Bisonbaseball postsmanywins against ranked teams in NCAA The combination of college and sports generally involves transition - the seniors have graduated, and freshmen and transfers have been recruited to take their places. It's what coaches call "rebuilding." For the 1996 Bison baseball team, add that they were playing their last season in the NAIA and their last season under Coach Jess Bucy and you have all the factors needed to anticipate the need to rebuild. With the demise of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference, a division ofthe NAIA, in 1994, the Bisons were accepted into the Lone Star conference, a member of the NCAA Division II. Two years of independent play, still under NAIA guidelines, were required before full admission into the new conference, and this was the last hope for nationals competition in the NAIA. Led by senior co-captains Daryl Johnson, Todd Miller and Brett Neely, the team posted 22 wins and 27 losses enroute to the district tournament. There, they won two and lost one before being eliminated by Southern Arkansas, ending their quest for a bid to nationals. Johnson and Miller were named to the Southwest Region East Team; it was the third time for Johnson and the first for Miller. Johnson led the Bisons throughout the year, ending the season with a .368 batting average, a .635 slugging percentage, a .469 on-base average and a 19 for 22 record in stolen bases . Miller accomplished a .348 batting average, followed by Shane Pharr with a .323. Both had a .400-plus on-base percentage. In spite ofa disappointing overall record, Bucy said he was thrilled with the team's performance against ranked teams. "We had a shutout against Central Missouri State when theywere ranked#1 in Division II ofthe NCAA," Bucy bragged. "Altogether, we won 12 games against ranked teams." Bucy cited the pitching of juniors Tim Lacefield and Josh Moore as a major factor in the victories. "Lacefield was our best pitcher," he said. "He pitched against the best teams we played. He and Josh Moore both had very good years." Moore led the team in wins with a 7-3 record. He had a 3.04 E.R.A. Lacefield contributed a 6-6 record with an E.R.A. of 2.93. Sophomore Bentley Harrell posted a 6-3 record for the year. Bucy's retirement ends a long history of his coaching at Harding, but only the last three years have been in baseball; he spent almost three decades coaching basketball. Miller reacted to Bucy's exit: "The best thing about Coach Bucy was his example and that you knew he was a good Christian man,' ' he said. Miller said Bucy led by example on the field. "He was 65 years old, and he worked as hard as anybody out there." Shane Fullerton, a 1994 Harding graduate who served as a graduate assistant for the baseball team throughout the season, was chosen to coach the Bisons in their first year of NCAA competition. Returning for the '97 season are pitchers Lacefield, Moore and Harrell, along with position players Pharr, Matt Wilson, Pat Lightfoot, Ryan Rana, Ron Lightfoot and Jeremy Pharr. Scoreboard UCA 4-5 SHC CMSU 2-3 Miss. College 3-0 WBC 2-1 Belhaven 7-6 C ofO 6-3 OBU 4-3 C ofO 9-11 SAU 2-4 Ozarks 3-1 UABP 0-12 U of Mobile 5-6 Delta State 0-1 FHU SHC 0-10 254 Baseball 1-11 2-5 2-10 11-1 8-3 3-0 1-0 8-3 7-13 7-2 11-1 3-6 1-2 FHU 8-7 Ozarks 0-5 7-6 Christian Bros.9-5 5-3 UAM 3-7 2-3 Lyon 0-3 0-10 OBU 5-3 4-1 Lyon 6-5 4-5 Delta State 2-7 Daryl Johnson eyes the ball all the way. Johnson led the Bisons, ending the season with a batting average of .368. Photo by Aaron Gillihan.
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