Bronchos set to host Augustana in Super Regional

No. 4-ranked Central Oklahoma bids for its fifth NCAA Division II Championship Finals appearance this week when the Bronchos host No. 6 Augustana in the Central Super Regional at Gerry Pinkston Stadium.

The Bronchos (49-8) take on the Vikings (49-9) in a best-of-three series starting at 6 p.m. Thursday. The teams meet again at 2 p.m. Friday, with the "if necessary" game to follow.

UCO is the top seed in the eight-team Central Region, which is made up of teams from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, the Great American Conference and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

The Bronchos of the MIAA won the Central Regional I Tournament last weekend at home, while third-seeded Augie of the NSIC claimed the Central Regional II Tournament in Magnolia, Arkansas.

The UCO-AU winner joins seven other regional champions in the Division II Championship Finals that will be held May 22-28 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

"It's going to be a tough match-up against a great Augustana team," head coach Cody White said. "They have one of the best programs in Division II and we've had a hard time with them the past few years, so our players realize we're going to have to be at our best.

"Our main focus is on ourselves. We've played well the last few weeks and just need to keep doing what we've been doing."

The Bronchos qualified for the Division II Championship Finals in 2006, '12, '13 and '23, winning the national championship in 2013.

UCO IN THE SUPER REGIONAL: The Bronchos are making their sixth super regional appearance and are 6-6 overall.

UCO beat Angelo State 2-1 on the road in the 2012 South Central Super Regional and have been in five Central Super Regionals since – sweeping Winona State 2-0 at home in the 2013, losing to Augustana 2-0 at home in the 2019, losing at Rogers State 2-0 in 2022 and beating Southern Arkansas 2-1 at home in 2023.

Augustana and Rogers State both went on to win the national championship after beating the Bronchos

UCO also captured the regional title in 2006 when that tournament was an eight-team event.

The Bronchos are making their 20th national tournament appearance, including the 17th in Division II and the fifth straight. UCO has a 47-35 national tournament record – 38-29 in regional action and 9-6 in the Championship Finals.

UCO's Division II playoff record by season:

2002: (1-2)

2005: (2-2)

2006: (5-2 – 4-0 in South Central Regional, 1-2 in Championship Finals)

2008: (1-2)

2010: (0-2)

2012: (7-4 – 5-2 in South Central Regional, 2-2 in Championship Finals)

2013: (9-0 – 5-0 in Central Regional, 4-0 in Championship Finals)

2014: (1-2)

2015: (1-2)

2016: (1-2)

2017: (1-2)

2019: (3-3 – lost in Central Super Regional to Augustana)

2021: (1-2)

2022: (3-3 – lost in Central Super Regional to Rogers State)

2023: (7-3 – 5-1 in Central Regional, 2-2 in Championship Finals)

2024: (1-2)

2025: (3-0)

ABOUT THE SERIES: Augustana has a 15-10 series lead over the Bronchos in a series that started in 1983. 

The Vikings have a 5-2 advantage in national tournament meetings. Augie won at home in 2015 (5-1) and in Mankato, Minnesota in 2017 (4-0) during Central Regional I meetings and swept UCO (13-5, 7-6) in the 2019 Central Super Regional in Edmond

The teams met three times during the Central Regional I Tournament that UCO won at home in 2022. The Bronchos won 4-3 in the winner's bracket finals, Augie came back the next day with a 3-1 victory and Central prevailed 4-3 in the "if necessary" game.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: UCO outscored three opponents a combined 22-2 to capture the Central Regional I Tournament title at Gerry Pinkston Stadium.

The Bronchos opened with an 8-0 run-rule rout of Minnesota State, got a first-inning grand slam from Ariah Mitchell in a 9-2 victory over No. 16 Rogers State and blanked the Hillcats 5-0 in the finals behind Terin Ritz's one-hit shutout.

Ritz went the distance in the circle all three games, giving up just nine hits, two runs and one in 19 innings as opponents batted .136. Mitchell hit .571 (4-for-7) in the three games with six RBI. 

SEASON RECAP: UCO was No. 25 in the preseason NFCA poll, then jumped up to 13th after beating four eventual national tournament qualifying teams in the season-opening Gulf Shores Invitational. The Bronchos moved into the top 10 in the sixth poll of the season on March 11 and have remained there since.

The Bronchos went 20-4 to capture their sixth MIAA regular season title (2013, '17, '19, '21, '23, '25) and then outscored three teams 20-1 last weekend in Hays, Kansas to claim the MIAA Tournament title for the fourth time (2017, '19. '23, '25).

Ritz was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after a dominating performance. She went the distance in the pitching circle all three games, giving up just one run and 12 hits with 12 strikeouts and no walks in 19 innings. Ritz was also a terror at the plate, going 5-for-9 with two home runs, two doubles and eight runs batted in.

Outfielder Rylee Lemos, first baseman Mitchell, second baseman Rylee Anglen and designated player Kennedy Clark joined Ritz on the all-tournament team.

UCO had six players earn All-MIAA honors, headlined by Ritz's selection as Player of the Year. Outfielder Lemos was also a First-Team selection as well as Defensive Player of the Year, while shortstop Emily Deramus earned Second-Team honors. 

Anglen, Clark and outfielder Brooklyn Ryan garnered honorable mention recognition. Anglen and Lemos were also named to the Gold Glove Team

Ritz and Lemos were also First-Team selections to the NFCA and D2CCA All-Central Region teams. Ritz was named Central Region Player of the Year by D2CCA.

UCO's 49 wins are the third-most in school history, trailing just the 2023 (54) and 2013 (51) teams.

The Bronchos are 23-3 at Gerry Pinkston Stadium this season and are riding a 15-game home winning streak 

ABOUT UCO'S OFFENSE: The Bronchos are batting .336 as a team in averaging 8.60 hits and 6.95 runs per game.

UCO ranks in the top 10 nationally in nine offensive categories – second in hit by pitch (57), fourth in sacrifice flies (27), fifth in runs (396), sixth in RBI (365), seventh in RBI per game (6.44), eighth in on base percentage (.423), ninth in slugging percentage (.534), ninth in runs per game (6.95) and 10th in average (.336).

Seven players are hitting .313 or better to lead a balanced offensive attack, led by Ritz.

The senior slugger is batting a team-high .422 while also leading the Bronchos in doubles (18), homers (18), RBI (75), total bases (144), slugging percentage (.894) and on base percentage (.518). She ranks third nationally in RBI, fourth in slugging percentage, sixth in homers and 10th in total bases.

Ritz has a phenomenal .462 average (24-for-52) with 24 RBI when batting with two outs.

Ritz ranks third in RBI (four behind the record of 79), tied for eighth in doubles and tied for fourth in homers on UCO's single-seasons lists. She set a UCO career record for walks last week (108) and is in the top 10 in four other categories – second in homers (51, four off the record), fourth in RBI (209), eighth in runs (163) and tied for eighth in hits (222).

Lemos has had a team-high 20 multi-hit games and tops the Bronchos in hits (72) and runs (68). She's batting .393 with 13 doubles, 11 homers, seven triples, 44 RBI and a team-best 19 stolen bases. Lemos ranks fourth nationally in runs and 15th in triples.

The junior leadoff hitter is tied for third in both runs and triples on UCO's single-season lists. Lemos ranks in the top 10 in four career categories – second in triples (16, one off the record), third in runs (186), third in hit by pitch (30) and fourth in steals (61).

Mitchell is batting .385 with eight doubles, two homers and 42 RBI and owns a .475 average (28-for-59) with runners in scoring position. The freshman has hit .563 (9-for-16) with 10 RBI in UCO's six postseason games.

Clark enters the Central Super Regional with a seven-game hitting streak that has raised her average to .346. The junior has seven doubles and 40 RBI along with six sacrifice flies, which ranks eighth-best in Division II.

Ryan is batting .331 with seven doubles, four triples, three homers and 20 RBI, with Anglen at .325 with nine doubles, three triples and 31 RBI. Deramus has driven in 50 runs with 17 doubles, eight homers and a .313 average.

Deramus ranks in UCO's top 10 in five career categories – fifth in doubles (52), ninth in homers (30), ninth in runs (147), 10th in assists (321) and tied for 10th in RBI (137). 

ABOUT UCO'S PITCHING: The Bronchos own a team earned run average of 2.00 and rank fourth nationally in shutouts with 20. UCO allows 5.47 hits and 2.26 runs a game.

Six pitchers have seen action in the circle this spring, with Ritz, sophomore Shelby Beard and senior Sydney Ward having combined for 49 of the team's 57 starts.

Ritz has taken over in the postseason and paces the staff with a 21-3 record and 1.48 ERA in 27 games with 25 starts. She's thrown 18 complete games – including 11 straight – with nine shutouts, which is seventh-best in Division II. The right-hander has struck out 125 and walked just 21 in 155.2 innings.

The three-time First-Team All-Central Region selection has been virtually untouchable in UCO's six postseason games (three in MIAA Tournament, three in Central Regional I Tournament). She's pitched all 38 innings, having allowed just 21 hits and three runs while walking only one batter and strikeout out 30 in posting four shutouts.

Ritz owns the school record for career winning percentage (.833) with a 75-15 record and is second in career wins, two off the record. She's also fourth in shutouts (20), fifth in innings (557.1) and sixth in strikeouts (369)

Beard is 12-3 with a 2.18 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 70.2 innings. She's appeared in 18 games with 12 starts and has five complete games.

Ward has a 10-2 record and 2.52 ERA in 83.1 innings. She's pitched in 21 games with 15 starts and has six complete games with four shutouts. 

ABOUT UCO'S DEFENSE: The Bronchos lead Division II in team defense with a stellar .983 fielding percentage. UCO has committed just 26 errors and has had 36 errorless games, including one streak of 11 straight.

Anglen leads the team in assists with 111 from her second base post, 10 ahead of Deramus at shortstop. Deramus has 100-plus assists every year of her career (115 in 2023, 105 in '24 and 101 this season)

ABOUT THE COACH: In his 12th season as UCO's head coach is White, who owns a stellar 495-168 record as the winningest coach in program history. 

White has led UCO to 10 Division II national tournament appearances, nine 40-win seasons and five regular-season MIAA titles. He's had five of the six winningest seasons in school history (54 in 2023, 49 this year and 48 three times - 2017, '19, '22)

White, associate head coach Jon Hunter, assistant coach Jordan Dixon and graduate assistant Jacee Minter were named MIAA Coaching Staff of the Year this season.

ABOUT AUGUSTANA: The Vikings (49-9) rolled to the NSIC regular season and tournament titles before going 3-0 to claim the Central Regional II Tournament title in Magnolia, Arkansas last weekend.

Augie survived extra-inning battles against Missouri Southern (2-1 in 10) and host Southern Arkansas (4-2 in 12) before blanking MSSU 4-0 in the title bout.

The Vikings are riding a 24-game winning streak and are 21-1 on the road this season.

Augie features one of Division II's top pitching staffs, with the Vikings giving up just 5.02 hits and 1.74 runs a game behind a 1.17 ERA that ranks second nationally.

NSIC Pitcher of the Year and First-Team All-Central Region selection Grace Glanzer leads the way with a 26-6 record and 1.07 ERA. She's thrown 25 complete games with 10 shutouts and has 230 strikeouts with 31 walks in 215.2 innings.

First-Team All-NSIC and Second-Team All-Central Region pick Lexi Lander is 20-3 with a 1.13 ERA, having tossed 11 complete games with five shutouts. She's fanned 140 in 136.0 innings.

A trio of First-Team All-NSIC performers lead an offense that averages 8.21 hits and 5.79 runs a game behind a .308 team average. The Vikings rank seventh nationally in homers with 66.

Desi Cuevas is hitting .380 with 18 doubles, 13 homers, 47 RBI and 20 steals as the top hitter. Liz Dierks is batting .356 with 10 steals and Andrea Cain is at .346 with 17 doubles, 12 homers and 44 RBI.

Augie is making its 30th Division II national tournament appearance. The Vikings are the defending Central Regional champions and captured the 2019 national title after sweeping UCO in the Central Super Regional.