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(7) Southern Arkansas opens play in World Series against (2) Saint Anselm (GAME NOTES)

5/23/2018 4:26:00 PM

By: By: Jacob Pumphrey
     
 
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#8 (7) SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
LADY MULERIDERS
57-9		 LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
TOURNAMENT HOME PAGE | TOURNAMENT BRACKET
WORLD SERIES PREVIEW		 RV (2) SAINT ANSELM
HAWKS
41-10-1
vs. (2) Saint Anselm
Thursday, May 24 | 3 p.m. CST
James I. Moyer Sports Complex | Salem, Virginia
 
GAME NOTES (PDF)

Leading Off    
The action on NCAA Division II Softball's biggest stage begins Thursday at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia, as eight teams begin the final stretch of their journey to be crowned National Champions.
    
Southern Arkansas (57-9), Central Region Champions for the second time in three years, boasts one of the nation's top offenses which ranks first in home runs (110), second in home runs per game (1.67) and sixth in slugging percentage (.565). Additionally, the Lady Muleriders own one of the country's best all-around pitching staffs to go along with its powerful bats as the group collectively ranks fifth in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.37) and seventh in earned run average (1.66).
    
Powering the offense has been a lineup that slashes .330/.422/.565 and showcases six players with ten or more home runs, while three of those players have hit 15 or more and are led by Division II's single-season and career record holder for home runs and walks in senior Brooke Goad. Five players have recorded 65 or more hits and six have scored 40 or more runs this season. 
    
(7) Southern Arkansas faces (2) Saint Anselm on Thursday at 3 p.m. in the opening round of the 2018 Division II Women's College World Series. The winner takes on the winner of (3) Chico State and (6) Saint Leo, while the loser faces the elimination bracket. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com as well as www.NCAA.com.
    
The Hawks (41-10-1), winners of the East Region, went unbeaten in regional play to claim the title and are making the program's first appearance in the Division II World Series. 
    
Offensively, the Hawks are hitting .316 as a team and own an on-base percentage of .390 with a team-slugging percentage of .417. SAC has registered 79 doubles, 14 triples and a dozen home runs as four players have recorded 50 or more hits this season led by Amanda Bickford's 80. Four players have scored 35 or more runs and four have registered 25 or more RBI. On the base paths, the Hawks have swiped 86 bags in 96 attempts.
    
In the circle, SAC is young, but dominant as the Hawks have relied on sophomore Morgan Perry (23-4 | 1.67 ERA) and freshman Courtney Fisher (15-5 | 1.90 ERA). The duo has combined for 242 strikeouts in 311 of the team's 347 total innings. 
 

Southern Arkansas Lady Muleriders (57-9)
 
2018 Great American Conference Regular Season Champions
  • 1st outright regular season conference championship in program history
  • Finished 38-6 in GAC play
2018 Central Region Champions
  • 2nd Central Region title in program history (2016)
 
Previous World Series Appearance (2016) | Went 2-2; Finished 4th in the country
  • vs. NFCA No. 3 North Alabama – L, 0-9 (5)
  • vs. NFCA (RV) Charleston – W, 7-0
  • vs. NFCA No. 1 West Texas A&M – W, 7-4
  • vs. NFCA No. 3 North Alabama – L, 2-10 (5)
 
Season Highlights (Team)
 
  • SAU's 57 wins are a new program record topping the previous season-best win total of 53 set by the 2016 team
    • Eighteen run-rule victories, including a 12-3 victory in five innings over Minnesota Duluth in Central Region Championship
    • Six of the team's nine losses were by a single run
  • Enters the World Series having set 16 single-season team records including batting average (.330), slugging percentage (.565), on-base percentage (.422), hits (578), home runs (110), runs scored (435), total bases (991), and games played (66) among others.
  • Set the Great American Conference single-season record for home runs; topping the program's previous conference-best of 95 set last season
    • SAU has hit the third-most home runs by a team in a single season in Division II history
    • One of seven teams to hit 100 or more in a single season in Division II history
  • First team in Division II Softball history to feature a 30-win pitcher (Victoria Taylor | 31-0) and a 30-home run hitter (Brooke Goad | 32)
  • Head Coach Jason Anderson, the Great American Conference's Coach of the Year, earned his program-record 137th win on February 26 with a doubleheader sweep of East Central. Anderson topped the previous program win standard (136-126) set by the school's initial head coach Kevin Blaskowski from 1999-2003
  • Senior outfielder Brooke Goad, the D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year, enters Division II Softball's biggest stage as the division's All-Time Career Home Run Leader (90) and All-Time Career Walks Leader (210). Additionally this season, Goad set DII single-season records in home runs (32) and walks (82) and owns the division record for consecutive plate appearances with a walk (9).
  • Sophomore pitcher Victoria Taylor, the D2CCA Central Region Pitcher of the Year, became the first pitcher in program history to win 30 games in a single-season and became the fourth Division II pitcher since 2010 to start a season 30-0.
  • Both Goad and Taylor are Top 10 finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year award
 
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