SEARCY, Arkansas – The Ouachita baseball team fell to Harding 11-4 Friday evening at Jerry Moore Field to open this weekend's Great American Conference series.
The Tigers (9-3, 4-3 GAC) struck first in the opening frame when
Joseph Bolin delivered an RBI single that scored
Cade Bowman for an early 1-0 lead. However, the Bisons (9-4, 6-1 GAC) responded quickly with a four-run third inning that swung the momentum.
Harding extended its lead in the fourth as Brayden Mineo cleared the right-field fence with a three-run homer, putting the Bisons ahead 7-1. An RBI and an ousting throwing error in the fifth added another run, pushing the home team's total to eight.
Ouachita kept fighting, and in the seventh the Tigers pulled back two runs as
Ashton Ybarra delivered a two-RBI single, slicing the Harding lead to 8-3.
Octavio Mendivil added an RBI sacrifice fly in the eighth to make it 8-4, but Harding answered with three late runs on miscues and timely singles to seal the 11-4 victory.
Games two and three of the series will be played as a double header on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
