No. 20 St. Cloud State Softball Drops NCAA Central Region Tournament Opener to No. 9 Southern Arkansas

Thursday, May 14

Pat Lipira Softball Complex • Joplin, Mo.

5:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

46-14

(4) #9 Southern Arkansas

47-7

St. Cloud St.

Southern Ark.

Photo by: Justyce Porter

No. 20 St. Cloud State Softball Drops NCAA Central Region Tournament Opener to No. 9 Southern Arkansas

5/14/2026 8:46:00 PM | Softball

Box Score NCAA Central Region Tournament Central

Fifth-seeded Huskies fall to fourth-seeded SAU, 9-2

JOPLIN, Mo. – No. 20 St. Cloud State Softball (46-14, 26-4 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) fell in its first game at the NCAA Central Region Tournament to No. 9 Southern Arkansas (47-7, 26-6 Great American Conference) on Thursday evening at the Pat Lipira Softball Complex (Missouri Southern) in Joplin, Missouri. The fifth-seeded Huskies dropped its second consecutive game as the Muleriders came away with a 9-2 victory.

SCSU took a 2-0 lead in the first inning after junior catcher/infielder Bethany Weiss (Forest Lake, Minn.) drew a four pitch walk and sophomore catcher/infielder Morgan Honeycutt (Rosemount, Minn.) hit a two-run blast on the first pitch of the next at bat.

The Muleriders evened the game with a pair of runs in the next half inning on a two-RBI single and took a 3-2 lead with a leadoff solo home run in the second inning. SAU would go on to add another solo home run in the third, four RBI-singles in the fifth and an RBI-double in the sixth.

TOP HUSKIES

Honeycutt - 2-2, HR, 2 RBIs
Junior outfielder Hannah Harms (Bartlett, Ill.) - 2-3
Redshirt sophomore utility Kaylee Collins (Lakeville, Minn.) - 1-3
Junior infielder Kennedy Palmer (Ankeny, Iowa) - 1-3

NOTABLES

SCSU moved to 0-1 all-time against Southern Arkansas.
The Huskies own a 21-22 (.488) record at the NCAA Tournament over 11 appearances. SCSU has dropped its last five NCAA Tournament games in a row.
The Huskies moved to 17-7 in neutral site games this season.
SCSU allowed season highs in hits (15), runs (nine – tie) and home runs (two – tie).
Honeycutt hit her ninth home run of the season which ranks second most on the team. It was the 10^th home run of her career. She recorded her 13^th multi-hit game of the season which is tied for the third most on the team and her 11^th multi-RBI game which is second most on the Huskies.
Harms posted her fourth multi-hit game of the season.
Collins extended her on-base streak to a season-best 14 games.
Weiss drew a walk to extend her on-base streak to a season-high 15 games.

UP NEXT
The Huskies will play the No. 8 seed Augustana (30-27, 19-11 NSIC) in an elimination game at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at the Pat Lipira Softball Complex (Missouri Southern) in Joplin, Missouri. Links to each coverage option can be found on the SCSU Softball game day central or schedule page.

NCAA Central Region Tournament Central

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Softball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.