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Setting the Stage
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No. 5 Midwestern State (52-12) opens the 2011 NCAA Division II Softball Championship with No. 1 Alabama-Huntsville Thursday night at the Moyer Complex in Salam, Va. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. (Central Time).
The Mustangs are making their first World Series appearance against the postseason savvy Chargers, who making their second appearance in the last three seasons and fourth showing in school history.
Midwestern State advanced as the South Central Region champions rallying to take 2-of-3 from West Texas A&M last week at Mustangs Park.
MSU fell 4-1 in Game 1 before erupting for 17 runs and 27 hits in wins of 8-2 and 11-2 including a decisive 8-run seventh inning in the clincher as Courtney Bingham, Mallory Mooney and Kim Jerrick blasted homers to put the Lady Buffs away and punch the Mustangs' ticket for Salem.
Alabama-Huntsville (45-5-1) also had to rally for two wins last weekend as the Chargers fell to West Alabama by a 10-5 margin in Game 1. UAH carried a 5-1 lead into the final inning, but UWA rallied for four runs in the top of the seventh and piled on five more in the eighth to claim the victory.
Alabama-Huntsville rolled to wins of 6-3 and 8-0 to earn the South Region's berth in the College World Series.
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Where to Find the Games
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- Video Streaming - A free streaming video feed is available from NCAA.com for the entire tournament. The championship game airs live on CBS College Sports Monday morning at 11 a.m. (Central Time)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Link
- Live Stats - Live stats are available courtesy of NCAA.com.  Link
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About the NCAA II Championship
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The NCAA Division II Softball Championship is played as two seperate four-team, double elimination brackets with the winner advancing to a winner-take-all final Monday morning at 11 a.m. (Central Time).
Bracket No. 1 features No. 14 Minnesota State-Mankato, No. 16 UC-San Diego, No. 25 C.W. Post (N.Y.) and unranked Saginaw Valley State, while Bracket No. 2 is stacked with No. 1 Alabama-Huntsville, No. 2 North Georgia, No. 5 MSU and No. 11 Indiana (Pa.).
Here is the schedule:
Thursday, May 26
Bracket 1
Game 1: UC-San Diego (41-13) vs. C.W. Post (N.Y.) (41-14), 11 a.m.
Game 2: Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) (40-16) vs. Minnesota State-Mankato (53-14), 1:30 p.m.
Bracket 2
Game 3: North Georgia (52-10) vs. Indiana (Pa.) (38-6), 4 p.m.
Game 4: Alabama-Huntsville (45-5-1) vs. Midwestern State (52-12), 6:30 p.m.
Friday, May 27
Bracket 1
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 3 p.m.
Bracket 2
Game 6: Wiinner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 28
Bracket 1
Game 7: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 5, 4 p.m.
Bracket 2
Game 8: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1:30 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 6, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 29
Bracket 1
Game 11: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 9, 11 a.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11, 4 p.m. (if necessary)
Bracket 2
Game 12: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 10, 1:30 p.m.
Game 14: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, 6:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Monday, May 30
Championship, 11 a.m.
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Midwestern State in the NCAA Division II Championship
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The Mustangs are making their first appearance in the NCAA II World Series, but are 11-14 all time in NCAA postseason play.
MSU has faced just one of this season's NCAA II Softball Championship participants - its first round opponent, Alabama-Huntsville.
In their only meeting, the Mustangs rallied on the strength of Rachael Jackson's two-run homer in the seventh inning before falling 4-3 to the Chargers on Feb. 4, 2005 at the First Pitch Classic in San Antonio.
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MSU Quick Notes
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The Mustangs are making their first appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball Championship in just the program's eight seasons of existence. MSU has advanced to NCAA postseason play seven times.
- Midwestern State athletic programs have advanced to the national tournament level in four sports during the 2010-11 scholastic year including a Final Four run in men's soccer, a 17th-place showing at the NCAA II Cross Country championship and an Elite Eight showing in men's basketball.
- No other team in any division of the NCAA has won more games than Midwestern State since the start of the 2010 season. The Mustangs have claimed 106 wins outdistancing other top D2 foes North Georgia (103) and Nebraska-Omaha (97). Michigan tops D1 in victories over the past two seasons with 102, while Linfield leads D3 with 93.
- Midwestern State enters the NCAA Division II postseason ranked No. 5 in the final regular season NFCA D2 Top 25. The Mustangs have spent the last 25 reporting periods ranked in the poll including 20 of those weeks ranked in the Top 10.
- Midwestern State senior pitcher Brittney Tanner became the first player in program history to earn first-team NFCA All-America honors after posting a 30-8 mark with a 1.49 ERA this season. Sophomore outfielder Elena Bennett earned second-team honors after hitting .420 with 39 stolen bases and 52 runs scored.
- The Mustangs also placed three players on the Daktronics All-America squad as senior pitcher Brittney Tanner gained second team accolades while sophomore outfielder Elena Bennett and junior third baseman Mallory Mooney earned third-team honors. Mooney was left off of the NFCA coaches' team despite posting an impressive .365 batting average with 17 doubles and 15 homers while driving in 69 runs. She posted a .961 fielding percentage at the hot corner while committing six errors. Mooney was charged with a total of three errors coming into this season.
- Midwestern State senior pitcher Brittney Tanner, junior third baseman Mallory Mooney and sophomore center fielder Elena Bennett each earned All-South Central first-team by Daktronics and the National Fast-pitch Coaches' Association. Tanner was named Daktronics regional pitcher of the year.
- Midwestern State's senior pitching combination of Brittney Tanner and Kristina Gutierrez has combined for a Lone Star Conference record 25 shutouts this season. Tanner ranks second in the nation with 13 shutouts while Gutierrez has notched 12. Tanner is just one behind Quincy's Tori Bunzell, who finished with 14 blankings. Tanner needs one more shutout to match former Southeastern Oklahoma State standouts Starla Payne and Christina Cearley who had 14 shutouts in 2000 and 2003, respectively.
- Senior pitcher Brittney Tanner became the third Midwestern State pitcher to be named Lone Star Conference North Division Pitcher of the Year. The Burkburnett product led the LSC in wins (30), shutouts (13), strikeouts (336) and ERA (1.49). Tanner owns MSU top single season marks with wins, strikeouts and shutouts.
- Senior pitcher Kristina Gutierrez garnered All-LSC North second-team honors after delivering a breakout campaign in the circle. The Pearland native is third in the nation with 12 shutouts on her way to an impressive 22-4 record. She rated second in the conference with a 1.58 ERA and fanned 238 batters to just 27 walks. She has allowed 2-or-fewer hits in 11 of her 29 starts and struck out 10-or-more on 10 occasions.
- Sophomore center fielder Elena Bennett garnered All-LSC North first-team honors for the second straight season after leading the league with a .420 batting average. The Carrollton native became the first player in MSU history to amass 80 hits in a season and now has notched 87 safeties this season. Bennett needs seven hits to surpass former Angelo State star Alexis Wing (93 hits in 2003) to become the LSC's all-time single season hits leader.
- The 2011 Mustangs have clubbed the most home runs in program history by far this season with 60 which easily surpasses last season's total of 40. Junior third baseman Mallory Mooney leads the way with a school record 15 homers. Catcher Kim Jerrick jacked her MSU frosh record 11th homer in last week's clincher over West Texas A&M, while senior first baseman Alyson Reynolds smashed four of her 10 homers at the LSC Championships. Senior Amanda Potysman (nine homers) would give the Mustangs their fourth 10-homer hitter with her next bomb.
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About the Chargers
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Alabama-Huntsville rolls into the NCAA Division II as the nation's top-ranked side - a spot the Chargers have occupied throughout much of the season on the NFCA D2 Top 25.
But UAH has taken a similar route to Salem.
The Chargers stumbled in the Gulf South Conference tournament and had to fight to a third game in the Super Regional round.
Alabama-Huntsville is led at the plate by NFCA first-team All-American Mary Kelley.
The freshman, who has split time between outfield and catcher, is hitting .383 with 17 doubles, five homers and 46 RBIs.
But she is just one of nine Chargers boasting an average of better than .300 including junior 1B/OF Stephanie Needham (.383, 11 2B, 7 HR, 42 RBI), junior OF Kelli Long (.379, 10 2B, 5 3B, 7 HR, 32 RBI, 39 SB), sophomore SS Kathryn Whitlock (.371, 6 2B, 4 HR, 40 RBI), senior 1B Sarah Nickey (.371, 2 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI), senior catcher Krystal Johnson (.336, 9 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 28 RBI), senior OF/1B Emily Roach (.333, 8 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 25 RBI), sophomore OF Meagan Billingsley (.317, 9 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 29 RBI) and sophomore 3B Abby MacKay (.317, 13 2B, 6 HR, 33 RBI).
Sophomore Whitney Gilbert (15-2, 1.30 ERA) and freshman Whitney Toler (18-2, 1.62) pace Alabama-Huntsville in the circle while senior Alex Lewis (7-1, 0.70, 14 saves) gives the Chargers a more than adequate option out of the bullpen.
The Chargers posted a 25-game winning streak from March 13 to April 23 and are 11-1-1 against national ranked opposition this season.
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