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Setting the Stage
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Midwestern State's quest for its first national championship became a little more difficult with its opening round 3-2 setback to No. 1 Alabama-Huntsville on Thursday night.
Now, the Mustangs must stave off elimination and win two games on Saturday and Sunday to advance to Monday's winner take all title game.
MSU begins that quest against Indiana (Pa.) Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (Central Time) and with a win will face Minnesota State-Mankato for the right to move on to the national semifinal round and a rematch with Alabama-Huntsville Sunday afternoon.
The Mustangs would have to upend the Chargers two times for the right to advance to the national championship game. First pitches for the games are set for 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. (Central Time) on Sunday.
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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 7, C.W. Post (N.Y.) 0
Game 2: Minnesota State-Mankato 2, Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) 1
Bracket 2
Game 3: North Georgia 9, Indiana (Pa.) 4
Game 4: Alabama-Huntsville 3, Midwestern State 2
Friday, May 27
Bracket 1
Game 5:Â UC-San Diego 4, Minnesota State-Mankato 2
Bracket 2
Game 6:Â Alabama-Huntsville 14, North Georgia 2
Saturday, May 28
Bracket 1
Game 7:Â Saginaw Valley State 2, C.W. Post 0 (C.W. Post eliminated)
Game 9:Â Saginaw Valley State 7, North Georgia 1 (North Georgia eliminated)
Bracket 2
Game 8:Â Midwestern State 3, Indiana (Pa.) 0 (Indiana (Pa.) eliminated)
Game 10:Â Midwestern State 1, Minnesota State-Mankato 0 (Minnesota State-Mankato eliminated)
Sunday, May 29
Bracket 1
Game 11:Â UC-San Diego (43-13)Â vs. Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) (42-17), 11 a.m.
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11, 4 p.m. (if necessary)
Bracket 2
Game 12:Â Alabama-Huntsville (47-5-1)Â vs. Midwestern State (54-13), 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 (104) 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.
- Junior third baseman Mallory Mooney, sophomore center fielder Elena Bennett, senior first baseman Alyson Reynolds and senior shortstop McKenzie Sickler will play in their 66th games this season Saturday at the NCAA Division II Championship - the most in program history. Mooney, Reynolds and Sickler will also be making their 66th starts.
- With her third at bat Saturday at the NCAA Division Softball Championship, sophomore center fielder Elena Bennett will pass Lindsey Voigt (213 ABs in 2008) for the most in school history. Bennett enters the day with 211.
- Midwestern State senior pitcher Brittney Tanner became the first player in program history to earn first-team NFCA All-America honors after posting a 30-9 mark with a 1.48 ERA this season. Sophomore outfielder Elena Bennett earned second-team honors after hitting .417 with 39 stolen bases and 57 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 .362 batting average with 17 doubles and 15 homers while driving in 69 runs. She posted a .962 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 (347) and ERA (1.48). 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 .417 batting average. The Carrollton native became the first player in MSU history to amass 80 hits in a season and now has notched 88 safeties this season. Bennett needs six 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.Â
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About the Crimson Hawks
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Indiana (Pa.) had its run of 13 consecutive wins snapped with an opening round 9-4 loss to No. 2 North Georgia Thursday night at the NCAA Division II Softball Championship.
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) champions had a clean run through the regional and super regional rounds to gain the first World Series berth.
The Crimson Hawks (38-7) are led by a pair of NFCA All Americans in first-team pitcher Erin Holloway and third-team first baseman Megan McCormick.
Holloway, a 6-0 senior from Harleysville, Pa., has made 35 starts in the circle for IUP posing a 27-4 mark with a 1.52 ERA. She has permitted 45 earned runs on 118 hits while notching 244 strikeouts and 57 walks in 207 1/3 innings. The Crimson Hawks' other option on the rubber is freshman Kelly King, who owns an 11-3 mark with a 2.42 ERA while allowing 32 earned runs on 95 hits with 56 strikeouts and 17 walks in 92 2/3 innings.
McCormick, a 5-7 junior from Evans City, Pa., leads a quartet of IUP batters carrying better than .300 averages into Saturday's contest.
McCormick is hitting .405 with 14 doubles, one triple and seven homers while driving in 53 runs, but junior outfielder Monica Iachini (.369, 15 SBs), senior outfielder Kristen Tunno (.366, 11 2B, 32 RBI) and senior outfielder Michelle Bivona (.320, 8 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 21 RBI) are also strong at the dish for the Crimson Hawks.
Indiana (Pa.) boasts a .310 team batting average and scores 6.0 runs per game.
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About the Mavericks
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No. 14 Minnesota State-Mankato falls out of Bracket No. 1 to No. 2 after dropping a 4-2 decision to No. 18 California-San Diego Friday morning at the Moyer Complex.
The Mavericks (54-15) won their opening round match up with unranked Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) by a 2-1 margin and have been victorious in six of their last 10 games while advancing through regional and super regional play.
Freshman Lindsay Erickson, a second-team Daktronics and NFCA All Ameircan, paces a strong MSU order.
The left-handed hitting first baseman from Big Lake, Minn. is hitting .419 with 20 doubles, a triple and seven homers while driving in 42 runs for a Maverick lineup which boasts a .323 team batting average.
Senior catcher Julie O'Neal (.374, 15 2B, 6 HR, 52 RBI), junior outfielder Melanie Upchurch (.370, 7 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 32 SB), senior infielder Natalie Spicer (.344, 14 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 53 RBI), freshman infielder Kelly Wood (.335, 14 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 39 RBI), sophomore outfielder Lauryn Morris (.317, 5 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 28 SB) and sophomore infielder Abby Sonner (.312, 16 2B, 4 HR, 33 RBI, 14 SB) also sport better than .300 averages for Minnesota State.
Sophomore Courtney McKelvogue (23-6, 1.70 ERA) and junior Kendra Huettl (29-9, 2.49 ERA) are the Mavericks' top two options in the circle.
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