GAME INFORMATION
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No. 6 ARKANSAS TECH
GOLDEN SUNS
39-17 (26-7 GAC) |
No. 3 AUGUSTANA
VIKINGS
47-8 (27-3 NSIC) |
Thursday, May 12 | 3:30 p.m.
Broncho Softball Stadium | Edmond, Okla.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
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RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Fresh off winning the Great American Conference Tournament for the fourth consecutive time, the Arkansas Tech softball team now prepares themselves to play on the national stage as they take on the No. 9 team in the country and the No. 3-seeded team in the Central Region, the Ausgustana Vikings in the opening round of the NCAA DII Central Region Tournament in Edmond, Okla. tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. from the Broncho Softball Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma.
The Golden Suns enter the NCAA DII Central Region Tournament as the No. 6-seed in the region. Earlier in the season, Arkansas Tech managed to knock off the Vikings 6-3 on February 6 when they were ranked No. 2 in the country.
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Entering the tournament, Augustana finished the regular season at 47-8 overall with a 27-3 record in conference play and are coming off a 13-0 win over Winona State to win the NSIC Tournament.
As a team, the Vikings are hitting .372 so far this season (569-for-1530) with 450 runs scored, 73 doubles, 12 triples and 92 homeruns. Coming into the game, the Vikings have three hitters with at least 130 at-bats hitting .400 or better and are led by Gracey Brink with a .488 average (60-for-134). Following Brink is Torri Chute who has a .417 average at the plate so far this season (65-for-156), while Delaney Young rounds out the list with a .409 average (70-for-171).
In terms of power numbers, the Vikings have 10 total players that have hit at least one homerun on the year. Mary Pardo leads the team in total homeruns with 26 on the year, while Abby Lien follows behind with 15. Young has hit 13 bombs so far this year while Chute has 12 and Kennedy Buckman has launched 10 homers. The leaders in RBI's on the season are Pardo with 66 and Young at 62, while Lein closes out the top group with 56.
In the circle, the Vikings have a team ERA of 1.89 and have struckout 274 in 345.0 total innings.
Five total pitchers have made at least one appearance in the circle this season so far for the Vikings. Amber Elliot leads in starts with 27, while Ashley Mickschl has started 24. Elliot is 19-3 with a 1.67 ERA and has struckout 140 in 121.1 innings. Mickschl is 21-2 with a 1.24 ERA and has 97 strikeouts in 129.1 total innings.
In relief, Augustana has three in reserve on the pitching staff. Hailey Huston leads the relievers with the best ERA among them at 1.25 with 17 total appearances on the season thus far. She is 0-0 and has struckout 21 hitters in 24.0 innings. Makayla Williams is 4-2 on the year with a save and boasts a 1.35 ERA and has struckout eight in 39.1 total innings. Closing out the list of relievers for the Vikings is Olivia Hazelbaker who is 3-1 on the year with a 1.35 ERA and has collected eight strikeouts in 31.0 innings of work. Hazelbaker leads the Vikings in saves with two on the year.
TECH TIDBITS
The Golden Suns enter the NCAA DII Regional Tournament with a 39-17 overall with a league best 26-7 record among conference opponents, which earned them the regular season title. Tech is coming off a hard fought comeback 7-4 win over Southern Arkansas to claim their fourth consecutive GAC Tournament Championship. The Golden Suns closed out their last 10 games of the regular season with a 7-3 record and won ten straight conference series against Southern Arkansas, Harding, Arkansas-Monticello, Southern Nazarene, Oklahoma Baptist, Ouachita Baptist, Henderson State, Southwestern Oklahoma State, Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southeastern.
Offensively, the Golden Suns are hitting .279 as a team this season (410-for-1470) with 302 runs scored, 90 doubles, five triples and 63 homeruns. Entering the tournament, the Golden Suns have two batters with at least 165 at-bats hitting .400 or better and are led by Tymber Riley's .443 average (78-for-176). Caitlyn Wells also holds a solid average at the plate hitting .402 on the season (68-for-169).
In terms of power numbers, the Golden Suns boast 13 total players who have notched at least one homer on the year. Leading the charge in homeruns for Arkansas Tech is Riley who has launched 16 on the season, which led the Great American Conference this season. Wells follows behind Riley with 11 busted homers, while Makenzie Goins has whacked 10 and Shelby Chavers has six. Rounding out the list of homerun leaders for the Golden Suns is Holly Crutchfield with five and Brooke Prewitt with four. Leading Tech in RBI's on the season is Riley with 54 and Goins who has collected 46. Closing out the list for the Golden Suns is Wells with 44 RBI's on the season.
In the circle, the Golden Suns have a 1.94 team ERA and have struckout 336 batters in 379.1 total innings.
Eight total pitchers have made at least one appearance inside the circle for Arkansas Tech so far this season. Shannon Lasey leads the team in starts with 29, while Bailey Buffington has started 19 games. Lasey is 18-7 when starting in the circle with three saves and holds a 1.28 ERA, the best among the Tech starters. The sophomore pitcher has also recorded 144 strikeouts in 158.1 innings pitched and has held opposing bats to just a .179 average at the plate. Lasey hit a career milestone three weekends ago as she logged her 200th career strikeout against Northwestern Oklahoma.The sophomore also notched a perfect game on the road against East Central earlier this season. Buffington is 13-6 with a 2.31 ERA and has collected 97 strikeouts in 109.0 innings of work. She is also holding opposing bats at the plate to just a .221 average. Against Northwestern, Buffington recorded a no-hitter shutting down the Ranger bats.
In relief, Kaila Cartwright leads the Golden Suns with 26 total appearances, that includes a start and is 3-0 while boasting a 1.46 ERA. Cartwright has managed to log 46 strikeouts in 52.2 innings and leads the Golden Suns in saves with five.
