BETHANY, Okla.—After being shutout in both games of Saturday's double-header, Southern Nazarene jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead over No. 17 Harding on Sunday, but they were unable to keep the offensive pace, ultimately falling 6-3 to the Bisons in the regular season finale.
The Crimson Storm got things started quickly in the first inning when Hailey Evans blasted a three-run shot for her GAC leading 13th home run of the season. Unfortunately for SNU, three runs was not enough to grab the win and the offense couldn't do much more the rest of the game.
Harding was held off of the scoreboard for three innings, but grabbed the lead with four runs in the fourth inning. They took advantage of three costly SNU errors in the inning that led to three unearned runs. The big inning was started by a single and quickly followed with an attempted sacrifice bunt that turned into the first SNU error, allowing both runners to be safe. The first six batters of the inning all reached base safely, two of which reached via errors. Another wild throw in from the outfield resulted in the third error of the inning, allowing the Bisons to steal another run.
SNU finally stranded the bases loaded after Kennedy Sherer made an outstanding diving grab in right field that saved three more runs from crossing the plate.
The Bisons blasted a two-run home run to dead-center field in the seventh inning to increase their lead to 6-3. The Crimson Storm got the leadoff hitter on base in the bottom of the seventh, but a fielder's choice, followed by a double-play ball ended the game and gave Harding the three-game sweep.
Liana Heshiki finished a perfect 3-for-3 in the game with a pair of doubles. She is currently second in the GAC in doubles and is third with a .401 batting average.
Kennedy Sherer notched a pair of hits in the game to go along with her sensational diving grab in the fourth inning.
SNU is now set to prepare for the Great American Conference tournament in Bentonville, Arkansas next week. They enter the tournament as the No. 8 seed and will be tasked with taking on the GAC Regular Season Champions, Oklahoma Baptist, in the opening round. The opening round game will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 4 at the Tiger Athletic Complex.
