WARRENSBURG, Mo. – There’s gutsy and then there’s “Parker Abrego firing a complete game two-hitter in his first appearance in over a month and in his first start since March 20″ gutsy. And “gutsy” might not do the performance justice as he notched career-highs in innings worked and pitches thrown. With the Muleriders’ season on the line, fifth-year head coach Justin Pettigrew tossed the ball to the right-hander and he delivered. The sophomore’s effort coupled with timely hitting in the sixth and seventh innings propelled (5) Southern Arkansas past (3) Minnesota State for the second time in as many days as the former heads to Championship Monday of the Central Regional needing two wins over top-seeded and consensus top five Central Missouri (42-6) to claim the program’s first regional championship.

Monday’s matchup marks the fourth time in SAU’s NCAA Era that the Muleriders have advanced to the final day of the regional tournament after first doing so in 2004 at the South Region Tournament, again in 2010 and in 2018 when SAU hosted the Central Region Tournament. Southern Arkansas forced the “if necessary” game in 2010 and 2018 and will need to tomorrow to have a shot at the DII Baseball World Series in Cary, North Carolina, next weekend.

Abrego allowed just two hits, five walks and two hit-by-pitch, while the only blemish in the run column came in the top of the sixth inning as Maverick All-American Joey Werner nailed an opposite-field home run to give MSU an early, but short-lived lead. Abrego induced a dozen fly outs and seven groundouts, while stranding seven base runners to improve to 4-2 on the season.

The 1-0 lead for Minnesota State after five and a half innings did not last as Southern Arkansas pushed across three runs in the home half of the sixth. Sophomore Riley Orr singled off of MSU starter Cam Kline’s glove, senior Austin Baker singled into centerfield and a fielder’s choice from the bat of senior Kobe Morris put runners at the corners with one out. A hard hit ground ball to shortstop in junior Jacob Martinez’s bat resulted in an RBI-single that plated Orr and tied the game at 1.

With two outs and runners and first and second, senior Zach Muldoonchopped a pitch to third which forced an error and loaded the bases for junior Tucker Burton. Burton, on the first pitch he saw, doubled into right field allowing Morris and Martinez to score and give Abrego more than enough run support.

In the two games prior, Southern Arkansas had managed just seven hits and in the first five innings of Sunday’s nightcap the Muleriders had recorded only a pair. But the three runs in the sixth came on four hits and after the stretch from Crane Stadium at Tompkins Field, SAU added two more runs on three additional hits to all but put the game away with the powerful jaunt the club was receiving from Abrego.

The insurance runs came courtesy of a two-run single down the right field line by Morris that scored Orr, who reached on a well-hit double, and Baker, who singled and stole second to move into scoring position.

Burton, Orr and senior Mason Peterson all doubled in the win. Orr, Baker and Morris all collected a pair of hits with the latter two each stealing a bag. Orr scored twice, while Morris and Burton accounted for two RBI each. SAU pushed across three earned runs and five total on one of the country’s top pitching staffs which used three arms on Sunday night including Kline who suffered the loss after going 6.1 innings allowing seven hits and two earned runs with six strikeouts. MSU entered the Central Region Tournament with Division II Baseball’s best team ERA at 3.03, strikeout-to-walk ratio at 5.01, and WHIP at 1.12. That was evident as the Maverick staff did not issue a free pass on Sunday with only an intentional walk allowed on Saturday in 17.1 innings against SAU in two games.

In Sunday’s opener, freshman transfer Santos Sosa put together the longest outing of his Mulerider career as he moved into a starter’s role for the winner’s bracket final. The right hander more than held his own against one of the country’s top offensive lineups as he tossed eight innings scattering a dozen hits and two walks, while stranding nine Mules on the base paths and fanning two as he faced 37 UCM hitters.

Sosa worked around Central Missouri runners in scoring position in five of his eight innings and relied on quality defense behind him as a dozen fly outs and eight groundouts kept the Mulerider defense busy.

The Muleriders struck for two runs in the top of the fifth inning as timely hitting off the bat of Morris resulted in a two-run double into left centerfield that plated sophomore Ty Manning and Peterson with two outs in the frame. Manning led off the fifth with a bunt single to third base and stole second to put himself in scoring position. Peterson followed with a walk and with one out, Manning moved to third on a fly out to centerfield by Baker.

Morris placed a full count pitch to the signage as Southern Arkansas responded following a two-run fourth by the Mules that staked UCM starter Conor Dryer to a 3-0 lead through four. The Mules added one more run in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead. In the ninth inning, sophomore Brett McGee drew his 40^th free pass of the season, and second of the day, to lead off the frame and moved to second on a balk, but would be left stranded as UCM advanced to Monday’s Central Region Championship.

Baker and Morris both doubled, while Muldoon and Manning each delivered a single in the loss.

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WARRENSBURG, Mo. — Trailing 7-5 in the bottom of the 11th inning, Henderson State scored three runs without putting the ball in play to walk off No. 2 seed Augustana 8-7 and stay alive at the 2021 NCAA DII Central Regional.

With the win, the Reddies (27-18) advance to face the loser of the Minnesota State and Southern Arkansas contest tomorrow at 11 a.m. The victory is the first for HSU at the NCAA Tournament since 2015.

Henderson led for almost the entire game on Saturday and held a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning, but Augustana plated three runs on four hits to swing momentum and tie it 4-4. HSU rallied and got a bases-loaded walk from Greyson Stevens in the bottom half of the inning to retake a 5-4 advantage.

Down to their final strike in the ninth, the Vikings answered on a bases-loaded walk of their own which knotted the score once again. However, Cade Tucker, who entered with runners on the corners and no outs, avoided the big inning for the Reddies, who went down in order in the bottom half to send the game into extras.

Both teams had opportunities to score in the 10th. Augustana loaded the bases with two outs against Henderson reliever Blake Patterson in the top half, but Patterson got an infield pop-up to escape with no damage done. The Reddies put two runners on with one out in their turn to hit, but could not score after a fielder’s choice and a flyout ended the threat.

The Vikings finally broke through and took their first lead of the game in the 11th frame. Augustana used three hits, including a two-run single, to seize a 7-5 advantage and push HSU to the brink of elimination.

The Reddies caught some luck in the bottom of the 11th when the Vikings removed ace reliever Caleb Kranz, who had struck out six in four innings of relief to that point. HSU immediately took advantage, as the first three batters reached base on back-to-back walks and a hit by pitch.

With the bases loaded and no one out, Augustana made its second pitching change of the inning. Logan Cowart, who entered as a defensive replacement for Henderson in the seventh, came to the plate and worked an eight-pitch walk — the third of the 11th for the Vikings — to bring a runner home and cut the lead to 7-6.

Down by a single run, HSU caught another break on the next at-bat when the Augustana hurler sent a pitch flying over the head of his catcher and into the backstop. First Team All-GAC pitcher Spencer Taack, who had been inserted to pinch run, took advantage and slid home to tie the game at 7-7.

Suddenly in a tie game with still no outs accounted for, the Vikings intentionally walked Bryson Haskins and went to their third pitcher of the inning, who entered cold out of the bullpen to face Henderson freshman Corbin Tsistinas.

On the first pitch of the at-bat with the bases loaded, Tsistinas was plunked squarely on the shoulder to set off the celebration for HSU and win the game for the Reddies on a walk-off hit by pitch. In the final half-inning, Henderson had six-straight batters reach safely without recording a hit. Augustana’s last three pitchers each failed to record a single out.

Patterson, a sixth-year senior, got the win for the Reddies in relief. He pitched the final two innings and gave up two runs on five hits. Henderson starter Matthew Baker was phenomenal and surrendered one run on four hits in five-plus innings while striking out five. Both Tucker and Brayden Bebee pitched on back-to-back days out of the bullpen for HSU and did not allow a hit in two combined frames.

Haskins led Henderson at the plate and finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and two walks. Josh Aguilar also recorded three hits for the Reddies, while Danny Mitchell Jr. had two hits and scored two runs.

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WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The 2021 season came to a close for the Arkansas Tech baseball team on Saturday afternoon as the Wonder Boys fell to top-seeded Central Missouri by a score of 7-4.

The season ends with the Wonder Boys winning 26 games and claiming a share of the GAC Regular Season Championship after going 23-10 in conference play. It was the second regular season GAC title for the Wonder Boys under head coach Dave Dawson. The Wonder Boys then advanced to their first-ever GAC Tournament Championship Game, but ultimately lost to Henderson State.

The Wonder Boys’ season body of work was still more than good enough for them to earn the No. 4-seed and an at-large berth into this year’s Central Region Tournament. It was the second time that the Wonder Boys have made a regional as well.

In the final game of their 2021 season, the Wonder Boys fell behind in the third inning to the No. 2-ranked Mules (41-6) as UCM scored five runs that frame. The Mules went on to score single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 7-0 lead.

The Wonder Boys broke into the run column in the sixth inning on a solo home run out to left field off the bat of Garrett Crews. Two innings later, the Wonder Boys struck for three runs and pulled within that margin thanks to a solo homer by Gabriel Garcia and a two-RBI double in the left-centerfield cap off the bat of Josh Detweiler.

On the mound, the Wonder Boys used three arms with Riyan Rodriguez getting the start. He worked 2.2 innings and then gave way to Mason Griffin (Rogers, Ark.). Griffin pitched the next 4.1 innings and struck out three. Hayes Cox handled the final two innings and did not allow a hit while striking out one.

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For the first time in football, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a guideline for instant replay officials to complete video reviews in less than two minutes.

This will be an overall expectation for replay officials, and reviews that are exceptionally complicated or involve end-of-game issues should be completed as efficiently as possible without a stated time limit.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee supported this rule change to continue efforts to increase the pace of play.

Additionally, the panel approved a clock administration rule regarding instant replay.

If the game clock expires at the end of a half and replay determines that there was time remaining and the clock should start on the referee’s signal after review, there must be at least three seconds remaining, when the ball should have been declared dead, to restore time to the clock.

If less than three seconds remain on the game clock, the half is over.

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The NCAA Woman of the Year award was established in 1991 and is described by NCAA.org to ‘recognize graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.’

The nominees come from all three divisions of the NCAA.

Those from Arkansas include:

Breanna Byrd, Southern Arkansas, outdoor track and field
Bailey Carr, Southern Arkansas, golf
Morgan Dasch, Hendrix, lacrosse
Hunter Eshnaur, Arkansas Tech, volleyball
Vasiliki Falaina, Little Rock, swimming and diving
Maria Fassi, Arkansas, golf
Victoria Hoggard, Arkansas, indoor and outdoor track and field
Claire Latta, Arkansas-Fort Smith, golf
Peyton Mills, Harding, softball
Sydnee Parker, Henderson, tennis

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At 10-0, Ouachita is at No. 2 in the Super Region 3 rankings, and has likely established its spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs for a second consecutive year.

Southern Arkansas and Harding each have records of 8-2 and are in this week’s list at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.

With Missouri S&T at 8-1 and perennial power Pittsburg State at 7-3 just on the outside looking in, it would seem that the Muleriders and Bisons each need a win in the season finale to secure positions in the playoff hunt.

The top eight teams in the final ranking move on to the postseason.

Here is this week’s list:

Super Region Three Rankings

1. Ferris St. (GLIAC) 10-0
2. Ouachita Baptist (GAC) 10-0
3. Grand Valley St. (GLIAC) 9-1
4. Indianapolis (GLVC) 8-1
5. Fort Hays St. (MIAA) 8-2
6. Northwest Mo. St. (MIAA) 8-2
7. Southern Ark. (GAC) 8-2
8. Harding (GAC) 8-2
9. Missouri S&T (GLVC) 8-1
10. Pittsburg St. (MIAA) 7-3

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ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State volleyball standout Sydney Skelton was announced as the school’s nominee for 2017-18 NCAA Woman of the Year Award on Thursday afternoon.

Skelton, who graduated from Henderson in May, was a three-year starter for the Reddies at libero, where she became a two-time All-Great American Conference selection and helped lead the Reddies to their first ever appearance in the GAC Tournament in 2016. Skelton holds the GAC record for digs in a match with 54 and ranks sixth all-time in school history in defensive digs with 1523 in just 299 career matches.

Off the court, Skelton was the internal operations director for Henderson’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was the 2017-18 recipient of the India Norman Award — the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a female student-athlete at the university.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award, which began in 1991 and is now in its 28th year, honors graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and have stood out through their work in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

Skelton joins a list of 581 nominees from all three levels of NCAA competition this year, which includes 130 other nominees from DII institutions.

Nominees from each conference will be selected in August and the top 30 nominees overall, which includes 10 from each division of competition and is picked by the NCAA, will be recognized in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Oct. 28. Three finalists from each division will be picked from those 30 and the Committee on Women’s Athletics will then select the winner from the nine finalists.

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JONESBORO – The Arkansas State women’s bowling team earned the third seed in the 2018 National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Championship as announced by the NCAA Wednesday afternoon in its selection show on NCAA.com.

The Red Wolves enter the tournament with a record of 87-34 and clinched their 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament by earning the Southland Bowling League’s automatic bid after winning the SBL Tournament March 25 over Stephen F. Austin.

“It’s always a great honor to be selected into the NCAA Tournament field,” A-State head women’s bowling coach Justin Kostick said. “It was a little anticlimactic because we had already earned an automatic bid, but we’ve kind of always known where we would land in previous years. I thought being the third seed was fair and we are excited to compete for the national championship.”

Joining the Red Wolves in the field are the top seed Nebraska, No. 2 McKendree, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Sam Houston State, and No. 6 North Carolina A&T. The remaining four seeds are No. 7 Saint Francis University of Pennsylvania, No. 8 Lincoln Memorial, No. 9 Bowie State, and No. 10 Texas Southern.

Saint Francis will bowl Texas Southern and Lincoln Memorial will bowl Bowie State for the right to enter the top eight on April 6. Arkansas State already knows its first round opponent as the team will bowl No. 6 North Carolina A&T, the automatic qualifier from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Teams will be seeded and placed into the bracket, with two spots being determined after the completion of the opening-round matches. The championship bracket will be double-elimination, with each round consisting of a best-of-three match that includes the use of three team game formats- baker total pin fall, five-person team match, and a best-of-seven baker match play. The champion will be determined using a best-of-seven baker match play.

The championship matches will be played April 12-14 at Tropicana Lanes in St. Louis, Missouri. The University of Central Missouri and the St. Louis Sports Commission are the hosts. Tickets for the championship can be purchased on NCAA.com prior to the championship.

The championship final will air at 5:30 p.m. CT, Saturday, April 14 on ESPNU and re-air at 6 p.m. CT, Sunday, April 15 on ESPN2.

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The award, established in 1991, honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.

This year, a record 543 female college athletes have been nominated by NCAA member schools.

The school nominees represent all three NCAA divisions, with 229 from Division I, 117 from Division II and 197 from Division III. The nominees competed in 21 different women’s sports, and 122 were multisport athletes during their time in college.

Five were nominated from Arkansas colleges. That list includes:

Victoria Amadi, Hendrix
Maddie Dow, Southern Arkansas
Caroline Fredensborg, Arkansas Tech
Jalissa Gum, Arkansas Tech
Markie Schaedig, Arkansas State

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Arkansas-Monticello and Arkansas Tech are listed in the first NCAA Division II Central Regional Ranking, which was released Wednesday.

The Weevils are ranked second and the Wonder Boys come in sixth.

At the conclusion of the regular season and the postseason conference tournaments, the top eight teams in the regional rankings will move on to the NCAA Regional Tournament.

Here is the first complete 2017 ranking for the Central Region:

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