TOURNAMENT CENTRALBRACKETLIVE VIDEOSALEM, VA – Dixie State travels to its second D2 National Championship in school history and the both times they have been played at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, VA. The Red Storm will open with the No. 7 seed from the Central Region, the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State. The pair will open the tournament on May 22 and 7:30 pm E.T. (5:30 p.m. MT). The tournament games will be carried live on ESPN 106.1 FM, live audio streaming on DixieAthletics.com, live stats and live video streaming provided by the NCAA.com.
NFCA RankingsFive of the eight teams in the Championship were ranked in the final NFCA poll, with a sixth team just outside and receiving votes. The No. 1 team in the nation, West Texas A&M leads the way, with the Red Storm at No. 15, Valdosta State at No. 16, Armstrong at No. 19, and LUI Post at No. 20. Wayne State received votes.
Not the "SALEM WITCH" TrialsDespite and 0-2 record in Salem the often referred to Salem Witch Trials did not take place in Salem, VA, it was in Salem, Mass which is almost 700 miles to the Northeast. The Red Storm will try and prove there is no such "spell" on Thursday night in its opener.
World Series FormatThe winner between the Savage Storm and the Red Storm advance to play the winner between Wayne State (Mich.) out of the Midwest Region and Valdosta State out of the South Region.
The finals tournament is a modified double elimination tournament with the eight teams actually split into two four-team double elimination tournaments, with the winners of each earning a spot in the winner take all championship game at 10 a.m. mountain time on May 26.
WSU and VSU will face off at 3 p.m. on May 22 before DSU/SE game at 5:30 p.m.
The other half of the bracket consists of former Lone Star Conference rival West Texas A&M who advanced out of the South Central region and LIU Post which won the East Region, with those two squaring off at 12:30 p.m. on May 22.
Armstrong Atlantic advanced by winning the Southeast Super Regional, and will play in the first game of the finals when it hosts the winner of the as yet undecided Atlantic Super Regional which will be decided on Sunday afternoon between West Virginia Wesleyan and West Chester.
SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE (43-18)The Savage Storm will be making their first ever appearance in the National Finals, earning their trip after sweeping No. 23 Augustana on its home field, taking game one 13-12 before holding on for a 5-4 win in game two.
Southeastern enters the World Series with a 43-18 record and is paced on the offensive side by Jessica Simmons ho is hitting .419 with 20 doubles, two triples and three home runs, two of which came during the super-regional. She has 63 runs scored on the year, has driven in 25 others and has racked up 35 stolen bases.
Laramie Beal is next up at .393 on the season with a team-high 10 home runs and has climbed into a tie with
Sydney Kramer for the team lead in RBI with 51.
Kramer is hitting .376 on the season with 15 doubles and 44 runs scored in addition to her team-high 51 RBI.
Haley Strawn is right behind with a .357 average on the year and is second on the team with seven home runs and has added 39 RBI.
Mindy McElroy leads the Storm pitching staff with a 27-10 record and a 2.82 ERA with 37 starts and five shutouts. She has held opponents to a .264 batting average and recorded 62 strikeouts.
Shayna Milam turned in a pair of memorable performances to help SE advance through the super-regional, collecting both wins over Augustana in relief. On the year she is 8-3 with a 3.47 ERA and 47 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .276 average.
Southeastern previously advanced to a super-regional in 2009 before falling to Angelo State, while in 2008 the team reached the championship game of the South Central Regional before falling twice to St. Edward's.
DSU Series Record vs. SEOKOverall Series Record: 1-0 DSU
DSU Record in St. George: 0-0
DSU Record in Durante, OK: 0-0
DSU Record at Neutral Sites: 1-0 DSU
DSU Record under
Randy Simkins: 0-0
Longest DSU Win Streak: 1 (2/16/07 - present)
Longest SEOK Win Streak: none
Largest DSU Margin of Victory: 2-0(2/16/07 at Phoenix, AZ)
Largest SEOK Margin of Victory: none
Most Runs Scored by DSU: 2 (2/16/07 at Phoenix, AZ)
Most Runs Scored by SEOK: 0 (2/16/07 at Phoenix, AZ)
DSU Series Record vs. the rest of the field West Chester (41-20) Atlantic No. 3 seed – 0-0
No. 19 Armstrong (35-13) South Eastern No. 3 seed – 0-0
No. 20 LIU Post (50-9) East No. 1 seed – 0-0
No. 1 West Texas A&M South Central No. 1 seed – 0-1
RV Wayne State (46-10) Midwest No. 3 seed – 0-0
No. 16 Valdosta State (45-14) South No. 3 seed – 0-0
No. 15 - Dixie State (49-8)After a trailing 4-0 in the top of the seventh in the Super Regional opener, they heroically stormed back to defeat CSU Monterey Bay in extra frames in the opener. Then in the second games, DSU clung to a 5-4 victory, as the Otters charge fell just short of a comeback and catapulted the Storm into the World Series for the second time in program history.
Dixie State comes into the series at 49-8 on the year and are winners of 32 of their last 33 games, including riding a 26-game win streak into to Salem.
DSU is led by a foursome of hitting batting over .400, led by
Courtney Sherwin (Mesa, AZ/Red Mountain High School) who is hitting .454 on the season with nine home runs and a team-best 51 RBI.
Nicole Chavez (Chino Hills, CA/Ayala High School) leads the team in homers with 10 and is hitting .405 on the season. DSU leads the NCAA in batting average with a .375 mark.
Sherwin has reached base in 34 consecutive games and Chavez 32.
The Red Storm pitching staff is led by a pair of 20-game winners, with
Michelle Duncan (Gilbert, AZ/Gilbert High School) at 20-1 with a 1.53 ERA and
Aryn Feickert (Lancaster, CA/Highland ) at 20-6 with a 2.11 ERA.
DSU has an all-time record of 17-11 that includes a 15-8 record during the first round of West Region games and is 9-2 at home when hosting the first round. They are 13-3 all-time at home in the postseason and 4-1 in the super regionals. The Red Storm are 0-2 at NCAA D2 World Series.
