EMPORIA, Kansas – Regular season runner-up Central Oklahoma will be looking to defend its title at the MIAA Softball Championship when that four-day tournament opens Wednesday at Emporia State's Trusler Sports Complex.
The Bronchos, who moved up to No. 12 in the country in this week's NFCA Top 25, are 41-12 on the season and went 18-6 in the conference to finish two games behind champion Missouri Southern. UCO opens the tournament at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against either Northeastern State or Northwest Missouri.
"My message to our team is really no different now that we're entering the postseason," head coach Sam Maples said. "We will continue controlling what we can control and taking care of how we prepare.
"The MIAA tournament is stacked with competition and our athletes are ready for the challenge."
UCO stayed third in the all-important Central Regional rankings - made up of teams from the MIAA, the Great American Conference and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference - that were released Wednesday. MSSU is first, followed by Pittsburg State, UCO, Southern Arkansas, Winona State, St. Cloud State, Rogers State, Oklahoma Baptist, Arkansas Tech and Emporia State.
The top eight teams in the final ranking advance to the national tournament, with all three tournament champions receiving automatic bids along with five at-large teams.
The 64-team national tournament field – consisting of eight teams in eight regions around the country – will be announced at 9 a.m. May 11.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: Ten teams qualified for the single-elimination tournament.
Action starts Wednesday, with No. 8 Washburn (35-18) facing No. 9 Missouri Western (32-17) at 3 p.m. before seventh-seeded NSU (28-22) and NWMSU (31-20) play at 5:30.
Four quarterfinal games are on tap Thursday, starting at 11 a.m. when top-seeded MSSU (45-7) plays the MWSU-WU winner. No. 4 Emporia State (28-17) takes on fifth-seeded Central Missouri (33-17) at 1:30 and No. 3 Pittsburg State (45-8) meets sixth-seeded Rogers State (34-18) at 4 p.m. before UCO goes against the NSU-NWMSU winner at 6:30.
Friday's semifinals are at noon and 2:30 p.m., with the championship game at 12 p.m. Saturday.
UCO IN THE MIAA TOURNAMENT: The Bronchos have appeared in every MIAA Softball Championship since joining the league in 2013 and have a 31-15 record with four titles (2017, '19, '23, '25) and one runner-up finish (2018).
UCO went 1-2 in 2013, 1-2 in 2014, 1-2 in 2015, 3-2 in 2016, 4-0 in 2017, 5-2 in 2018, 4-0 in 2019, 3-2 in 2021, 1-2 in 2022, 4-0 in 2023, 1-1 in 2024 and 3-0 last year. The 2020 tournament was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
BRONCHOS AGAINST THE FIELD: UCO went 12-6 during the regular season league schedule against teams that qualified for the MIAA Softball Championship.
The Bronchos swept doubleheaders from Missouri Western, Northeastern State, Northwest Missouri, Pittsburg State and Washburn while splitting with Central Missouri and Emporia State. UCO lost doubleheaders to Missouri Southern and Rogers State.
ABOUT THE BRONCHO OFFENSE: UCO enters the league tournament averaging 9.5 hits and 7.23 runs a game behind a hefty .356 team average. The Bronchos have scored 10-plus runs 11 times this season, going over the 20-run mark twice (21 and 26).
Central ranks in the top 20 nationally in 11 categories – second in doubles (115), fourth in slugging percentage (.574), fifth in runs (383), fifth in runs batted in (357), fifth in on base percentage (.441), sixth in average, eighth in runs per game, ninth in hits (504), 13th in walks (198), 16th in home runs (53) and 19th in triples (18).
All nine position starters are hitting .317 or better, with senior star Rylee Lemos and freshman standout Haley Gallo both batting .398 to lead the way.
Lemos tops the team in runs (58), hits (68), triples (seven), RBI (64) and on base percentage (.490) to go along with 17 doubles, 11 homers and a .772 slugging percentage. She's had 20 multi-hit games and 16 multi-RBI outings this season.
Named MIAA Player of the Year Tuesday, Lemos is 10th nationally in RBI, 11th in triples and 14th in runs. She ranks in the top eight in 10 career categories at UCO, holding records for runs (247) and triples (24).
Gallo is the team leader in homers (12), slugging percentage (.776) and walks (29) while having added 19 doubles, three triples and a freshman school-record 61 RBI, which ranks 13th in Division II. The rookie slugger has had 17 multi-RBI games and a trio of four-hit outings.
Junior Brooklyn Ryan has a .390 average with 14 doubles, four homers, 30 RBI and a team-high 17 stolen bases. She's had a hit in 14 of the last 15 games and leads the Bronchos in at bats (177) and sacrifice bunts (13).
Sophomore Jenna Jobe is hitting .385 with a team-leading 20 doubles – ranked sixth nationally - and 26 RBI, while sophomore Brooklyn Lyles is at .350 with 10 doubles, five homers and 30 RBI.
Freshman Hannah Demoff (.343, six homers, 34 RBI), senior Sherri Mason (.340, eight doubles, 24 RBI), senior Kennedy Clark (.329, eight homers, 57 RBI) and senior Rylee Anglen (.317, 14 RBI, 13 steals) round out UCO's potent offensive lineup.
ABOUT THE BRONCHO PITCHING: UCO is giving up just 5.62 hits and 3.28 runs a game behind a 2.81 team earned run average.
The Bronchos have posted nine shutouts this season and have allowed three or less runs 35 times.
Junior Shelby Beard and freshman Carleigh Kinnaird have paced the pitching staff all season, having thrown 139 innings apiece in accounting for 37 of the UCO's 41 wins.
Beard is 20-6 with a 2.97 ERA, ranking seventh nationally in games started (28), 18th in wins and 19th in appearances (34). She's thrown 13 complete games with four shutouts and has struck out 111 batters.
Kinnaird is 17-4 with three saves and a 2.72 ERA in 31 games with 22 starts. She has 10 complete games with three shutouts and ranks ninth on UCO's single-season strikeout list with 149, having fanned seven-plus batters in eight games.
Freshman Madison Hamilton has provided key depth and is 3-2 with one save and a 2.41 ERA. She's appeared in 19 games with three starts and has 37 strikeouts in 49.1 innings.
ABOUT THE BRONCHO DEFENSE: UCO once again features a stout defense, having made just 41 errors in 1,410 fielding chances over the 53-game regular season.
The Bronchos haven't committed an error in 24 games this season.
Third baseman Sherri Mason leads the team with 96 assists while second baseman Rylee Anglen has 89 and shortstop Hannah Demoff 73.
Anglen along with outfielders Rylee Lemos and Brooklyn Ryan were named to the MIAA Gold Glove team.
Anglen has moved into ninth place on UCO's career assists list with 335.
ABOUT THE COACH: Sam Maples is in her first year leading the UCO program and has directed the Bronchos to a fifth straight 40-win season.
It's also the third consecutive 40-win season for Maples, who led Oklahoma Baptist to 85 wins and back-to-back Great American Conference titles her last two years with the Bison.
Maples has a 211-129 career record in seven years as head coach, spending six seasons at OBU before coming to the Bronchos.
