Edmond, Okla. – The SAU Softball team will compete in their sixth NCAA Regional and their fifth regional in a row this week; and for the second time in a row, they will compete on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma.

The Muleriders enter the regional as the four seed; their first round opponent are the MIAA Tournament Champions, Central Missouri, who are the five seed in this regional.

The Jennies earned the MIAA Tournament Championship by beating Washburn in a best two-out-of-three series before beating Missouri Southern, Central Oklahoma and Rogers State en route to the championship.

Overall, the Jennies are 36-12 on the season. They own a team batting average of .308 with 42 homeruns and 243 runs scored, good enough for 5.06 runs per game.

There are six players in the Jennies lineup who are batting over .300, led by Ashlyn Cook's .360 batting average with eight home runs to boot.

Inside the circle, the Jennies' pitching staff owns a 2.24 ERA with 297 strikeouts in 324.1 innings pitched. Paige Petefish and Sadie Parks have combined for 27 wins in 31 starts this season and have ERA's of 1.84 and 1.89, respectively. All of the Jennies' pitchers own an opponents' batting average below .300 and have a combined .224 opponent batting average.

The winner of this matchup will have a date with #1 Augustana. The defending national champions are 44-6 on the season, losing to Minnesota State Mankato in the NSIC Championship game.

The Viking hitters own a .337 batting average with 65 homeruns in 50 games, led by Mary Pardo's 19 homeruns. Tori Chute has a team-best 58 RBIs and six players have a batting average north of .300, with Kendall Cornick pacing the team with a .473 average.

The Viking pitching staff has pillaged opposing hitters this season, striking out 268 batters in 316.2 innings pitched and only allowing an opposing batting average of .210.  The duo of Ashley Mickschl and Amber Elliott have combined for 43 wins in 49 starts this season.

On the other side of the bracket, the MIAA regular season champion and hosts Central Oklahoma take on GAC Tournament champions Arkansas Tech. The Bronchos are 35-12 on the season; they swept the Golden Suns in a double-header earlier this season in Edmond. The Bronchos are hitting .299 as a team and their pitching staff owns a 2.52 ERA.

The Golden Suns beat the Muleriders in the GAC Tournament last week en route to winning the tournament. They are anchored in the lineup by first-team selection Mackenzie Addis and tournament MVP Tymber Riley.

Minnesota State Mankato awaits as the #2 seed; they are 38-8 on the season and beat top seed Augustana to claim the NSIC Tournament championship. They are hitting .326 as a team and own a team ERA of 1.41.

The Muleriders enter this week with a 27-8 record on the season. The GAC regular season champions are hitting .311 as a team and have a team ERA of 2.00. They are led by all-region players: Laina Suesue, who is hitting .353 with a .513 on-base percentage, having drawn 32 walks on the year; Alese Casper, who leads the team with a .394 batting average; Elisa Favela, who has a team-high nine home runs; and Victoria Taylor, who has struck out 108 batters in 89 innings of work this season.