COMMERCE, Texas (May 11, 2022) – By now, after making the NCAA softball postseason three straight times, the Oklahoma Christian Eagles certainly can consider themselves as Division II tournament veterans. The routines, the suspense and the level of competition should all be familiar.
And in OC's case, all the teams the Eagles could face this weekend in the South Central Regional should be well-known, because they're all Lone Star Conference squads. In fact, OC's first-round opponent – No. 2-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville – is the team that last Saturday knocked the Eagles out of the LSC tournament. The rematch will begin Thursday at 3 p.m. at Texas A&M-Commerce's Cain Family Field.
Also in the regional are No. 14 TAMUC (the region's No. 2 seed) and St. Mary's (Texas). The winners of Thursday's first-round games will play Friday at noon, followed by an elimination game between Thursday's losing teams. The winner of that game will play the loser of the noon game in another win-or-go-home contest.
The championship round will start Saturday at noon. The regional winner will play the winner of the other South Central Regional (being played in Tyler, Texas) next weekend in a best-of-three Super Regional tournament.
OC (39-13) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (45-9) have a relatively brief history against each other, but it's mostly been an entertaining and evenly matched series. After their first meeting in 2000, the series resumed in 2016, after OC moved into Division II. TAMUK swept a home doubleheader in 2016 (winning the second game 9-8 in 11 innings), but OC returned the favor in 2017, also in Kingsville, with Kaylie Upton hitting a grand slam in a 7-4 win.
The next year, again in Kingsville, the teams split, with OC winning 1-0 and TAMUK winning 3-1.
In 2019, OC and the Javelinas played twice in the South Central Regional hosted by TAMUK. The top-seeded Javelinas won the opener 5-0, but eighth-seeded OC won two elimination games (over Colorado Mesa and West Texas A&M) to earn a rematch. OC led 4-1 entering the fifth inning before a late rally gave TAMUK a 5-4 win and the regional title. TAMUK finished as the Division II runner-up that season.
Among the stars who competed in those 2019 games were OC pitchers
Kali Crandall and
Lindsey Stoeckel and TAMUK pitcher Saidi Castillo. All are top-tier hurlers in the LSC. In fact, TAMUK (2.01) and OC (2.40) rank first and third, respectively, in ERA in the conference in 2022. OC, with Crandall, Stoeckel and freshman
Grace Anderson, is the LSC's only team with three pitchers who each have double-digit wins this season.
The Eagles and Javelinas split doubleheaders in 2021 (at OC) and 2022 (at TAMUK) before TAMUK's 10-3 win last week in the LSC tournament semifinals. That game was played just a couple of hours after OC had survived a 13-inning marathon by beating Lubbock Christian (Texas) 10-9.
The Javelinas lead the LSC in hitting (.364) and have set school single-season records for home runs (61), doubles (109) and runs scored (420). OC's top offensive players include first-team All-South Central Region designated player
Aaliyah Brown, who entered the postseason as the LSC's top hitter, and third baseman
Brooklin Bain, who posted a school-record 20-game hitting streak earlier this season.
OC and TAMUC (42-13) also are familiar with each other, as the Eagles and Lions have played eight times over the past three seasons, splitting those meetings, with TAMUC sweeping a doubleheader in Commerce in late April. OC swept St. Mary's (36-17) in Oklahoma City on March 20 and has a 12-25 all-time record against the Rattlers.
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
