There are more than 275 NCAA Division II softball programs. Of those, only 64 qualified for the 2016 NCAA Tournament and only 16 have advanced to super regional competition with their dreams of a national championship intact.
Two of the 16 remaining teams are from Arkansas, and they will meet for a best-of-three games series at the Chartwells Women’s Sports Complex in Russellville on Wednesday, May 11, and Thursday, May 12, with a berth in the NCAA Division II Women’s College World Series on the line.
Top-seeded Arkansas Tech University (49-9) and No. 2 seed Southern Arkansas University (49-9) will begin their series with a 3 p.m. contest on Wednesday.
The series will continue with game two at 1 p.m. Thursday. If necessary, a third game will be played at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Daily tickets ($5 adults, $3 students and senior citizens; free for those age 4 and younger) will be available at the entrance to the facility. Live coverage will be provided by radio station KCAB 97.1 FM/980 AM and www.arkansastechsports.com.
The Golden Suns and the Lady Muleriders will enter the super regional with almost identical resumes.
In addition to their matching overall records, Tech and SAU are 2-2 against one another during the 2016 season. The Golden Suns were regular season champions of the Great American Conference.The Lady Muleriders won the GAC Tournament.
Both teams rolled through their portions of the NCAA Division II Tournament Central Regional with 3-0 records.
While their achievements are similar, the formula for success is different.
Arkansas Tech’s strength is pitching. Right-handed junior Jalissa Gum is 22-2 this season with a 0.56 earned run average.
The 2016 GAC pitcher of the year, Gum ranks No. 1 in the nation in ERA and hits allowed per seven innings (3.09). She also ranks among the national leaders in shutouts (4th, 11) and strikeouts (6th, 10.0 per seven innings).
As a team, the Golden Suns rank No. 11 in NCAA Division II in ERA (1.53). The pitching numbers are supported by a .970 team fielding percentage that ranks in the top 20 nationally.
Southern Arkansas is noted for its power hitting. The Lady Muleriders rank seventh in the nation in home runs per game (1.17).
Left-handed sophomore slugger Brooke Goad leads the SAU attack with 22 home runs, third-most in all of NCAA Division II this season.
