Championship Central
Box Scores: Game 9 | Game 10 | Game 11
 
LAFAYETTE, La. – Timely offense and power pitching dominated the Day 3 storylines at the 2018 Sun Belt Softball Championship as top-seeded Texas State and second-seeded Louisiana advanced to clash for the conference’s NCAA Tournament automatic bid for the third-straight year.
 
Saturday’s championship game between the Ragin’ Cajuns and Bobcats is set for 1 p.m. (CT) with live coverage exclusively on ESPN+. Drew Fellios and Francesca Enea are slated to call the action from Alfred and Helen Lamson Park.
 
Louisiana sophomore pitcher Summer Ellyson started the day with an instant classic, throwing the sixth no-hitter (individual or combined) in championship history in the Cajuns’ 1-0 victory over Texas State. Ellyson faced the minimum number of batters and silenced the Bobcats’ bats, striking out six and hurling 53 strikes in 80 pitches. Her lone blemish was a third-inning walk.
 
Louisiana got the game-clinching run in the sixth. Senior outfielder Kelli Martinez singled and advanced to third on a throwing error as she was trying to steal second. Junior third base Kara Gremillion came through with the clutch RBI on a one-out sacrifice bunt.
 
Texas State had to rebound from that loss to face fifth-seeded Troy for the second time in as many days with a trip to the title game on the line. This rematch needed extras for the Bobcats to emerge with a 9-5 win. In regulation, Troy took a 4-2 lead through four. Texas State needed three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 5-4 lead. The Trojans answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning to even the game.
 
No runs in the seventh or eighth moved the game to the ninth where Texas State quickly loaded the bases to start the top half of the inning. The Bobcats pounced on this scoring opportunity, thanks to an RBI single by sophomore catcher Haleigh Davis and a two-run RBI single by junior outfielder Kennedy Cline. Two batters later, senior shortstop Ariel Ortiz pushed across the fourth and final run of the frame on a sacrifice fly to center.
 
Troy had one more chance to extend the game and got runners on second and third in the bottom half of the ninth. The Trojans could not convert, ending their tournament run that consisted of six games in three days.
 
Troy advanced to the elimination game on a 9-4 victory over fourth-seeded UTA. Junior third base Madeline Porter drove in three runs and freshman outfielder Talia Truitt tied a championship single-game record with four hits for the Trojans in the win.
 
Follow the 2018 championship on Twitter (@SunBelt) and Facebook (fb.com/SunBeltConference).
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
All Times Central and Subject to Change
 
Saturday, May 12
Game 12 - #1 Texas State vs. #2 Louisiana (ESPN+), 1:00 PM
 
Sunday, May 13
NCAA Division I Softball Championship Selection Show (ESPN2), 9:00 PM