ARAKDELPHIA – The Ouachita softball team dropped a back-and-forth series opener to the Harding Bisons by the score of 8-6 Friday afternoon at Langston Field.
Ouachita quickly found itself behind 1-0 after Harding plated a run in the opening frame. It took an inning, but the Tigers were ready to answer in the second.
Kennedy Wilkie came up with a two-out two RBI single that scored
Remington Adams and
Katelyn Provence to get Ouachita on the board and give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. Wilkie later scored on a wild pitch to put Ouachita up by two.
Adams increased the Tigers' lead with a solo home run in the third.
Maggi Huddleston added to the lead in the fourth with her own solo shot to left field to give Ouachita a 5-1 lead over the Bisons. The four-run lead was short lived as Harding tied things up with a grand slam in the top of the fifth. HU added two more runs in the sixth to take a 7-5 lead.
A sacrifice fly from Bailey King scored
Maggi Huddleston to bring it within one run, but Harding pushed its lead back to two with a run in the top of the seventh. The Tigers put two runners in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the seventh but could not bring them home and Ouachita fell by the final score of 8-6 to fall behind 0-1 in the series.
Adams put together a perfect performance at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI, and a home run, her second of the season. Three Tigers, Provence, Wilkie and
Maggi Huddleston tallied two hits in the loss with Wilkie leading in RBI with two. Ouachita totaled 12 hits in the game, the second most this year and the most since racking up 14 hits against Northeastern State in the first weekend of the season.
Hannah Hunter started and threw five innings, struck out one, and earned the loss.
Kodee Batchelor pitched two innings of relief and allowed three hits and struck out one.
The Tigers will look to bounce back tomorrow in a doubleheader at Langston Field to close out the weekend series with Harding. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. in Arkadelphia.
