The University of Minnesota Duluth had its historical season come to a end in the NCAA Division II Super Regionals after falling 12-3 in five innings to Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Ark. The No. 8 Lady Muleriders took the best-of-three series in two games and trek forward to the NCAA Division II Softball Championships starting next Thursday in Salem, Va.
 
The No. 25 Bulldogs, which advanced to the super regionals for the first time in program history, finished the season 44-16. The 44 victories is the most since 1988 (49 wins), and the most since joining the NCAA ranks in 1992. They were ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll for the first time in 15 years.
 
That success led to 60 games played this season, tying the 1988 and 2012 Bulldogs for most games in a season. Additionally, seniors Hannah Schmoll, Natalie Wright and Becky Smith matched the 2012 roster of Michaela Goris, Kierra Jeffers, Tyra Kerr and Whitney Strantz for most games played for a single-season (60).
 
Facing its third elimination game, UMD needed to do something no other team had been able to figure out this season -- beat Southern Arkansas on its own turf.
 
The Bulldogs, which lost by the narrowness of margins yesterday, struck first in their fourth at-bat. Freshman Jordyn Thomas went deep to left center to put UMD up 2-0. Her two-run blast was her 15th of the season and her third in three games.
 
The Muleriders, after a relatively quiet outing last night, found their bats and erupted for 14 hits and a pair of three-run home runs that the Bulldogs would not be able to recover from. Brooke Goad, the national leader in homers, hit her round-tripper in the second inning to give Southern Arkansas the lead and Monica Islava had her blast put the game out of reach in the fifth.
 
Smith posted a pair of hits to lead the Bulldogs, which had six hits on the afternoon. Thomas wasn't the only one to go yard for UMD as sophomore Lauren Oberle crushed her sixth homer of the year. Oberle's solo shot cut the deficit to 4-3 at the time but that would be all the Bulldogs would net.


 
UMD, who wrapped up their eighth postseason appearance and fifth in the last nine seasons, is now 9-17 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. It also signaled the end of the collegiate softball careers of Valerie Hohol, Schmoll, Smith and Wright. The three seniors -- Schmoll, Smith and Wright -- since their arrival on campus, have gone 147-75, good for a .662 winning percentage, and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. The 147 victories is the second-most by any senior class at UMD.