RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The seventh-ranked Arkansas Tech Golden Suns softball team (49-9) will have a familiar opponent in this year's NCAA D-II Super Regional, as they will host No. 15 Southern Arkansas (49-9) in a best-of-three series at the Chartwells Women's Sports Complex this week.
 
The Suns are coming off an impressive performance in the Central Regional, winning the championship in three games and shutting out their opponents in each game.
 
Tech opened the tournament with a 6-0 win over Upper Iowa. Sarah Coronado led the Suns by going 3-for-3 from the plate with three RBIs. Jalissa Gum opened the tournament with an impressive performance, giving up just two hits and two walks while striking out 13 batters.
 
Against Minnesota State in the following game, a Gum vs. Coley Ries (two of the top pitchers in the Central Region) had a scoreless battle through 11 innings when Tech's Kambri Hill put the game away on a walk-off two-run home run in the 11^th inning to give the Golden Suns the 2-0 win. Gum pitched all 11 innings, giving up just two hits and tying a season-high 16 strikeouts.
 
The Golden Suns had a rematch with Upper Iowa in the Regional Championship and much like the game against the Mavericks; it was Gum and Hill stealing the show. Hill hit a solo blast to left field in the top of the sixth inning to provide the only run of the game and Gum struck out Riley Kruel for the third out in the seventh to give the Suns the championship.
 
In the three games combined, Gum pitched 25 scoreless innings, giving up just nine hits and nine walks while striking out 35.
 
The Golden Suns 4-6 hitters (Hill, Coronado, Janie Knowles) for the tournament combined to go 12-for-25 from the plate with two home runs, six RBIs, four runs scored, and reached base 17 times.
 
Tech and SAU will be re-matched against each other in the Super Regional after the Muleriders won the Super Regional 2 in three games. The Golden Suns and Muleriders split their four-game series earlier this season, as Gum was named the NFCA Pitcher of the Week after holding the Muleriders to just three hits and struck out 24 batters in the two victories.
 
The opening game of the series is set for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 11 and the second game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 12 with an "if necessary" game three if both teams are split after the second game. Live audio, video, and statistics will be available at www.arkansastechsports.com.