| SWOSU (3-10, 0-0 GAC) at Harding (5-9, 0-0 GAC) |
| Searcy, Ark. (Harding Softball Field) |
| Thursday/Friday, February 19-20 |
| COVERAGE LINKS |
SWOSU Softball begins its Great American Conference journey on Thursday with a road trip across state lines to face Harding in the opening three-game league series of the season. Due to forecasted rain, the series schedule was moved up a day and will now be played Thursday and Friday. The doubleheader is set to begin at 4:00 pm on Thursday. Game three will start at 1:00 pm Friday.
The Bulldogs opened the season against a challenging non-conference slate, and that trend continues with the start of GACtion. SWOSU will face four of the preseason top-four teams in four of the first five weeks of conference play, beginning with Harding. The Lady Bisons were picked third in this year's preseason poll after finishing fourth a season ago with a 39-18 overall record and a 21-12 mark in league play. Harding also qualified for the NCAA Regional Tournament for a third time in 2025. The Lady Bisons enter the series 5-9 on the season.
SWOSU has already been tested early, playing a schedule that included matchups against five ranked teams. After a winless opening weekend, the Bulldogs have bounced back with victories in each of the last two tournaments, including a 2-2 showing at the Rogers State Festival in Claremore on Feb. 7-8.
The Bulldogs are coming off a postseason appearance after finishing seventh in the conference standings last season, qualifying for the GAC Tournament for the first time since 2019. SWOSU was picked eighth in this year's preseason coaches poll. Eleven players return from last season's roster, though the program begins a new chapter under first-year head coach
Cheyenne Mahy, who was hired this summer following the departure of former head coach Jessica Boone.
Through the early portion of the 2026 season, SWOSU is hitting .251 as a team and is led by three hitters batting over .300 —
Landry Bayless,
Riley Lusk, and
Josie Oakley. Bayless, a freshman, has been the catalyst offensively, hitting .405 with a team-leading 15 hits, seven runs scored, four home runs, and 12 RBI. Lusk and Oakley have combined for 20 hits.
In the circle, All-GAC pitcher
Alexis Taylor has been SWOSU's most consistent arm, throwing a team-high 33.1 innings. She has struck out 30 batters, walked 13, and has logged two complete games in five starts.
Harding enters the series with the fifth-best team batting average in the conference at .293, but owns the ninth-highest team ERA at 5.35. SWOSU's team ERA sits at 4.37, nearly a full run better than the Lady Bisons.
Historically, Harding has controlled the series. SWOSU is 6-33 all-time against the Lady Bisons and has dropped 13 straight games in Searcy dating back to 2016. The Bulldogs are 1-17 all-time on the road against Harding.
