By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
After losing his entire lineup from last year's World Series squad and trudging through a tough fall campaign, Murray State Lady Aggie head coach Aaron Mullens didn't really know what to expect from his squad during the 2024 season.

Despite the massive amounts of new faces, things proved to be status quo for the Murray State softball program, which carries a number three national ranking and 55-5 record into the NJCAA Division II World Series that begins Monday at Tyger River Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The Lady Aggies not only returned to the World Series for the fourth consecutive year, but they shattered virtually every offensive record set by the 2023 club which posted an NJCAA Division II national record 58-game winning streak.

They also made a clean sweep through conference and Region 2 opponents for an astounding fourth straight season, extending their winning streak against league foes to a phenomenal 97 games in a row.

"That's a pretty cool deal winning 97 in a row no matter who you've played," Mullens stated. "We have broken every offensive record set by last year's bunch. I never saw this coming last fall. But they have matured and gotten better and better week after week and game after game. And the numbers they have put up have just been staggering."

Staggering to say the least.

The 2024 Lady Aggies are batting .426 as a team with 141 doubles, 34 triples and 116 home runs, which has equated to a .753 slugging percentage. A year ago they hit .401 with 129 doubles, 24 triples and 98 homers that equaled a .722 slugging percentage. Their .426 team batting average, .767 slugging percentage, 34 triples and whopping 621 runs batted in as a squad leads the nation in Division II.

All by a team that Mullens was admittedly skeptical of their offensive abilities after a rugged fall. But it has definitely clicked in a big way, especially in the postseason run to make their World Series return.

Sophomore Shaylin Midgley leads the nation with 104 RBI and is second in home runs with 27 – both school records. Freshman Bradi Harman sports a team record .489 season batting average while adding a nation's best 31 doubles while driving in 85.

And that's just two in a lineup that has six starters batting at least .400 and all nine hitting .341 or better. (Kennedy Lord .469, Karsyn York .461, Courtney Grey .453, Haili Igou .401, Mattie Richardson .397, Gracie Lute .361 and Lexi Meadows .341)

The team also sports a solid .966 fielding percentage and has been bolstered in the pitching department by the improved health of Harman, who had developed into the team's closer before starting and firing complete game shutouts in each of the last two games of the Region 2 Southwest Plains Tournament, dropping her earned run average to 0.95 on the season while opponents are hitting only .099 against her. All Region 2 selections Dara Hamlin and Courtney Grey have also logged over 100 innings apiece as well during the Lady Aggies' impressive run through the year.

"Having Bradi back healthy is a big deal for us," Mullens said. "We've worked her stamina up and her velocity gives some people fits. Dara has also pitched well too. We'll be leaning on her as well."

Murray State received a bye in the opening round of the World Series and will meet the winner of Monday's matchup between 14^th seed Fort Scott, Kansas and 19^th seed Bryant & Stratton, Virginia in the noon contest on Tuesday. Fort Scott enters the tournament with a 39-17 record while Bryant & Stratton comes in at 37-14.

While the Lady Aggies come into the event with no World Series experience as opposed to last year when they entered as the most experienced in the field, Mullens sees that as possibly a good thing.

"We don't have the individual experience at the World Series to rely on, but this program does," he added. "We do not have one player returning that started last year in the tournament so hopefully show up relaxed. Last year had the pressure on with the winning streak and all and didn't respond well after that first loss. During this run, the first year we made it we pressed the issue some. The second year we pushed it and put ourselves in position to win. Last year we kind of sat back and waited for things to come to us. You have to go make some things happen offensively at a tournament like this.

"I have seen a big change in the way we have approached the postseason. Anything can happen once you get there. Teams that come out and play loose and relaxed do well. You also have to have some breaks go your way. It's the team that plays normal and doesn't make it too big that usually succeeds."