KINGSVILLE, Texas (May 8, 2019) – With a harrowing, bumpy flight to Houston, a 2½-hour weather delay there before a second rough flight to Corpus Christi and a hotel arrival at 2 a.m. Wednesday, Oklahoma Christian's trip to south Texas could have started better.

The Eagles' fortunes improved considerably with a light practice Wednesday morning before a detour to the beach in the afternoon. They figure to be rested, relaxed and ready for Thursday, when they will make their NCAA Division II softball tournament debut at 6 p.m.  against top-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville in one of two South Central Regionals.

OC (38-14) figures to have absolutely nothing to lose in the regional. Coach Shanon Hays' Eagles, despite their Heartland Conference regular-season and tournament titles, were the No. 8 seed in the region and were grouped with three teams ranked in the top 11 in the final regular-season Division II coaches' poll – No. 3 TAMUK (43-8), No. 10 West Texas A&M (31-13) and No. 11 Colorado Mesa (45-9).

The regional will use a double-elimination bracket, with two games on Thursday, three on Friday and the championship round (one or two games) on Saturday. All of that is weather-permitting, of course, and the forecast for south Texas is not promising, with the potential for rain – sometimes heavy – for the next several days. TAMUK's Vernie and Blanche Hubert Field was soft Wednesday from rain that fell Tuesday.

The other South Central Regional will include second-seeded Texas A&M-Commerce vs. seventh-seeded Dixie State (Utah) and third-seeded Tarleton State (Texas) vs. sixth-seeded Cameron. The winners of the two regionals will meet for a three-game Super Regional series next week, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II Championship tournament in Denver.

OC had its home doubleheader against TAMUK, scheduled for March 12, cancelled due to weather concerns, but the Eagles are quite familiar with the Javelinas, as the teams have played doubleheaders here each of the previous three seasons. The Javelinas swept in 2016, the Eagles swept in 2017 and the teams split in 2018. In the 2017 sweep, current OC senior Kaylie Upton hit a grand slam during a five-run seventh inning that gave the Eagles a 7-4 win in the second game.

The Eagles also haven't played West Texas A&M or Colorado Mesa this season, but Hays is familiar with Mesa from his time as the coach at Colorado Christian in 2017 and 2018.

TAMUK won both the regular-season and tournament titles this season in the Lone Star Conference. In the LSC tournament, the Javelinas picked up two dominant pitching performances against ranked foes to take the championship. Junior Breanna Smith threw a one-hitter in a 5-0 win over No. 19 Tarleton State, then freshman Saidi Castillo struck out 10 batters in a three-hitter as TAMUK beat No. 7 Texas A&M-Commerce 3-1.

Smith is 17-3 this season with a 1.57 ERA while Castillo – named as the freshman of the year in the LSC – is 23-4 with a 1.93 ERA. Both made the Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-South Central Region second-team list, announced Wednesday. The Javelinas' pitching staff has held opponents to a .207 batting average this season, while OC is hitting .313 as a team.

OC can counter with two of its own standout pitchers in freshman Kali Crandall (16-5, 2.13) and senior Madison Hagood (15-7, 2.33), each of whom earned All-Heartland Conference recognition. Crandall recorded all three wins for the Eagles in last week's Heartland tournament in San Antonio. OC's pitchers have limited opponents to a .227 batting average and TAMUK is hitting .322 this season.

In the powerful LSC, which boasts five teams that spent time this season in the top 25, TAMUK had an impressive five first-team All-Conference picks – Smith, Castillo, second baseman Victoria Schoonard-Saborio (.380, five home runs, 31 RBIs), shortstop Anastasia Leibas (.403, 11 home runs, 52 RBIs) and outfielder Loren Kelly (.359 with 37 stolen bases). Three other Javelinas made the second- and third-team lists.

The Eagles have won six of their last seven games, all but one away from home, and took the current No. 1 team in Division II, Central Oklahoma, to extra innings twice this season. OC also is an impressive 8-0 in neutral-site games this season, something that could factor in as the regional tournament progresses.