MAGNOLIA, Ark - And then there were two. That's all that's left standing of the 42 softball teams in the highly-competitive Central Region and by the weekend, one will have a punched ticket to the NCAA DII Softball Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (RV) Southern Arkansas, one of only two No. 6 seeds left in the tournament, heads to a familiar postseason proving ground in Edmond, Oklahoma to clash with #4 Central Oklahoma, the region's top seed and region runner-up a season ago. First pitch for Thursday's opener in the best-of-3 series is set for 6 p.m. with Friday's game two scheduled for 2 p.m. and the "If-necessary" game to follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of game two. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.

The Muleriders (44-13) are in the NCAA postseason for the seventh-consecutive season and for the eighth time overall. SAU boasts a 4-0 record in its previous two super regional appearances (2016, 2018). The Muleriders are 17-10 all-time in regional play and 22-14 overall in NCAA postseason action.

SAU went 3-0 in the Joplin sub-regional which saw ninth-year head coach Jason Anderson's Muleriders bookend it's stay in southwest Missouri with a pair of wins (5-0, 3-1) over defending national champion Rogers State, while a 5-2 walkoff win over host Missouri Southern was sandwiched in-between.

The Bronchos (50-6) handled a trio of Great American Conference foes in the Central Region #1 Tournament. UCO opened with a 5-0 win over GAC Tournament champ Southeastern Oklahoma, before edging Oklahoma Baptist 2-1 in a highly-anticipated winner's bracket affair. Central Oklahoma advanced to its fifth super regional with a 4-1 victory over Harding.

There's certainly familiarity between the two programs both this season and over the past several campaigns. The two met in Edmond on February 18 as part of the Raising Cane's Softball Festival which saw the Muleriders earn a 9-8 victory. The Super Regional matchup makes it the third straight season that the two clubs will meet in Edmond in the postseason. UCO claimed a sub-regional win (3-2) over the Muleriders last season, while SAU won 5-4 on the road in 2021. In between those postseason battles, UCO topped SAU 3-2 in Conroe, Texas on February 7. Thursday's matchup will be the 11th all-time between the two programs with UCO holding a 6-4 lead in the series. Additionally, eight of the previous ten meetings, in a series that dates back to 2001, have been decided by a single run.

In that February 18 meeting, SAU jumped out to a 3-0 lead through two and half innings of play behind a run-scoring double by Courtney Storey and a two-run blast from Gracie King. UCO answered and struck for three third-inning runs to tie the contest before a six-run fifth inning, powered by an Emily Shipman Grand Slam and a two-run dinger by Storey, pushed the Muleriders out front 9-3. UCO rallied with a fielder's choice RBI in the fifth and a four-run sixth inning before Baylie Thornhill retired the final four Bronchos batters to preserve the win. Thornhill started and then earned the save as Maci McJunkins and Morgan McAlexander worked the middle three innings. UCO's Corinna Rivas took the loss after surrendering the pair of SAU HRs in the fifth.

This postseason, Mariah Hamilton leads the club with a .526 average and on-base percentage. She ranks second in slugging behind Regan Dillon's 1.000. Hamilton has recorded a team-leading ten hits including a double and a home run with an RBI and a three runs scored. Dillon's six-game stretch has been impressive for the collegiate rookie as she is hitting .474 with nine hits of which six are for extra bases including four doubles and two home runs. She leads the team in RBI with eight and Gracie King, the walk off hero against Missouri Southern, follows with four. Storey and Alyssa Miller have recorded five hits each, while Miller and Kamryn Moctezuma have both produced three RBI.

In five of the six postseason games, Sydney Ward has started in the circle for the Muleriders. She's 3-0 with two complete games and a regional-opening shutout of the defending national champs. Ward carries a postseason ERA of 1.50 with 26 strikeouts over 28.0 innings pitched. Thornhill is 2-1 in four appearances with a 1.45 ERA and has scattered nine hits in 9.2 innings.

Award Central (Listed by most recent announcement)
College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District - Jaxynn Dyson, Mariah Hamilton
NFCA All-Central Region Second Team - Ariana Rolle (OF)
GAC All-Tournament Team - Regan Dillon, Mariah Hamilton, Kamryn Moctezuma
All-GAC First Team - Sydney Ward (SP)
All-GAC Second Team - Jaxynn Dyson (SS), Alyssa Miller (OF), Ariana Rolle (OF), Regan Dillon (DP)
All-GAC Honorable Mention - Baylie Thornhill (SP), Emily Shipman (C), Courtney Storey (OF)
GAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete - Ava Dunn, Mariah Hamilton, Demi Lindsey, Uchenna Jong Loy, Courtney Storey

For the season, the Muleriders are hitting .316 as a team with 498 hits; one back of UCO's total hits. SAU has accounted for 160 extra base hits this season including 91 doubles and 59 home runs. Rolle, an all-region outfielder, paces the squad with a .377 average behind 66 hits. Miller leads with 68 hits as seven players have collected at least 45 base knocks this season. Dyson leads with 41 runs scored, Shipman leads three other players with 11+ doubles with a team-high 15, while both Dyson and King have left the yard ten times this spring. Moctezuma's 44 RBI are a team-high with Dillon, Dyson and King all following with 38.

In the circle, Southern Arkansas carries a 2.50 ERA with 351 strikeouts in 387.2 innings of work. Opponents are hitting .240 off of the SAU staff. Ward owns a 2.13 ERA entering the super regional. She is 23-6 overall with 16 complete games to go along with 167 strikeouts. Ward has tossed seven shutouts including one last weekend against Rogers State. Thornhill has won 16 games this spring and gone the distance eight times. She has four saves and 111 strikeouts in 123.2 innings. McAlexander and McJunkins have been nice additions to the staff combining for 69.2 innings over 29 appearances with McAlexander making six starts.

Central Oklahoma ranks in the top 10 nationally in eight statistical categories. No one in the country has fielded the softball better than the Bronchos this season as UCO leads the nation with a .980 fielding percentage. The Bronchos are power proven with additional top ten rankings in doubles (104; 4th), walks (215; 6th), sacrifice flies (26; 6th), slugging percentage (.573; 8th), scoring (7.05; 9th), total runs (395; 9th) and home runs (76; 10th).

Additional statistical marks that land the Bronchos inside the nation's top 20 include on-base percentage (.420; 12th), double plays turned (22; 13th), hits (499; 16th), batting average (.332; 18th) and WHIP (1.12; 20th).

UCO's Shayla Harper was named the MIAA Player of the Year and she leads the team in average (.406), home runs (14), on-base percentage (.462), slugging percentage (.741), RBI (54) and runs scored (53).

Five other Bronchos follow Harper with averages north of .320. Emily Deramus and Jacee Minter have both scored 50 runs. Deramus, the MIAA Freshman of the Year and 2023 TUCCI/NFCA DII National Freshman of the Year Finalist leads the team with 70 hits and Harper follows with 69. Five players have recorded a dozen or more doubles paced by Deramus' 19. Deramus trails Harper in long balls with a dozen.

As solid as she is at the plate (57H, 38R, 49RBI), Terin Ritz's exploits in the circle are even more impressive. Ritz leads a Bronchos pitching staff with a 1.89 ERA and a near-perfect 24-1 mark behind 15 complete games, six total shutouts and three saves over 174.1 innings pitched with 102 strikeouts. Jordyn Pipkin owns a 2.13 ERA and a 19-3 record with 13 complete games and 82 punch outs in 144.2 innings.