SEARCY, Ark. – SWOSU Softball opened Great American Conference play on Sunday afternoon against No. 12-ranked Harding in Searcy. The Lady Bisons claimed the first game of the four-game series 9-2 and they have the lead in the second game, which was suspended due to darkness with Harding leading 11-3 after four innings were complete.
The teams will pick up the second game in the top of the 5th inning on Monday morning at 10:00 am. After that, they will still play the doubleheader originally scheduled for Monday to conclude the series.
#12 Harding 9, SWOSU 2
Box Score (html)
SWOSU got within one run in the top of the sixth inning, but Harding responded by scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth as they pulled away for the victory in Game 1 on Sunday.
It was the Bulldogs scoring first, getting an RBI double from
Kinsey Skroh that scored
Samantha Householder in the top of the second inning. The lead would last until Harding plated two runs in the bottom of the third and added another in the fourth to go up 3-1.
Amanda Moreno and Householder hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth inning, the second one bringing Moreno across the plate to make the score 3-2 as Harding came to bat in the sixth.
SWOSU ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth, with Harding pushing across six runs on four hits, including a two-run double and two-run home run. When the dust had settled, Harding had a 9-2 lead, which was enough for them to hold on for the victory.
Rileigh Ricken (0-2) tossed a complete game, allowing nine runs on eight hits with nine walks and two strikeouts.
#12 Harding 11, SWOSU 3 (End 4th)
SWOSU again scored first, getting on the board with two runs in the first inning. Householder tripled and scored on an RBI single from Skroh, who also came around to score an unearned run on an RBI single from
Allyson Gafford. That lead would also be short-lived, however, after Harding came out swinging and scored six runs on four hits in the bottom of the first.
The Bulldogs got back on the board in the top of the second inning thanks to a double steal that saw
Bella Garcia take second base while
Hannah Morris crossed home plate to make it 6-3. That's where the score would stay until the bottom of the third, when Harding added three runs before plating two more in the bottom of the fourth to push the game to the brink of run-rule.
When play resumes on Monday morning, SWOSU will be sending the top of the lineup – Garcia, Householder and Skroh – to the plate needing at least one run to extend the game past the fifth inning.
