The East Central University softball team heads into their fourth-straight Great American Conference Championship ranked as the No. 2 seed.  The Tigers finished the 2015 regular season with a 28-13 overall record and a 25-8 mark in the league.  ECU is set to face No. 7 Arkansas-Monticello in the opening round, Thursday, April 30 at noon at Bentonville High School.

Game Notes

The Coverage
Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats, live video on ECUTigers.com.  Go to the softball schedule page.

Against the Tournament Field
The opening round battle against Arkansas-Monticello is the first against the Cotton Blossoms in the post season, while they went 3-1 in the regular season series.  ECU also went 3-1 against Southern Nazarene and Southern Arkansas, 2-1 against Southeastern Oklahoma State, 2-2 versus Henderson State and 4-0 against Harding this season.

GAC Honors
The Tigers were well represented on the 2015 All-GAC Teams, with three first team picks, one second team selection and three honorable mention picks.

Junior Marissa Shaffer was the first member of the All-GAC First Team after going 12-6 in the circle in the regular season, including four shutouts and a team-best 70 Ks.

Junior Jordynn VanPelt (OF) earned her second All-GAC Honor as a member of the First Team, after earning honorable mention honors as a freshman. This season she has led the team with 12 home runs and 54 RBIs, while hitting .370.

Junior Taylor Davis (DP/UTL) is the final of the All-GAC First Team.  Davis leads the team and the GAC with a .451 batting average and adds 23 RBIs, 10 doubles, three triples and three home runs.

ECU was also represented by senior Samantha McGraw (3B) as an All-GAC Second Team pick.  The final three players to pick up honors were junior Lacey Paulk (P), seniors Kaile Marcum (2B), and junior Autumn Suydam (OF), all honorable mention selection.

Regional Ranked
The Tigers made their way into the NCAA Central Regional rankings April 28 when they were ranked No. 10 in the region.  The Tigers are one of three teams in the GAC to earn a spot in the rankings, with Henderson State (No. 4) and Arkansas Tech (No. 5).

Pounding Away at the Plate
The Tigers have had a strong season at the plate this season hitting .340 as a team (No. 18 NCAA), while only allowing a .272 mark.  Juniors Taylor Davis and Autumn Suydam not only lead ECU, but also the GAC in batting average and are ranked No. 26 and No. 28 in the NCAA.  Davis posted a .451 mark, while Suydam adds a .449 average.

Shutting Down the Competition
While the Tigers have been banging away at the plate, the ECU pitching staff has been doing its part to keep runs off the scoreboard.  The Tigers have scored 269 times and held the opposition to just 185 for the year.  That has resulted in nine shutouts by the pitching staff and allowing just a 3.67 ERA for the year.  Junior Marissa Shaffer leads the staff with four shutouts (No. 1 GAC/ 63 NCAA), while junior Lacey Paulk has three shutouts (No. 3 GAC) and senior Brianna Nunley has shut down the competition twice (No. 6 GAC).

Davis Powering Through
Junior Taylor Davis is not just leading the league and the team in batting average, she has had key hits for the Tigers.  Davis is hitting .419 with two outs this year.  She has scored 36 times and adds 23 RBIs, while 16 of her 51 hits are extra-bases hit (10 doubles, three triples and three home runs).

National Strength
For the second-straight season senior Lacey Williams-Wenholm was honored by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and Muscle Milk as 2015 All-American Athlete Award recipients.  The honor recognizes a student-athlete's athletic accomplishments and their dedication to strength and conditioning, with strong strength and conditioning testing numbers and a positive attitude every day in the program.

Davis Player of the Week
Junior Taylor Davis was named the GAC Player of the Week for April 14 after helping the Tigers to a 5-1 performance.  Davis hit .632 and reached base 18 times in 25 plate appearances. After two multi-hit games against Southeastern Oklahoma State, she went 7-for-11 against Southwestern Oklahoma State. In game three, she hit a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning. For the week, she scored nine runs and stole four bases.

Shaffer Player of the Week
Junior Marissa Shaffer earned her first GAC honor, being named the GAC Pitcher of the Week for March 31.  Shaffer picked up two wins and a save as part of the Tigers' 4-1 week. She opened her week by closing out an 11-10 win against Southeastern Oklahoma State, with two strikeouts in her lone inning of work. In two games against UAM, she threw two complete games, allowed only seven hits and struck out eight. For the week, she held hitters to a .135 batting average.

VanPelt Player of the Week
Junior Jordynn VanPelt picked up the Tiger's first honor of the 2015 season, as she was named the GAC Softball Player of the Week for March 10.  VanPelt led the Tiger offense to a four-game sweep of Harding. In the series, she hit .571 with three home runs, a double a triple and a stolen base. She scored six times and drove in seven. In game three, she led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a game-winning home run. She ranks third in the conference with six home runs and ninth with 17 RBI.