This past season was a historic one for the SAU Softball program as they established 18 new team single-season records including wins with 53. As part of the record-setting year, SAU Softball opened up the year 12-0 and achieved their first national ranking in program history midway through the season.
In post-season play, SAU Softball was one of the hottest and most dominant teams in the country. In 15 post-season games played, SAU Softball went 12-3, sported a 2.58 team ERA and out-scored their opponents by 30 runs.
In the Great American Conference Tournament, SAU won their first two games, but lost to Harding in the winner’s bracket final. SAU then beat and eliminated Henderson State before double-dipping Harding on Championship Sunday to claim their second GAC Tournament title in the last three years.
The GAC Tournament victory secured SAU hosting rights in the Central Region Tournament and at Dawson Field at the Mulerider Softball Complex, SAU rolled through their sub-regional 3-0, defeating 2013 National Champion, Central Oklahoma and then-ranked No.11 Missouri Western twice.
That dominance led to a Super Regional matchup with then-ranked No. 7 Arkansas Tech in Russellville. SAU upended the Golden Suns in eight innings of game one and went on to win the second game 4-1 to punch their ticket to Denver, Colo. for the 2016 NCAA Division II Softball Championships.
At the National Championships, SAU suffered a pair of losses to eventual National Champion, the University of North Alabama. However, SAU won a pair of games in the tournament and eliminated the likes of the University of Charleston and then-ranked No. 1 West Texas A&M as SAU finished fourth at the National Championships.
As a result of their post-season run, SAU Softball concluded the 2016 season ranked No. 4 nationally according to the NFCA in their final poll. The top-five ranking is the highest-ever for SAU Softball.
