The No. 8 Bronchos play host to in-state RSU for a top weekend showdown
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UCO sophomore Rylee Lemos. Courtesy of UCO Photo Services.
Gerry Pinkston Stadium in Edmond will be the site of a national top 10 softball matchup this weekend as the eighth-ranked Central Oklahoma Bronchos are set to host No. 4 Rogers State for a two-game series on Friday, April 12.
UCO comes into the in-state matchup as one of the hottest teams in all of Division II, boasting an overall record of 33-7 as teams enter the final month of regular season play. They are the winners of three-straight and have won 26 of their last 27 games dating back to Feb. 27.
The Bronchos are also 18-1 in home games this season.
Rogers State makes the two-and-a-half hour trip down to Edmond from Claremore as the fourth-ranked team in the country. The Hillcats are 34-6 through 40 games and have lost just one game on the road all season, a 5-3 loss to Oklahoma Christian University on Feb. 9.
RSU head coach Andera Vaughan showcases the top pitching team in the MIAA conference and perhaps all of D-II. With senior Sara Llamas-Howell as well as sophomores Jade Sanders and Harley Culie, the Hillcats lead the conference in earned run average (Culie), opposing batting average (Sanders) and batters striking out looking (Llamas-Howell).
Rogers State is also the best fielding team in the conference at a .975 fielding percentage.
UCO enters the series with the most home runs out of any team in the MIAA at 48, which is 13 more than the second place team, Pittsburg State (35). The team has four players in the top 10 for OPS (on base + slugging percentage) with junior and former Deer Creek Antler Terin Ritz leading the conference at 1.414.
Both teams sit atop the MIAA standings this season, with Rogers State holding the No. 1 spot at 17-1 and UCO behind them at 13-1.
The last time these two in-state rivals faced off was in the 2023 MIAA conference tournament last season, where UCO emerged victorious by a score of 9-5 to eventually win the conference crown. The Bronchos swept Rogers State in last year’s regular season series in Claremore.
The first game of Friday’s double header at Gerry Pinkston Stadium will get underway at 2 P.M., with the latter game set to start at 4 P.M.