BETHANY, Okla. - The Crimson Storm returned home to Feland Field to open up Great American Conference play as they hosted the Hardings Bisons. Harding was able to fend off the Storm to claim the series sweep in Bethany.

Game 1

Will DesHotels got the nod for game 1 as he took the mound first for SNU. DesHotels sat down the first three Bisons hitters to turn over the first inning quickly. The Storm put a few runners on but could not score them leaving the contest scoreless after one inning of play. 

DesHotels continued to make things difficult on the Bisons at the plate, delivering another scoreless inning on the mound. A Carson Kinnaird hit by pitch and a Colby Entwislte single got two runners on for Tucker LeMay. A squeeze bunt from LeMay allowed Kinnaird to score from third putting SNU on the board first. 

The Bisons responded in the top of the third with a two-run shot to go ahead 2-1. The next few innings would remain scoreless for both squads. In the sixth inning, the Bisons grabbed the momentum putting up seven runs on the board to lead 9-1. 

Harding tacked on one more on a wild pitch to add to their lead in the seventh. Southern Nazarene continued to struggle to string some hits together going into the eighth. The Bisons plated three more on a double, home run, and single. 

Jacob Martinez got the offense going in the bottom of the eighth with a single to right field. Dax Edmonds then singled up the middle to plate Martinez and put the Storm on the board, but it was unfortunately not enough to avoid the run rule, as the Storm fell 14-3 in eight.

Game 2

Patrick Hine took the mound to begin game two for the Storm. He got a quick three up three down to begin the contest. The Storm then struck, putting two runs on the board thanks to singles from Chase Hudson and Colby Entwistle. Harding responded by plating one on a double in the left-center gap. 

From there Hine contained Bisons at the plate before he came out after 4.2 innings of work. Hine was relieved by Gunner Phillips in the fifth who got the Storm out of the half inning. The Bisons then tied the score with an inside-the-park home run on an SNU error in the sixth. 

The two remained knotted after the regulation seven innings of play leading to extra innings. The Bisons broke the tie with a sac fly to plate one and grabbed the 3-2 lead in the tenth. HU then tacked on two more on singles to lead going into the bottom tenth. The Storm was unable to come back, falling in game two to the Bisons 5-2.

Game 3

The Storm looked to avoid the sweep in game three as Martinez took the mound. The Bisons kept their bats hot, opening the contest with a 1-0 lead after the first. Martinez held them there and SNU struggled to respond to HU.

The Bisons tacked on two runs in the fourth on an SNU throwing error to pull ahead 4-1. Southern Nazarene put up one in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a wild pitch, cutting the lead to two. 

Landon Kinder made his way to the mound relieving Martinez of 4.1 innings of work. Harding took advantage of an SNU error to move runners into scoring position. A single through the left side scored one more to extend the HU lead. Zack Robinson then took over on the mound for SNU. A sac fly from Harding would then plate one more to push the Bisons' lead to 6-2 in the fifth.

The Bisons tacked on one more run in the seventh to lead 7-2. This would be the end of the offense for both teams as Harding grabbed the series sweep over Southern Nazarene.

Next Up

The Storm will look to get back on track during a midweek match with Rogers State on Tuesday, February 20 at Feland Field. The first pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. in Bethany.