RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — With a fourth straight trip to the Great American Conference tournament within reach, the Arkansas Tech baseball team hosts first-place Harding in a three-game series this Saturday and Sunday at Tech Field, needing just one victory to lock up a top-six finish in the standings and a postseason bid.

The Wonder Boys (27-19, 13-10 GAC) have won seven of their last eight conference games, including back-to-back three-game sweeps the past two weekends to vault themselves back into contention for the league tournament, which begins May 2 in Enid, Oklahoma.

The Tech offense has been on fire in conference play, scoring at least nine runs in six of those seven victories and averaging 10.3 runs per outing over that eight-game stretch against league foes. The team is batting .391 over those eight games, smacking 24 doubles, two triples and 10 home runs during that span.

Patrick Castleberry is on a 12-game hitting streak that dates back to the beginning of the hot stretch for the Wonder Boys, during which he is batting .489 with eight doubles, a pair of home runs, 19 RBIs and 14 runs scored. That's helped up his season marks to a .393 average, second –best in the GAC, and 64 hits, 49 runs, 13 homers and 64 RBIs, which all lead the conference.  Kris Ayers has his own 14-game hit streak, over which he's batting .370 with 11 RBIs, three doubles and a home run. For the season, the senior is batting .323 with 36 RBIs, which places him in a tie for seventh in the league with teammate Cole Fergus.

Fergus has six homers and five doubles over his past 12 games, giving him nine doubles and 12 home runs on the season to go with a pair of triples, helping get him to a GAC-best .765 slugging percentage. Bryan Heward, who is batting .353 with 11 home runs, 10 doubles, 45 RBIs and 47 runs scored, adds yet another slugger to the Tech lineup, which boasts the top three home run hitters in the conference.

In rolling up the six-game GAC winning streak, the Wonder Boys pitching staff has been just as impressive, allowing five total runs in three games last weekend against Northwestern Oklahoma, and 17 total over the past six conference games, just 14 earned. Trent Armstrong and Cody Jones each tossed a pair of complete games, totaling 16 innings. Armstrong allowed just three earned runs while striking out eight, while Jones gave up five earned with just three walks and five strikeouts. Rafiel Johnson made two starts, going a total of 11 innings while allowing just 11 hits and four runs, walking none and striking out six. Ryan Vruggink was solid out of the bullpen, tossing four innings of shutout ball, and Randy Vallejo pitched a perfect inning to get an extra-inning win.

Harding (26-20, 17-7 GAC) enters the series boasting a 10-game conference winning streak that lifted them from .500 to the top of the GAC standings. The Bisons and Wonder Boys split a nonconference doubleheader at Tech Field on March 10, with Harding getting a 4-3 victory before Tech took a 9-5 win in the nightcap. Ayers and Keenan Jumper each cracked three hits over the two games.

The Bisons' three starting pitchers all fall in the top 10 in the conference in ERA, with Andrew Fiddler compiling a 2.51 mark and 6-2 record over 71 2/3 innings, tossing five complete games and striking out 46 while walking 23. Collin Campbell posts a 2.81 ERA over 67 1/3 innings, with 51 strikeouts and 30 walks and a 5-2 record, while Jacob Stripling rounds out the trio with a 3.13 ERA, a 6-3 record and 31 strikeouts to 24 walks over 60 1/3 innings.

At the plate, Harrison Hunter is batting .320 with five doubles and four triples, with his 26 walks helping him to a .458 on-base percentage. Davis Richardson bats .319 with his six home runs and 31 RBIs leading the team. Zac Stewart adds a .312 average, 10 doubles, three triples and 29 runs batted in, while Kyler Offenbacker, Noah Chandler and Alan Copeland all adding averages between .304 and .306.

The series will open with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday, followed by a single game Sunday at 1. All three games can be heard live on 980-AM (KCAB) in Russellville, with live audio and statistics available at www.arkansastechsports.com.