Harding wins Central Region

Harding University sophomore Alexus Lawellin scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Lady Bisons a 4-3 victory over Winona State in the NCAA Division II Central Region 1 Tournament championship on Sunday at Harding Softball Field in Searcy

With the victory, No. 2-ranked Harding (57-7) moved into the Super Regional Thursday and Friday against Minnesota State-Mankato. Harding will host the best-of-3 series with Thursday’s game beginning at noon. Friday’s games are scheduled for noon and 2:30 p.m., if necessary.

Harding had to recover after losing 3-2 to Winona State (52-13) earlier in the day setting up a second championship game.

In the seventh inning of the second game, Harding’s Courtney Derrick led off with a single to left center, and Lawellin followed with an infield hit. Derrick was thrown out at third on a sacrifice attempt that sent Lawellin to second and Autumn Humes’ ground ball to second base moved Lawellin to third. On Winona reliever Jordyn Kleman’s second pitch to Kimmy Hendricks-Campbell, she checked her swing on a high outside pitch that deflected off the glove of catcher Paige Keegan. Lawellin slid under Kleman’s tag for the victory.