Softball 5/16/2023 7:59:00 PM

Bronchos Set To Host Southern Arkansas in Super Regional

No. 4-ranked Central Oklahoma bids for its fourth NCAA Division II World Series appearance this week when the Bronchos host Southern Arkansas in the Central Super Regional at Gerry Pinkston Stadium.

The Bronchos, 50-6 and riding a 19-game winning streak, take on the Muleriders (44-13) in a best-of-three series starting at 6 p.m. Thursday. The teams meet again at 2 p.m. Friday, with the "if necessary" game to follow.

UCO is the top seed in the eight-team Central Region, which is made up of teams from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, the Great American Conference and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

The Bronchos of the MIAA won the Central Regional I Tournament last weekend at home, while sixth-seeded SAU of the GAC claimed the Central Regional II Tournament in Joplin, Mo.

The UCO-SAU winner joins seven other regional winners in the Division II World Series that will be held May 25-31 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"It's going to be a great match-up against a really good Southern Arkansas team," head coach Cody White said. "They beat us earlier this year, so we know what kind of team they have and our players realize we're going to have to be at our best.

"Our main focus is on ourselves. We've played well the last few weeks and just need to keep doing what we've been doing."

The Bronchos qualified for the Division II World Series in 2006, '12 and '13, winning the national championship in 2013.

UCO IN THE SUPER REGIONAL: The Bronchos are making their fifth super regional appearance and are 4-5 overall.

UCO beat Angelo State 2-1 on the road in the 2012 South Central Super Regional, swept Winona State 2-0 at home in the 2013 Central Super Regional, lost to Augustana 2-0 at home in the 2019 Central Super Regional and lost at Rogers State 2-0 last year.

Augustana and Rogers State both went on to win the national championship after beating the Bronchos.

UCO also captured the regional title in 2006 when that tournament was an eight-team event.

The Bronchos are making their 18th national tournament appearance, including the 15th in Division II and the ninth in the last 11 years. UCO has a 39-30 national tournament record – 28-21 in the regional, 4-5 in the super regional and 7-4 in the World Series.

UCO's Division II playoff record by season:
2002: (1-2)
2005: (2-2)
2006: (5-2 – 4-0 in South Central Regional, 1-2 in World Series)
2008: (1-2)
2010: (0-2)
2012: (7-4 – 5-2 in South Central Regional, 2-2 in World Series)
2013: (9-0 – 5-0 in Central Regional, 4-0 in World Series)
2014: (1-2)
2015: (1-2)
2016: (1-2)
2017: (1-2)
2019: (3-3) – lost in Central Super Regional to Augustana
2021: (1-2)
2022: (3-3) – lost in Central Super Regional to Rogers State
2023: (3-0)

ABOUT THE SERIES: UCO has a 6-3 lead over Southern Arkansas in a series that started in 2001. Seven of the nine games have been decided by one run.

The Muleriders have a 2-1 advantage in national tournament meetings, winning 2-0 in 2016 and 5-4 in 2021. UCO earned a 3-2 victory last year.

SAU beat the Bronchos 9-8 on Feb. 18 at Gerry Pinkston Stadium during the Raising Cane's Festival. The Muleriders outhit UCO 13-8 in that contest.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: UCO went 3-0 to win the Central Regional I Tournament title, giving up just two runs in the process.

The Bronchos opened with a 5-0 shutout of Southeastern Oklahoma, edged Oklahoma Baptist 2-1 on Jacee Minter's walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning and downed Harding 4-1 in the finals.

Terin Ritz went the distance in the circle all three games, giving up just eight hits, two runs and two walks in 22 innings as opponents batted .110. Minter hit .500 (5-for-10) in the three games.

SEASON RECAP: UCO was No. 8 in the preseason NFCA poll and has remained in the top 10 all season.

The Bronchos have won 50 games for just the second time in school history, needing one more to tie the record of 51 (51-11) set by the 2013 national championship team.

Central went 23-3 to capture its fifth MIAA regular season title (2013, '17, '19, '21, '23) and then outscored four teams 36-11 to claim the MIAA Tournament title for the third time (2017, '19. '23).

The Bronchos are 22-2 at Gerry Pinkston Stadium this season.

UCO had nine players earn All-MIAA honors, headlined by shortstop Emily Deramus' selection as Freshman of the Year. She was joined on the first-team squad by third baseman Shayla Harper, outfielder Jacee Minter and utility/non-pitcher Tatum Long.

Pitcher Jordyn Pipkin, catcher Amelya Huggins and utility/pitcher Terin Ritz were second-team picks, with outfielder Rylee Lemos earning honorable mention recognition.

Lemos and second baseman Mikayla Rutland were named to the Gold Glove team.

Five players claimed All-Central Region honors, with Harper named Player of the Year by the Conference Commissioners Association. She was joined on the first-team CCA team by Deramus, Minter and Ritz.

Harper, Minter and Ritz also garnered first-team recognition on the NFCA All-Central Region team, with Deramus and Pipkin earning second-team honors.

ABOUT UCO'S OFFENSE: The Bronchos are batting .332 as a team while averaging 8.9 hits and 7.1 runs per game. Central has hit 76 home runs, which is one off the school record of 77 set in 2016.

UCO ranks in the top 10 nationally in eight offensive categories – fourth in doubles (104), sixth in sacrifice flies (26), sixth in walks (215), eighth in slugging percentage (.573), ninth in runs (395), ninth in runs per game (7.1) and ninth in doubles per game (1.86).

Six players are hitting .323 or better to lead a balanced offensive attack, led by Shayla Harper.

The senior slugger is batting a team-high .406 while also leading the Bronchos in runs (53), home runs (14), runs batted in (54), slugging percentage (.741), on-base percentage (.462) and sacrifice flies (five). She's reached base in 53 of UCO's 56 games this season, including a streak of 36 straight earlier in the year.

Harper's 14 homers are tied for seventh on the school single-season list and she's in the top 10 in four career categories – tied for second in triples (13), fourth in homers (39), eighth in runs (141) and eighth in RBI (139).

Junior Jacee Minter is batting .364 with 12 doubles, 10 homers and 43 RBI in continuing her sensational career. She's started all 167 games the past three seasons and has already moved into the school's all-time top 10 in five categories – fourth in doubles (48), tied-fifth in homers (34), fifth in RBI (151), ninth in runs (137) and 10th in hits (193).

Freshman Emily Deramus has a .361 average with team highs in at bats (194), hits (70) and doubles (19) to go along with 12 homers and 46 RBI. She's tied for fifth on UCO's single-season doubles chart, has a team-best 22 multi-hit games this season and is hitting a team-high.433 with runners in scoring position.

Sophomore Terin Ritz is at .354 with 11 homers, six doubles and 49 RBI. She tops the team in two-out RBI (19) and average when batting with two outs (.407).

Freshman Rylee Lemos is hitting .339 with 16 doubles and a team-leading 15 stolen bases and senior Amelya Huggins is at .323 with 15 doubles, five homers and 34 RBI.

Lemos is tied for 10th on UCO's single-season doubles list. Huggins shares the UCO career record for walks (105) and ranks ninth in doubles (42).

ABOUT UCO'S PITCHING: The Bronchos own a team earned run average of 2.31. UCO allows 5.9 hits and 2.4 runs a game.

Sophomores Terin Ritz and Jordyn Pipkin combine for a formidable duo in the circle, having collected 43 of the team's 50 wins.

Ritz is 24-1 – sixth on the school's single-season win list – with three saves and a 1.89 ERA in 174.1 innings. She's pitched in 34 games with 23 starts and has 15 complete games.

The right-hander has walked just 28 batters to go along with 102 strikeouts on the season.

Ritz has won all seven postseason games for the Bronchos, having allowed 22 hits and seven walks in 44.0 innings. She had an 0.95 ERA in the MIAA and regional tournaments, with opponents batting just .148.

Pipkin carries a 19-2 record and 2.12 ERA into the weekend. The right-hander has struck out 82 and walked 51 in 144.2 innings while appearing in 29 games with 24 starts and 13 complete games.

ABOUT UCO'S DEFENSE: The Bronchos lead Division II in team defense with a stellar .980 fielding percentage. UCO has committed just 31 errors in 56 games.

Harper's 103 assists from her third base spot lead the team. Deramus is right behind with 101 from her shortstop position, while second baseman Mikayla Rutland has 86.

ABOUT THE COACH: In his 10th season as UCO's head coach is Cody White, who is closing in on his 400th career win. White enters the weekend with a 399-143 record with the Bronchos.

White has led UCO to eight Division II national tournament appearances, seven 40-win seasons and four regular-season MIAA titles. He's had four of the five winningest seasons in school history (50 this season and 48 in 2017, '19, '22).

White was named MIAA Coach of the Year this season for the third time (2017, '19, '23).

ABOUT SOUTHERN ARKANSAS: The Muleriders enter the Central Super Regional having won 17 of their last 18 games and are coming off a sweep of the Central Regional II Tournament in Joplin, Mo.

SAU finished third in the GAC regular season standings and then fell in the GAC Tournament finals to Southeastern Oklahoma, but earned an at-large bid into the national tournament as the No. 6 seed.

The Muleriders went 3-0 in winning that four-team event. SAU opened with a 5-0 shutout of defending national champion and third-seeded Rogers State, topped host and No. 2 seed Missouri Southern 5-2 in the semifinals and downed Rogers 3-1 again in the finals.

Southern Arkansas, making its seventh straight national tournament appearance, won Central Region titles in 2016 and '18 in advancing to the World Series.

The Muleriders are batting .316 as a team while averaging 8.7 hits and 5.5 runs a game. SAU gives up 6.2 hits and 2.7 runs behind a 3.16 team ERA.

Ariana Rolle leads the offense with a.377 average and six doubles. Alyssa Miller is hitting .360 with seven doubles and 27 RBI, while Regan Dillon is at .356 with 11 doubles, eight homers and 38 RBI.

First-team All-GAC selection Sydney Ward leads the pitching staff. She's 23-6 with a 2.73 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 187.2 innings, while Baylie Thornhill has a 16-3 record, four saves and 3.20 ERA in 123.2 innings.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Shayla Harper: IF; 5' 7"; Senior; R/R

#25 Amelya Huggins: C/IF; 5' 5"; Senior; R/R

#12 Jacee Minter: OF; 5' 6"; Junior; R/R

#99 Terin Ritz: P/1B; 5' 8"; Sophomore; R/R

#3 Mikayla Rutland: IF; 5' 7"; Senior; R/R

#5 Emily Deramus: IF; 5' 8"; Freshman; R/R

#8 Rylee Lemos: OF; 5' 6"; Freshman; L/R

#15 Jordyn Pipkin: P; 5' 6"; Sophomore; R/R

#24 Tatum Long: IF; 5' 8"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#11 Shayla Harper
: 5' 7"; Senior; R/R
: IF

#25 Amelya Huggins
: 5' 5"; Senior; R/R
: C/IF

#12 Jacee Minter
: 5' 6"; Junior; R/R
: OF

#99 Terin Ritz
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; R/R
: P/1B

#3 Mikayla Rutland
: 5' 7"; Senior; R/R
: IF

#5 Emily Deramus
: 5' 8"; Freshman; R/R
: IF

#8 Rylee Lemos
: 5' 6"; Freshman; L/R
: OF

#15 Jordyn Pipkin
: 5' 6"; Sophomore; R/R
: P

#24 Tatum Long
: 5' 8"; Junior; R/R
: IF