Harding Bisons Baseball Falls in the Ninth at UAM

Courtesy Harding University Athletics Department

MONTICELLO, Ark. – Arkansas-Monticello scored the game-winning run on a passed ball in the bottom of the ninth to win a wild game 10-9 over Harding on Tuesday in non-conference action.

Harding (18-13) took a 9-7 lead into the eighth, but Arkansas-Monticello tied the game on a two-run home run by T.J. Cox. In the ninth, the Weevils loaded the bases with three straight singles against Harding closer Bronson Smith (1-2) before Ray Johnson scored the winning run on a passed ball.

Harding trailed 7-3 after five innings but scored five times in the sixth without a hit to take an 8-7 lead. The Bisons walked seven times in the inning, and three of the runs scored on bases loaded walks. Junior Matt Calhoun also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and senior Gabe Fyock picked up an RBI on a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded. The NCAA Division II record for walks in an inning is 11 by St. Francis (Ill.) in 1996.

Harding added another run in the seven on a Calhoun RBI single.

Arkansas-Monticello (22-14) erased Harding’s early 3-0 lead with five runs in the bottom of the first and single runs in the second and third innings.

Harding starting pitcher Collin Campbell did not escape the first inning. He surrendered five runs on five hits and left with two outs. The Bisons used five pitchers. The most effective was redshirt freshman Zac Stewart, who held the Weevils scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings and struck out two.

The Bisons tied a season high with 13 runners left on base and hit only 4-for-18 with runners on and 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Arkansas-Monticello was 10-for-18 with runners on and 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Harding junior Jeremy Bohnett was 2-for-4 with three runs and two RBI. Calhoun was 2-for-4 with a run and three RBI, his sixth multi-RBI game of the season. Cox and Chad Miller both had three RBI for the Weevils.

UAM reliever Jeff Harvill (2-1) pitched the eighth and ninth innings and earned the win.

Harding will return to Great American Conference action this weekend with a three-game series against Southwestern Oklahoma State.