MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Day two of the NCAA DII Central Region 2 Regional has come to a close and with it so has the Mulerider Softball 2025 campaign. Southern Arkansas finished the day as the second team eliminated in the regional after Harding was defeated by Missouri Southern State in game four, 9-0.
 
Game Three (Vs. Augustana | L, 2-4)
The Muleriders were caught in an absolute pitchers' duel in their winner's bracket opener for day two as they played the 3-seeded and sixth-ranked Augustana Vikings. The game included the Central Region's top two pitchers according to wins and ERA. In the outing, Southern Arkansas played as the visiting team via a coin flip.
 
The Vikings scored fairly early in the outing as the group scored an unearned in the bottom of the second inning on a single to center field with runners advancing on a fielding error, 1-0.
 
That was all Augustana was held to, and the Muleriders came back with a response in the top half of the third inning as Regan Dillon doubled to left field to score Payton Owens, 1-1, and Sophia Stoddard singled through the right side to score Dillon, 2-1.
 
No runs had been plated from then on until the bottom of the sixth inning, with Desi Cuevas blasting a home run over the opposite wall to tie the outing at 2-2.
 
Then the true pitchers' duel had taken full effect, as neither team seemed to be able to get past third base with the Muleriders seeing a couple of situations with multiple runners in scoring position, but no run was plated.
 
The Vikings eventually called game and their trip to the Central Region 2 Regional Championship as Norah Christiansen recorded the second home run of the ball game over the right center wall to score two runs and walk off the game in the 12^th inning.
 
In the game, Muleriders' senior pitcher Brinson Rogers recorded an impressive outing as the Statesboro, Georgia native tallied 13 strikeouts and surpassed the 300 K mark to become the only Mulerider pitcher with 300 or more strikeouts in a single season.
 
Game Five (Vs. Mo. Southern St. | L, 0-3)
The first three innings ended up being the deciding factor for this contest as the Lions plated a run in the first, second, and third innings for an early 3-0 lead. Once again in this game, the Muleriders played as the visitors
 
Those runs came off the bats of Taylor Nuckolls and Emma Mason, as Nuckolls singled up the middle to score Bailey Dillon in the bottom of the first inning, 1-0.
 
Nuckolls then came back to the plate in the bottom of the second and singled to center field to score Carsen Tinkler.
 
The final run for the Lions and the game came off the bat of Emma Mason. The second baseman singled to center field, scoring first baseman Katie Gray for an insurance run and a 3-0 advantage.
 
Corie Byrd then came in for relief of Kassie Rhodes and dealt a pair of shutout innings before Brinson Rogers was sent out for her final appearance in the Blue and Gold. Rogers entered the circle for the final time in the bottom of the sixth inning and did what she has done all season long. The native of Statesboro, Georgia fanned all three batters she faced. With that, Brinson finalized her historic season with 309 strikeouts and after the day one of the tournament, she became just the fifth Great American Conference Pitcher with 30 wins in a season, the second Mulerider pitcher to do so behind record-holder Victoria Taylor at 33 wins (2018).