SEARCY, Ark. – The 2018 Griffon baseball season began with a win and a loss in a doubleheader at Harding.
Harding took game one 8-0, scoring six of its runs between the sixth and eighth innings. Missouri Western came back to even the series with a late run of its own, scoring five runs between the fifth and seventh innings of a 5-1, seven inning game two victory.
NOTABLES
- The Griffons evened game two with a run in the fifth before two in the sixth and two more in the seventh
- Maurice Bruce drove in the Griffons' first run of the season with a two-out double in the fifth inning of game two
- Preston Bailey earned a two-inning save in his first appearance since 2016. The Savannah, Missouri native missed the 2017 season with an injury
- Carson Dwyre got the win in game two, his first appearance as a Griffon. Dwyre held Harding to two hits and one earned run through five innings
- Will Jibas went 3-for-4 on the day with two hits in game two. Jibas had two doubles and drove in a run
- Fahd Shakeel drove in two runs on a pinch-hit single in the seventh of game one
- Harding blew game one open with four, two-out runs in the seventh. Three of the seventh inning runs were unearned, aided by an error and a wild pitch in the inning
- Missouri Western was held to three hits in game one
- Nate Hunter struck out seven without a walk through 6 1/3 in game one
UP NEXT
The teams face off in the rubber match of the series Sunday, Feb. 4 at 1 p.m. in Searcy, Arkansas.
