Softball's superlative season

In only its fourth year since reinstating the women’s softball program, Harding turned in a season to remember. The Lady Bisons, under head coach Phil Berry, went 58-9 and won the Great American Conference regular season and tournament championships and the Central Region 1 tournament championship, falling just one win short of advancing to the NCAA Division II Women’s College World Series. Harding was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally and finished the season ranked ninth.

Key dates during the campaign tell the story.

Opening Day • Feb. 4

Harding opened its season at home for the first time and swept Missouri S&T of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, 7-6 and 11-4. The Lady Bisons scored four runs in the second inning of the opener and held on for the victory. A five-run third inning in game two, highlighted by Lexi Ruff’s three-run home run gave the team a comfortable victory.

Conference Opener • Feb. 24

Harding lost its GAC opener 5-4 in eight innings at Southwestern Oklahoma. Coming off a 7-4 loss to Nebraska-Kearney the previous weekend, it was the team’s lone losing streak of the season — two games. The Lady Bisons responded with a 6-4 win in game two against Southwestern. Courtney Derrick’s sacrifice fly in the eighth drove in the winning run and ignited a record-setting streak of victories.

Perfect Game • March 13

In the second game of a doubleheader sweep of Ouachita Baptist, freshman pitcher Autumn Humes struck out eight and did not allow a base runner over five innings for the first perfect game in Lady Bison softball history. Harding won 11-0 after scoring seven runs in the top of the fifth, three coming on a Humes home run.

Sixth-Straight Shutout • March 16

Senior pitcher Hannah Johnson and Humes both pitched shutouts against Oklahoma Baptist, with Harding winning the games 8-0 and 3-0. Harding also had shutout Oklahoma Baptist in two games the previous day and held Ouachita Baptist scoreless in two games March 13 to run its school-record shutout streak to six games.

GAC-Record 20-Game Winning Streak • March 25

Following the loss to Southwestern Oklahoma on Feb. 24, the team reeled off its 20th consecutive victory 6-2 over Southern Nazarene. With the win, Harding became the first GAC team ever to win 20 straight games. Peyton Mills hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning to seal the victory.

Streak Grows to 27 • April 4

The Lady Bisons went on the road to Russellville, Arkansas, and defeated Arkansas Tech 4-3 in nine innings and 1-0 to extend its school-record winning streak to 27 games. Madi Trump scored Brookelynn Moon from third base with a single up the middle in the second inning for the only scoring in game two. Humes allowed only one hit and struck out 10 in the victory that gave the Lady Bisons a 35-3 overall record and a 25-1 record in conference games. The streak came to an end in the team’s next game, a 1-0 loss at East Central in Ada, Oklahoma.

School Record 38th Win • April 8

A resounding 10-0 victory over East Central gave Harding its 38th win of the season, topping the previous record of 37 in 2016. Trump hit a three-run home run in the second, and Humes allowed four hits and no runs with nine strikeouts in the circle.

Sweep of Southern Arkansas • April 14-15

Hosting the defending GAC champion Southern Arkansas for a four-game home series, the Lady Bisons made a statement with four straight victories over the Lady Riders. The team held one of the top offenses in Division II to only two runs as overflow crowds of more than 400 people watched the doubleheaders both days. Lindsey Duncan scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning of Saturday’s second game to give Harding a 1-0 victory and set off a jubilant celebration from the crowd.

First GAC Championship • April 23

A doubleheader sweep of traditional GAC power Arkansas-Monticello clinched Harding’s first regular season softball championship. The Lady Bisons won the opener 7-5 with Kimmy Hendricks-Campbell driving in the game-winning run with a single in the top of the seventh. Derrick had a two-run double and Humes pitched a shutout in a 3-0 victory in game two.

Senior Day • April 29

Harding honored seniors Amanda Berdon, Courtney Derrick, Kimmy Hendricks-Campbell, Hannah Johnson, Mackenzie Jones and Brookelynn Moon with wins of 4-2 and 8-0 over Northwestern Oklahoma on Senior Day. Johnson was the winning pitcher in game one, and Derrick and Alexus Lawellin both had two hits. Humes had three hits in the opener and pitched a five-hit shutout in game two.

GAC Tournament Championship • May 6

Harding won its fourth consecutive game in the GAC Tournament and its second straight over Southern Arkansas, 9-2, to collect its first conference tournament championship in Bentonville, Arkansas. The game was tied 2-2 until Harding exploded with seven runs in the top of the seventh. The Lady Bisons sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning.

NCAA Central Region 1 Championship • May 14

Harding was 54-6 after winning the GAC Tournament and was selected by the NCAA to host one of two Central Region tournaments. The Lady Bisons opened the tournament with an 8-0 victory over Missouri Western and followed that with a 7-2 win over Southern Arkansas, its seventh win over the Lady Riders during the season. After a 3-2 loss to Winona State, Harding responded with a 4-3 win over Winona State to earn the right to host the Central Super Regional tournament. With the score tied at 3-3, Alexus Lawellin raced home on a wild pitch to score the game-winning run just ahead of the tag by Winona State pitcher Jordyn Kleman. Lawellin had two of Harding’s nine hits and scored twice.

NCAA Super Regional • May 18-21

Through rain and several delays, Harding and Minnesota State played a memorable three-game series with Minnesota State winning the third game 7-6 to end Harding’s season. Minnesota State won the opener 1-0 before Harding took game two 3-2. A three-day attendance of 1,374 witnessed the games. Minnesota State concluded their season as national champions.

With 58 wins, its first GAC regular season championship, its first GAC Tournament championship, and a berth in the Super Regional, it took only four years for the newest GAC softball team to become the best GAC softball team in conference history.