BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The postseason is officially here, and the 2025 Great American Conference Softball Championship Tournament has begun as the 12th-ranked and top-seeded Muleriders took on in-state foe, eighth-seeded Henderson State. Southern Arkansas came out on top of the contest and claimed its advancement to the tournament's semifinals, in which the unit will face fourth-seeded Harding for another 1:00 PM first pitch tomorrow at the Tiger Softball Complex on the campus of Bentonville High School.
Quarterfinal vs. Henderson State (W, 9-3)
Defense and offense for the Blue and Gold, showed strong beginnings against the Reddies as the Mulerider defense, led by Brinson Rogers in the circle, pitched three shutout innings to start the contest, while the SAU offense six runs and looked to have everything under control.
Those six runs came after Team 27 tallied three in both the bottom of the first and third innings. Kelsie Adams had a hand in all three runs after the Van Alstyne, Texas native recorded a pair of RBIs after batting in Regan Dillon and Sophia Stoddard on a standing double for a 2-0 lead. Adams then scored the third run of the half inning on a wild pitch by HSU.
Adams was then seen aiding the fourth run of the outing as she was batted in off of the bat of Haley Cummings. The score came off of the Suwanee, Georgia native's first home run of the season to increase the Blue and Gold lead to 5-0. Jenna Huey the plated a run after making it home with a triple off the bat of Cassidy Lear for a 6-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.
Henderson State never yielded to the Muleriders' impressive batting as the Reddies loaded the bases in the top of the fourth and plated a pair of runs with a single to score one and a sacrifice fly to score the other, 6-2. Rogers limited the damage to just those two runs as the senior stranded two runners on base.
Southern Arkansas grabbed one of the runs back, after a scoreless bottom of the fourth, with a lead-off Jenna Huey oppotaco solo shot over the right field wall for the 7-2 lead heading to the top of the sixth. Huey's home run marked her fifth of the season and her first since doing so at Ouachita Baptist (3/7/25).
SAU shutout the Reddie offense in the top half of the sixth and then proceeded to add on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning with bases juiced and Cummings being hit by a pitch to score Madison Dillon, who came in to pinch run for Sophia Stoddard. With the bases still loaded, Huey was walked to first and recorded the RBI with Adams scoring her third run of the day, 9-2.
The Reddies had one final opportunity in the top of the seventh and attempted to seize it as the group scored one run in the half inning on a fielder's choice, 9-3.
Rogers held up the Reddies' offense, even after the group had tacked a few runs on the senior, as she pitched 5/7 shutout innings and improved her single-season strikeout record to 275 and has now 200.0 innings this season.
Three Mulerider batters accounted for a multiple hits in the contest with Stoddard going 2-for-4 with a run, Adams going 2-for-3 with three runs, and Huey going 2-for-3 with two runs. Leading the team in runs batted in for the day was Cummings, as the redshirt-sophomore recorded three RBIs and accounted for her first home run this season.
Next Up: (4) Harding
The Muleriders and the Lady Bisons run it back for game four this season after the regular-season series, at Southern Arkansas, saw Team 27 sweep Harding and shutout the Lady Bisons in all three outings (0-4, 0-2, 0-4).
In today's game against (5) Southeastern Oklahoma State, Harding claimed victory in a run-rule over the Savage Storm after the Lady Bisons saw Kaya Lee go 4-for-4 on the day and score three runs while Emma Curry delivered a huge punch against SE with a grand slam.
Earning the win in the circle for the Lady Bisons was Brooklyn Gobble, who pitched her 13th complete game and allowed just one run.
As mentioned, the Muleriders and Lady Bisons are set for a 1:00 PM first pitch in tomorrow's semifinals.
Tickets and Broadcast Details
All ticketing, live stats, and broadcast information for the 2025 Great American Conference Softball Championship Tournament can be found at www.greatamericanconference.com or can be found at the top of this article, where it says "Tournament Central".
