseball coach in program history in 2016 when his Bisons defeated St. Edward's 5-1 in the second game of the series
- In his time at Harding, McGaha's student-athletes have received 38 all-conference, six all-region, and two all-America honors

Checking the Standings
- After the first weekend of GAC play, Oklahoma Baptist, Southern Arkansas and Arkansas Tech all sit atop the standings after sweeping their opponents 3-0
- Henderson State, Harding and East Central all took two out of three against their opponents and all sit with 2-1 league records
- Arkansas-Monticello, Northwestern and Southern Nazarene took one game from the above bulleted teams to salvage their opening series with 1-2 marks
- SWOSU, Southeastern and Ouachita all failed to win a game on opening weekend of GAC competition and sit in last place after week number one

SWOSU Notes
- Despite losing to UCO on Monday, the SWOSU bats came alive in a big way after tallying 13 hits leading to 11 runs on the day
- Josh Santos and Rafael Otero both had themselves three-hit performances as Santos collected two singles and a double with one RBI while Otero belted two home runs and added a single, driving in four on the afternoon
- Ruben Rodriguez and Rogelio Sanchez both had two hits for the Bulldogs
- Vincent Berrones made his first appearance of the season on the mound, coming in to face a single batter and getting the job done by inducing a fly out to get SWOSU out of a jam
- Jeremy Smith was the only other pitcher to not allow a run in the game as he threw one inning with a walk and a strikeout
- Quintin Dougherty blew his first save of the season in three chances, surrendering four runs over the course of the final two innings but only two of which were earned runs
- Last season, SWOSU took two out of three from Harding in Weatherford after losing the Friday opener and bouncing back to win games two and three    

Looking Ahead
- SWOSU won't take the field again until the following Friday and Saturday series against East Central, hosting the Tigers on March 3-4
- The next midweek game will be against USAO on Tuesday, March 7 in Chickasha