BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Team 26 fought to the very end in the 2024 Great American Conference Tournament Championship as the Muleriders fell to the two-seed Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm who secured their automatic bid to the NCAA postseason with a 5-1 win against Southern Arkansas.
Journey to the Championship
Team 26's journey to the finale was anything but easy as they had to go toe-to-toe with three squads that they had fallen to in the three regular season series.
The Mulerider's were tasked with their in-state rival (#5) Arkansas Tech for the quarterfinals of the tournament following the Golden Suns victory against the eighth-seeded Reddies out of Henderson State by final of 6-5.
Vs. #5 ATU | Quarterfinals | SAU won 8-2
Tech met with the fourth-seeded Muleriders just hours after their opening round of competition and looked to have the advantage as the Suns swept Southern Arkansas in their series back in early April (4-5).
Team 26 however came prepared as the group put together one of their best offensive efforts this season with seven runs scored in the first two innings and another in the fourth.
Sydney Ward kept the Suns scoreless for the first four innings till surrendering just one run in each the fifth and sixth innings. In the outing, Ward recorded a pair of Ks whilst conceding six hits, two runs (both earned), and four walks. Brinson Rogers came in to close the ballgame out in the sixth in which she recorded six Ks and two walks without giving up any runs for the remainder of the game.
The Muleriders accounted for ten hits with Ariana Rolle and Savannah Clausen each posting two hits and Clausen nailing her first official home run of the campaign. The junior dinger batted in three runs including herself and busted the game against the Suns wide open.
Southern Arkansas' win against Arkansas Tech marked the first occasion that the Muleriders had defeated the Golden Suns in the Great American Conference Tournament since 2017.
Vs. #1 OBU | Semifinals | SAU won 5-4
With the quarterfinal triumph against ATU, SAU advanced to the semifinals for their rematch with the regular season GAC champions, Oklahoma Baptist.
The Muleriders fell to the Bison back in late March after Southern Arkansas had won the series opener, but were upended by the top-seeded team in the next two contests.
Team 26 came into the semifinal with a vengeance against #1 OBU as the contest consisted of the two teams with superlative awards in the conference. The Bison housed the GAC Coach, Player, Pitcher, and Freshman of the Year while the Muleriders house the league's Newcomer of the Year, Brinson Rogers.
Due to the new bracket rules, Oklahoma Baptist had received the double-bye with the top seed. The semifinal round was the opening round for the Bison in which did not go the way most had thought it would.
Rogers got the start in their second outing of the tournament and pitched the first 4.1 innings in which she recorded four strikeouts and surrendered six hits, two walks, and three runs (one earned). Ward entered the game and closed out the contest for the final 2.2 innings in which she recorded three strikeouts and allowed two hits and one run (earned).
Both squads tacked on a pair of runs in the first inning, but the advantage was taken right back by the Muleriders in the second with another couple of runs added on. OBU tied the game back at four apiece with a a run in both the fifth and the sixth, but in the end Southern Arkansas claimed victory with a Regan Dillon bomb in the top of the seventh to claim the lead at 5-4.
The Muleriders top batter of the outing was Haley Nillen as the graduate student nailed a dinger in the first with Kamryn Moctezuma on base for a two-run bat.
Dillon's game-saving bomb came after the sophomore had gone 0-3 in the previous innings. With a final at-bat like that, it gets fairly easy to overlook the rest of one's game.
With the semifinal victory, the Muleriders had punched their ticket to the league's championship game for the third consecutive season. Team 26 had also recorded the program's 26th GAC Tournament victory with the win and became the only lower seeded team to win a game in the tournament.
Vs. #2 SNU | Championship | SNU won 5-1
The incredible run by Team 26 did not go as hoped as the second-seeded Crimson Storm came out with the same dominant defense they used against #3 Harding in the semifinals.
Southern Nazarene kept the Muleriders scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning in which senior Gracie King fourth home run of the season and the team's first hit of the contest.
Southern Arkansas could not manage to score anymore however and fell to the Crimson Storm 5-1.
All-Tournament Team
Regan Dillon, Ariana Rolle, and Sydney Ward were all recognized for their stellar performances in the tournament as they were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Dillon accounted for a batting average of .250 (2-8), but those hits proved to be crucial to the Muleriders run as she recorded a triple (vs. Arkansas Tech) and a home run (to win against Okla. Baptist). The sophomore posted a run and one RBI for the week.
Rolle recorded herself four hits on ten at-bats for an average of .400 in which she scored two runs and had one double.
Ward pitched for 11.2 innings in which she surrendered just 13 hits, six runs, four walks, and struck out seven batters. The senior played a key role in the victory against Oklahoma Baptist as she came in to close out the top-seeded team's chances of a comeback.
All-GAC Honors
Newcomer of the Year • Brinson Rogers
First Team All-GAC • Sydney Ward | Pitcher
Second Team All-GAC • Brinson Rogers | Pitcher
Second Team All-GAC • Regan Dillon | Designated Player
All-GAC Honorable Mention • Haley Nillen | Catcher
All-GAC Honorable Mention • Ariana Rolle | Center Field
Distinguished Scholar-Athlete • Ava Dunn
Distinguished Scholar-Athlete • Dempsie Lindsey
