COMMERCE, Texas (May 18, 2021) – The only other time Oklahoma Christian made the NCAA Division II softball tournament, not much was expected from the Eagles. You know the rest – as a No. 8 (lowest) seed in the South Central Regional, OC famously stunned two teams ranked in the top 11 nationally to stamp itself as a force to be reckoned with.
Two years later, the Eagles now will be in the role of the hunted, with a No. 4 national ranking and the No. 1 seed in what many observers consider the toughest of Division II's eight six-team regional tournaments, one so challenging the lowest seed happens to be a team that was one game away from winning the Division II title in 2019.
The Eagles, who received a first-round bye, will play their opening game in the regional at Texas A&M-Commerce's John Cain Family Softball Complex on Thursday at noon against either fourth-seeded Colorado Mesa (38-3) or the fifth-seeded hosts (28-16).
In most years, OC (37-7) would host a four-team subregional as the top seed, but the Eagles won't have that advantage this year, as the NCAA opted to predetermine regional sites and reduce the field size for each regional from eight to six teams because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I'm thrilled to see our girls reach a goal that we set before the season, and that's to be a No. 1 seed," OC coach
Shanon Hays said. "It's a little disheartening that we don't get to host this year, because usually the No. 1 seed gets to host, but due to COVID, we know how those things go, so we're excited to go to Commerce."
The South Central Regional figures to be full of minefields. In addition to OC, four other teams – No. 12 West Texas A&M (33-10), No. 20 Angelo State (Texas) (33-12), No. 10 TAMUC and No. 15 Colorado Mesa, in order of seeding – all boast national rankings, while Texas A&M-Kingsville (23-12), the aforementioned 2019 national runner-up, spent much of the season in the top 25.
The good news for the Eagles is they have a 12-4 record this season against top-25 opponents. Against teams in the South Central Regional, the Eagles have posted a 7-2 record in 2021, with regular-season sweeps of Lone Star Conference rivals West Texas A&M, TAMUC (both games going to extra innings) and Angelo State and a split against TAMUK. The Eagles lost at home in the LSC tournament semifinals last Friday to West Texas A&M.
The Eagles also have the region's top pitcher in sophomore right-hander
Kali Crandall (24-2), who enters the week leading Division II in wins.
There isn't much past history between OC and either TAMUC or Colorado Mesa. OC is 4-1 all-time against the Lions, all since 2015. The Eagles' only previous meeting against Colorado Mesa was in the 2019 South Central Regional, as the Mavericks were one of those highly ranked teams vanquished by OC, with the Eagles winning 6-4 in 10 innings.
This year's regional tournament will begin Wednesday with the game between Colorado Mesa and TAMUC at noon, followed by Angelo State-TAMUK at 3 p.m., with an elimination game between the losers set for 6 p.m.
On Thursday, after the OC game, West Texas A&M will play the winner of the Angelo State-TAMUK game at 3 p.m. The two losing teams will play an elimination game at 6 p.m.
The double-elimination tournament will continue through Saturday, with the title game set for noon and the if-necessary game at 2:30 p.m. The eight regional champions will advance to the NCAA Division II Championship, to be played in Denver from May 27-31.
"Being able to get a bye and sit and watch the first day and hopefully have fresh arms for Thursday is a big deal to us," Hays said. "Right now, we're getting ready and preparing and trying to be our best when we get there."
