BENTONVILLE, Ark – Southern Nazarene avenged their Game 3 loss against Harding last weekend after taking down the Bisons in the Semifinals game of the Great American Conference Tournament 3-1 to move on to the title game.
Receiving the double-bye as the two-seed in the tournament, the Storm (37-15, 25-8 GAC) awaited their semifinals opponent which would either have been the No. 3 Bisons (34-18, 22-11 GAC) or the No. 6 Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm (26-28, 17-16 GAC). Harding managed to knock off SE 6-1, revisiting the Storm for a second time this season for Round 3 of the tournament.
Janie Worthington got her start inside the circle to help get SNU off on the right foot and delivered a quick three up and three down first inning.
Kenedi Morelock, on the other hand, broke out a single to kick off the offense for SNU. The Storm weren't able to build off of Morelock's action and were quickly forced to turn over the inning.
A Harding double challenged the Storm defense, but Worthington's back-to-back strikeouts sent the Bisons back to their dugout to put SNU back at the plate. Franks was able to chalk up a single to get one on base, keeping the offense alive. Already with two outs on the board, the Storm reached their third to retire the side, moving into the third inning gridlocked at 0-0.
Worthington continued to make things difficult for the Bisons at the plate, sending another round of strikeouts their way. After Harding reached on a throwing error, Worthington defended the tie and sent the Bisons another strikeout swinging. Southern Nazarene caught a burst in the bottom third, starting with singles from
Emma Green and Morelock to fill out two bases.
Liana Heshiki excited the crowd with a right-field bomb to break open the scoring for the Storm, tacking on a total of three runs.
Emma Swearingen and
Kristen Mullendore were able to send out two singles for SNU, but their offensive efforts were cut short as they reached their final out of the inning to lead 3-0.
It became a battle of the defenses as both squads struggled to bring any runners home. Worthington continued to deliver the heat from the circle, racking up multiple strikeouts over the next few innings to keep the Bisons off the board.
Harding surprised the Storm in the seventh inning with a solo shot over the left field fence to trail 3-1. SNU's defense stepped up and helped to ward off any more scoring from the Bisons, forcing them to settle for three quick outs to propel the Storm to a final 3-1 victory to move on to the GAC title game.
Worthington pitched a complete game with eight total strikeouts and just three hits allowed. Heshiki finished 1-3 with her three-run homer while Mullendore, Swearingen, and Morelock each grabbed two hits.
Up Next
Southern Nazarene is set to compete in the GAC Tournament Final against No. 4 Southern Arkansas, who edged the top seed Oklahoma Baptist in Game 5 of the tournament. The Storm swept the Muleriders in the regular season back in March and look to grab another win over the Muleriders for their first tournament title in the DII era. Gametime is set for Saturday, May 4th at noon.
