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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Softball (18-30, 12-26 GAC) concludes the regular season in Russellville, Arkansas against Arkansas Tech for the final four games of the 2017 season
- Game times for the series have changed and now both Friday and Saturday's action will begin at noon with the second games to follow normally
- The Dawgs have lost the last eight contests to ATU dating back to 2014  
 
The Opponent
Arkansas Tech (32-20, 26-14 GAC)
- The Golden Suns sit in fourth place in the GAC standings with one weekend left of the regular season
- Offensively, ATU ranks fifth in the league with a .271 team batting average
- Defensively across the conference, Tech is tied for first in fielding percentage (.971) and second in team ERA (1.77)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kim Maher (18-30, 1st season)
- Named the fourth head coach in SWOSU Softball history on June 2, 2016, bringing with her a wealth of experience from the collegiate, professional and international levels of softball
- Spent eight seasons as the head coach at Purdue University, leading the Boilermakers to 240 victories and two NCAA Tournament appearances from 2006-13
- Previously coached at California-Berkeley as an assistant coach from 2000-05 following a playing career with USA Softball and the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL)
 
Arkansas Tech: Kristina McSweeney (179-103, 5th season)
- The Golden Suns set an Arkansas Tech softball record for wins in 2016, finishing with a record of 49-11
- Named GAC Coach of the Year after the record-setting 2016 season
- Before joining the Tech program, McSweeney spent the previous four seasons (2008-12) as the head softball coach at Seminole State College in Seminole, Okla.
 
Checking the Standings
- Five teams: Harding, Southern Arkansas, Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech and East Central have clinched berths in the postseason tournament, but only Harding has solidified their seed at number one overall
- Four other teams: Henderson State (17-23), Southern Nazarene (16-24), Northwestern (16-24) and Ouachita (15-25) come into the final weekend with GAC Tournament aspirations, but only three of them will play on  
- SWOSU is mathematically still in contention for the postseason at 12-26, but will have to sweep and rely on other scenarios to play out to clinch 
 
SWOSU Notes
- At the 2016-17 SWOSU Awards Banquet on Wednesday evening, Freshman Ryanne Griggs was awarded the team MVP for the season
- Taya Haney was named the 2016-17 Female Scholar-Athlete of the year
- Last weekend against Ouachita, Abigail Schade and Samantha Householder let the offense as both players hit .417 (5-for-12) in three games
- Householder (4) and Cheyenne Trotter (3) both homered one time in the series
- Rileigh Ricken picked up the lone win on the weekend for the third win of the season for the senior
- With the victory on Sunday, the Dawgs win total rose to 18 marking the most wins SWOSU has accumulated in a season since 2012 when they went 32-20
 
Looking Ahead
- The 2017 offseason will commence and SWOSU will look to replace 10 seniors and improve even further for Coach Maher's second season