SEARCY ARKANSAS- The Rangers opened a three game series against Harding Bisons Friday evening falling 3-1 on the road. Northwestern trailed most of the game before tying the score in the 8th inning but Harding answered in the bottom of the inning for the 3-1 victory.
Northwestern drops to 19-10 on the season with an 10-6 Great American Conference record along with a 4-6 road record.
Offensively the Rangers were led in hits by Dylan Bradford having two in the game while scoring the only Ranger run. Carson Wright and Hagen Barcello had one each. Garrett DeHaas started the game for Northwestern throwing seven innings, striking out seven while allowing one unearned run.
Harding looked to score first after the Rangers went down in order, then led off with a single. However Ranger starter Garrett DeHaas picked up two strikeouts to end the inning and escape with no runs allowed.
The Bisons did strike first though in the third inning after a single and a stolen base by Helms, put him in scoring position. Helms later scored on a Northwestern error to take the 1-0 lead over the Rangers.
Northwestern pushed a runner in scoring position in their half of the fourth as Wright reached safely and moved to second on a passed ball but was unable to score as Harding protected the 1-0 lead.
The Rangers had another opportunity in the sixth inning after having a walk and a single by Harding's defense picked off Jacob Wiltshire. Dylan Bradford later singled but a strikeout and a ground out kept the game at 1-0.
In the Rangers half of the eighth inning is when Northwestern was able to tie the game. It started with a Dylan Bradford double down the left field line, followed by Carson Wright welcoming a new pitcher with an RBI single for the 1-1 game.
However, Harding was able to take advantage of a leadoff walk before a Martinez RBI double scored Newsom and gave Harding the lead back at 2-1. Jackson ran for Martinez and later came around to score on a wild pitch extending the lead to 3-1 after eight innings.
The Rangers went down in order in the ninth as Harding won the opening game of the series behind the two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Northwestern will conclude the series with a Saturday afternoon doubleheader in Searcy. The first game is scheduled for first pitch at 1:00 PM with the second game to follow the first one 30 minutes after the last out.
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