BENTONVILLE, Ark.-Arkansas Tech, Southern Arkansas, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Harding, Arkansas-Monticello, Henderson State, East Central and Southern Nazarene play this week in the Great American Conference softball championship.
The tournament begins at 10 a.m. today at the Tiger Athletic Complex in Bentonville. The winner gets an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Tournament.
After finishing in the top three in the GAC regular-season standings each of the last five years, No. 3 seed Southeastern Oklahoma State will open things up with a first-round matchup versus No. 6 seed Henderson State.
The Savage Storm (29-21, 25-15) defeated the Reddies (32-24, 23-21) four times during the regular season.
Junior two-way player Ashlyn White leads Henderson State as she boasts the team's top batting average, .386, and has a 2.26 ERA in 22 pitching appearances. Jessica Simmons leads Southeastern Oklahoma State as she tops the conference and ranks 10th in the nation with a .471 batting average, while her 46 stolen bases ranks fourth.
At noon, No. 2 seed Southern Arkansas looks to defeat No. 7 seed East Central for the fifth time in less than a week. The Lady Muleriders (41-8, 33-8) swept the Tigers (24-29, 21-21) over the weekend in Magnolia.
Southern Arkansas' Kimmy Beasley, from Foreman, Ark., owns a third-best conference 1.06 ERA. Beasley and teammate Kaylee Garner accounted for all 41 of SAU's wins as Garner won a league-high 21 and Beasley added 20. No other GAC pitcher reached 20 wins.
In game three, set for 2 p.m., top-seeded Arkansas Tech begins its search for its first GAC softball championship against Southern Nazarene.
The Golden Suns (44-7, 34-6) defeated the Crimson Storm (27-29, 18-26) all four times during the regular season.
Dual-threat player Jalissa Gum leads Arkansas Tech. Gum holds a batting average of .399, which ranks second on the team, and she has an 18-1 record with a 0.67 ERA inside the circle. Gum has received weekly conference honors five times, as well as an NFCA National Player of the Week award.
In the final first-round matchup, scheduled for 4 p.m., No. 4 Harding battles No. 5 Arkansas-Monticello. Freshman Alexus Lawellin and junior Hannah Johnson lead Harding. Lawellin has a .411 batting average, while Johnson has 18 wins in the circle.
Thursday's action continues with the losers of the Southeastern Oklahoma State-Henderson State contest and the Southern Arkansas-East Central matchup facing off in an elimination game at 6 p.m. at Memorial Park. The winners play at 6 p.m. The losing sides from the Arkansas Tech-Southern Nazarene and Harding-Arkansas-Monticello games will play at 8 p.m. at Memorial Park with the winners playing in the nightcap, also set for 8 p.m.
The GAC Sports Network will broadcast all championship games.