Box Score WINONA, Minn. – A historic and record-breaking 2014 season by the Southern Arkansas softball team unfortunately came to an end on Saturday afternoon as they were eliminated from the NCAA Central Region Tournament with a 5-0 loss to Missouri Western.
Despite the loss, the Lady Muleriders, who finished the season 37-26, literally re-wrote the record books as they set 31 new records; both team and individual. Of those 31 new records, 20 were on the offensive end as the Lady Muleriders enjoyed the best hitting year in program history.
Key cogs in the record-setting Lady Mulerider offense were freshmen
Maddie Dow,
Brooke Goad, and
Shelby Miller. The trio combined to hit 51 of the team's record-setting 71 homeruns on the year and drove in 136 of the team-record 304 RBIs.
Prior a season-ending injury Goad had set a single-season SAU record with 15 homeruns. That mark was eventually tied by Miller and ultimately surpassed by Dow with 21. Dow would also go on to set the record for RBIs in a season with 61. Miller ended the year as the team's top hitter as she finished with season-records in hits (88) and average (.413).
The outstanding Lady Mulerider offense in 2014 was complimented by a solid and relentless pitching staff which was led by Miller and retuning ace
Hanna Gill. Gill, a three-time All-GAC pitcher, battled her way through the season with a nagging injury, but was still able to post a 12-5 record with a tremendous 2.66 ERA in 105.1 innings pitched.
With Gill unable to log her usual volume of innings, the chunk of the workload fell on Miller, and she rose to the call. In 203.2 innings pitched, Miller would post a 3.40 ERA with 144 strikeouts as she appeared in 47 games. 21 of those appearances came in relief as she tallied a season and career record seven saves during the season.
The Lady Muleriders will largely remain intact in 2015 as they lose just two seniors in
Taylor Clifton and
Miranda Vest from this year's team.
Records Broken in 2014 Team Records: • Batting Average (Team): ........................ .306 (531-for-1,735); prev., .298 (469-for-1574) - (2005)
• Slugging Percentage (Team): ............................................................... .478; prev., .439 (2005)
• On-base Percentage (Team): ................................................................ .374; prev., .360 (2005)
• Hit-by-Pitch (Team).................................................................................... 51; prev., 50 (2013)
• Games Played (Team):................................................................................ 63; prev. 59 (2012)
• Wins (Team):.............................................................................................. 37; prev. 34 (2000)
• Runs Scored (Team): .............................................................................. 330; prev. 272 (2005)
• At-bats (Team):.................................................................................. 1,735; prev. 1,574 (2005)
• Hits (Team):............................................................................................ 531; prev. 469 (2005)
• Homeruns (Team): ..................................................................................... 71; prev. 50 (2006)
• Runs Batted In (Team): ........................................................................... 304; prev. 236 (2005)
• Total Bases (Team): ............................................................................... 829; prev. 691 (2005)
• Walks (Team):......................................................................................... 146; prev. 139 (2002)
• Saves (Team): ............................................................................................... 8; prev. 4 (2006)
• Innings Pitched (Team):...................................................................... 417.0; prev. 401.2 (2000)
• Most putouts (Team):......................................................................... 1,251; prev. 1,205 (2000)
Individual Records: • Batting Average (Ind.).............................................................. .413 (88-for-213) -
Shelby Miller prev., .392 (49-for-125) - Joanna Jones (2008)
• Slugging Percentage (Ind.)........................................................................ .829 -
Brooke Goad prev., .612 Tisha Thompson (2007)
• At-bats (Ind.).............................................................................................. 213 -
Shelby Miller prev., 205 - Lauren Fraizer (2005)
• Games Played (Ind.)........................................................................................... 63 - Five Tied
prev. 60 - Kylee Crosek (2012)
• Games Started (Ind.)........................................................................................ 63 - Three Tied
prev. 60 - Kylee Crosek (2012)
• Runs Scored (Ind.): ...................................................................................... 55 -
Shelby Miller prev. 47 - Lauren Fraizer (2005)
• Hits (Ind.):.................................................................................................... 88 -
Shelby Miller prev. 78 - Lauren Fraizer (2005)
• Homeruns (Ind.)............................................................................................ 21 -
Maddie Dow prev. 15 -
Brooke Goad (2014)
• Runs Batted In (Ind.)..................................................................................... 61 -
Maddie Dow prev. 50 - Tisha Thompson (2007)
• Total Bases (Ind.)........................................................................................ 149 -
Shelby Miller prev. 113 - Cassie Blackwood (2005)
• Walks (Ind.):................................................................................................. 33 -
Maddie Dow prev. 30- Kayla King (2005)
• Saves (Ind.)................................................................................................... 7 -
Shelby Miller prev. 4 - Cassie Blackwood (2004)
• Games Finished (Ind.)................................................................................... 20 -
Shelby Miller prev. 18 - Cassie Blackwood (2004)
• Most Chances (Ind.):................................................................................... 437 -
Darian Harris prev. 425 - Chelsea Knox (2011)
• Putouts (Ind.).............................................................................................. 414 -
Darian Harris prev., 409 - Chelsea Knox (2011)
