HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas - East Central's upset regular-season champion Arkansas-Monticello highlighted the opening day of the 2026 Great American Conference Baseball Championships from Babe Ruth Field at Majestic Park. Southern Arkansas scored five runs in the first inning of the championship en route to a 7-3 win against Southeastern Oklahoma State. Arkansas Tech scored single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to defeat Ouachita Baptist, 6-3, and Harding overcame an early 2-0 deficit to Northwestern Oklahoma State and claimed a 4-2 win the nightcap.
Bracket 2, Game 2 - #3 Harding 4, #6 Northwestern Oklahoma State 2 || Box Score ||
Senior right-hander Kyle Lane remained unbeaten and Phoenix West provided the late-inning fireworks as No. 3-seeded Harding rallied to defeat No. 6 Northwestern Oklahoma State 4-2 in the opening round of the Great American Conference Baseball Tournament on Thursday night.
Lane (9-0) delivered a career-defining performance at Babe Ruth Field, tossing his first career complete game. The Xenia, Ohio, native allowed just two runs on seven hits while tying a career-high with nine strikeouts. He punctuated the victory in style, freezing Jason McCarty with a 90 mph fastball on his final pitch of the night.
With the win, Lane became only the second pitcher in Harding history to reach a 9-0 record in a single season.
Full Harding Recap
Northwestern Oklahoma State Recap
Bracket 2, Game 1 - #2 Arkansas Tech 6, #7 Ouachita Baptist 3 || Box Score ||
The No. 2-seed Arkansas Tech baseball team won their first game of the 2026 Great American Conference Tournament on Thursday with a 6-3 win over No. 6-seed Ouachita Baptist. The win advances the Wonder Boys to the bracket 2 semifinals where they will take on No. 3-seed Harding.
The Wonder Boys fell behind early as the Tigers hit a pair of solo home runs in the top of the second inning. That score held until the bottom of the fourth when the Wonder Boys struck for three runs on two hits while also benefitting from a Ouachita error.
Ouachita managed to score a run in the top of the next inning with two outs to tie the score at 3-all. Tech regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly. Tech would go on to score single runs in the seventh and eighth to push their lead out to three, 6-3.
Full Arkansas Tech Recap
Ouachita Baptist Recap
Bracket 1, Game 2 - #8 East Central 7, #1 Arkansas-Monticello 6 (10) || Box Score |||
East Central team opened its Great American Conference Tournament run in thrilling fashion Thursday, knocking off top-seeded Arkansas-Monticello 7-6 in 10 innings. In just their second appearance in the GAC Tournament, the No. 8 Tigers delivered a statement win, earning the program's first-ever opening game victory in GAC Tournament play and building momentum heading into the next round.
Donovan Noble led the Tigers at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs scored, and two walks. Tyler Akers and Logan Jeske each added two-hit performances, while Christian Fernandez delivered the biggest swing of the night with a go-ahead RBI double in the 10th inning. Max Tremblay, Ryan Strickland, and Cooper McCage each drove in a run as ECU combined for timely hitting throughout the extra-inning victory.
After a challenging first two innings, Ryan Dembroski bounced back in a big way, grinding through 6.2 innings with six strikeouts to keep ECU in the fight. Andrew Black bridged the late innings, and Evan Groh was lights out in extras, delivering 2.0 shutout innings to close it out and earn the win.
Full East Central Recap
Arkansas-Monticello Recap
Bracket 1, Game 1 - #5 Southern Arkansas 7, #4 Southeastern Oklahoma State 3 || Box Score |||
Southern Arkansas defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State in the opening round of the Great American Conference Tournament by a final score of 7-3. With the win, the Muleriders advance into the winner's bracket.
The bats started off hot for the Muleriders as Wyatt Fielding brought Preston Smith Smith around to score the first run of the game, 1-0. Michael Herndon followed immediately with a double down the right field line as Fielding scored from first. Tate Elliott then crushed a double into deep right field scoring Herndon. With two outs, Jacob Lang delivered the big blow of the inning doubling down the left field line to plate two runs as SAU jumped out to a dominant 5-0 lead after the top of the first inning.
Stetson Bishop got the start on the mound in game one of the tournament for the Muleriders and struck out the side in the bottom of the first despite surrendering a hit. Bishop continued to dominate on the mound in the bottom of the second inning sitting the Savage Storm down in order. He allowed just one run on five hits in 7.0 innings of work. He collected eight strikeouts
Full Southern Arkansas Recap
Southeastern Oklahoma State Recap