GREENWOOD, Ind. – Missouri Southern softball student-athletes Bailey Dillon and Carsen Tinkler were named to the 2026 Academic All-America softball team, College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced Tuesday.
 
Dillon and Tinkler were featured on the Second Team. The duo is MSSU softball's first Academic All-America selections since Abi Corbett in 2018 and are the 14th and 15th honorees in Lions' softball program history.
 
Dillon, a sophomore left fielder from Lenexa, Kansas, has a 3.96 GPA as an Exercise Science major at Missouri Southern.
 
Tinkler, a senior third baseman from Overland Park, Kansas, graduated from Missouri Southern in May with her Bachelor's in Marketing & Finance with a 4.0 undergraduate GPA. She is currently pursuing her master's in Applied Data Analytics and has a 4.0 GPA in graduate school.
 
Tinkler is one of 12 on the 33-member Academic All-America Division II softball teams with an unblemished 4.0 GPA in her undergraduate work or graduate school. She is the only Academic All-America Division II selection with a 4.0 GPA at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
 
The 11 members of the Academic All-America Division II softball first team have an average GPA of 3.86, with the entire Division II team maintaining a collective average GPA of 3.88.
 
Bailey Dillon
So. | Lenexa, Kan. | Left Fielder | Exercise Science | 3.96 GPA
 
Bailey Dillon, a 2026 NFCA Third Team All-American, led MSSU at the dish, batting .419 (sixth in the MIAA) with 66 runs (third in MIAA), 91 hits (second in MIAA), 11 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 29 RBI, 122 total bases, and MSSU program-record 49 stolen bases (second in MIAA).
 
The 2026 All-MIAA First Team selection notched an OPS of 1.039 (.562 SLG, .477 OB%). The sophomore from Lenexa, Kansas, started all 64 games in left field.

The Lions leadoff hitter batted .438 in MIAA play (.494 OB%, .538 SLG%), was third for triples (3) and was fourth with 24 runs and 35 hits.
 
Dillon led the Lions with 28 multi-hit games. She went on a team-high 28-game reached base streak (13-game hitting streak) in 2026 and had six multi-RBI games this season.

The 2026 Central First Team All-Region player by both the NFCA and D2CCA was named the MIAA Hitter of the Week once in 2026.

Academically, she was named to the 2026 MIAA Softball Honor Roll, a 2026 MIAA Softball Scholar-Athlete and to the CSC Academic All-District Team.

Carsen Tinkler
Sr. | Overland Park, Kan. | Third Base | Marketing/Finance (U) / Data Analytics | 4.0/4.0 GPA
 
Carsen Tinkler, a 2026 All-MIAA Third Team selection and 2026 MIAA All-Tournament Team member, ranked second on Missouri Southern at the plate in 2026, batting .366 with a .552 slugging percentage and .424 on-base percentage to go with 28 runs, 67 hits, 11 doubles, one triple, seven homers, 37 RBI, 101 total bases and 19 walks.
 
The Overland Park, Kansas, native, played in all 64 games with 63 starts at the hot corner. She was second on the team with 10 multi-RBI games and third on MSSU with 19 multi-hit games. Tinkler went on a nine-game hitting streak this season.
 
She was named the 2026 MIAA "A Game" Scholar-Athlete for Softball, boasting the top GPA in the league for the sport.
 
Following the campaign, she was one of eight softball players who earned 2026 MIAA Honor Roll, 2026 MIAA Scholar-Athlete and 2026 MIAA Academic Excellence honors.
 
Tinkler was also the recipient of the Elite Scholar-Athlete award for the 2026 NCAA Division II Women's Softball Championship, for having the highest cumulative grade-point average at the finals site for the NCAA Championship.
 
She was also selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.