LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced its Regional Coaching Staffs of the Year on Monday morning and earning the honor in the Central Region for the second time in program history is the Southern Arkansas Softball Coaching Staff consisting of head coach Jason Anderson, assistant coach Kayla English and graduate assistants Autumn Suydam and Brynn Baca who all helped lead the 2018 Lady Muleriders to a historic finish at the NCAA Division II Softball Championships.
 
Under the direction of Anderson, the Great American Conference's Coach of the Year, and his staff, Southern Arkansas won a program record 60 games, which included an unblemished 21-0 record with five postseason wins at home on Dawson Field. The club also captured the school's first outright regular season conference title with a 38-6 record in Great American Conference play.
 
The Lady Muleriders also engineered one of the program's most successful postseason runs to date as they captured the Central Region title, while finishing third nationally after earning the program's second trip ever to the NCAA Division II Softball Championships.
 
In addition to setting 16 major single-season team records, which included among others team-season bests in batting average (.326), slugging percentage (.551) and on-base percentage (.419), the Lady Muleriders became the first team in Division II Softball history to feature a 30-win, 30-home run duo as sophomore pitcher Victoria Taylor (33-1 W/L) and senior slugger Brooke Goad (32 HRs) helped lead Southern Arkansas in 2018.
 
Representing each of the NFCA's eight Division II regions, the coaching staffs of West Chester University (Atlantic), Southern Arkansas University (Central), Saint Anselm College (East), University of Southern Indiana (Midwest), Saint Leo University (South), Angelo State University (South Central), University of North Georgia (Southeast) and Chico State (West) are now eligible for the NFCA Division II National Coaching Staff of the Year award.
 
The national award will be announced on June 13.