CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Peyton Mills delivered a bases-clearing double as part of Harding’s big second inning as the reigning Great American Conference champions opened the 2018 Championship with an 8-1 win against Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday from the Tiger Athletic Complex.
 
Mills, a 2018 All-GAC First Team outfielder, ripped the first pitch she saw from Kelsey Meeks into left field, past a diving effort from Brittany Chatellier to score Hannah Fisher, Kyndal Pirtle and Madi Trump. All told, the Lady Bisons (31-24) scored five in the frame off of GAC Newcomer of the Year Kelsey Meeks.
 
In the fourth inning, Katie Carney increased the Harding advantage to 6-0 when she hit her second home run of season. The Savage Storm (33-22) answered in their half of the frame as Destiny Riddle scored on a throwing error.
 
Hannah Fisher scored her second and third runs of the game as she came home on singles by Trump in the fifth and Carney in the seventh. She finished the game 2-for-3 with a double and three runs scored. Four Lady Bisons recorded multi-hit games as Carney, Katlyn Gordon and Briley Feringa all collected a pair of hits. Mills reached base four times after she walked in her final three plate appearances following the double.
 
Amanda Berry notched the complete-game win. She surrendered only five hits and gave up just the one unearned run to improve to 11-7. Meeks took the loss and fell to 27-14. Southeastern’s Elexis Watson, the GAC Freshman of the Year, singled twice and reached base three times.
 
The Lady Bisons will face the winner of the Arkansas Tech-Ouachita contest at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday from the Tiger Athletic Complex. The Savage Storm will take on the loser in the tournament’s first elimination contest. That contest will also start at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. Bentonville West will serve as the venue.