EDMOND, Okla. - Southern Arkansas softball season's came to an end Friday. The Lady Muleriders (45-15) entered the day needing one win across two potential games to punch its ticket to the DII Softball National Championship Tournament, but it was Central Oklahoma (52-7) that emerged as a winner with 5-4 and 5-2 victories to win the Central Region crown.
A 29-minute rain delay popped up around the top of the fourth inning the first contest with UCO at the plate. Tatum Long home run that gave UCO an early 1-0 lead in the second, but Mariah Hamilton had a solo shot to tie it at 1-1.
UCO eventually grabbled a 2-1 advantage, but SAU Emily Shipman earned a free pass to set the table for Hamilton, again. She nailed her seventh roundtripper and second of the day,to put SAU up 4-2 with two innings to play.
UCO responded with two outs in the visiting half of the sixth as a two-RBI single off the bat of Emily Deramus tied the game at 4-4.
The Bronchos used back-to-back doubles to plate the go-ahead run, before a double play diminished the SAU threat in the bottom of the seventh.
In the second contest, UCO jumped out to a 3-0 lead through four innings.
On Thursday, SAU snapped the Bronchos' 19-game winning streak with its 8-2 victory in the super regional opener. UCO finished its home slate at 24-3 overall with two of those losses (Feb. 18, May 18) coming at the hands of the Lady Muleriders.
Southern Arkansas' season included its fifth campaign under ninth-year head coach Jason Anderson with 40-plus wins and its first since 2019. The Lady Muleriders punched their ticket to the NCAA postseason for the seventh-consecutive season and for the eighth time overall. SAU advanced to its third super regional and first since 2018.
The Lady Muleriders saw eight members of the 2023 squad garner all-conference honors, one become an all-region performer and six claim academic honors.