NEW ORLEANS – Four of the top five teams in the Sun Belt Conference softball standings will match up for a pair of three-game series when Marshall hosts Coastal Carolina and ULM welcomes Georgia Southern when league play resumes Thursday evening. All 18 Sun Belt contests will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
WHAT TO WATCH FOR

• EAGLES & WARHAWKS: Tied for first place, Georgia Southern (27-17, 11-4 SBC) travels to third place ULM (30-16, 10-5 SBC) who sits one game back in the standings but owns an unblemished 19-0 record in home contests this season. The Warhawks rank seventh nationally in hits (411), No. 21 in batting average (.337), No. 27 in stolen bases (76), No. 28 in RBI (258), No. 31 in doubles (67) and No. 34 in on base percentage (.411), which all lead the Sun Belt. Meanwhile, the Eagles are No. 9 nationally in fielding percentage (.979) and No. 12 in earned run average (2.21) to lead the conference, while they are No. 16 in WHIP (1.14) which stands second.
• CHANTS & HERD: A battle between teams tied for fourth place will get underway in Huntington, W.Va., when Marshall (23-19, 9-6 SBC) hosts Coastal Carolina (33-12, 9-6 SBC). The Chanticleers lead the Sun Belt and rank No. 12 nationally in home runs (71) while the Thundering Herd are second in the league and No. 35 in the country (51). The Chants are also third in the Sun Belt with a .309 team batting average, followed by the Herd in fourth at .304. Coastal is also second in the conference in on base percentage (.395) and RBI (255), while Marshall is third (.394) and fourth (224) in those categories, respectively.
• THE SERIES LEDGER: Georgia Southern is the only Sun Belt program to win each of their first five conference series this season. The Eagles have earned one three-game sweep and claimed two out of three games in the other four series. Meanwhile, five other Sun Belt teams have won three of their first five series in league play including Texas State (29-13, 11-4 SBC), ULM, Coastal Carolina, Marshall and Southern Miss (20-22, 7-7 SBC).
• PICONE’S PRESTIGE: Coastal Carolina senior ace Nicolette Picone continues to build on a historic campaign in the circle as she leads ranks No. 2 nationally in wins (20), No. 3 in complete games (17) and innings pitched 162.1), No. 4 in games started (25) and No. 8 nationally in saves (5) this season while leading the Sun Belt in each of those categories. She is also No. 27 in earned run average (1.94). Additionally, Picone moved into sole possession of first place in Sun Belt history with 19 career saves.
• LEFTY LEVERAGE: The Sun Belt’s leaderboard for earned run average (ERA) is littered with left-handed pitching with Coastal Carolina senior Nicolette Picone in second with a 1.94 ERA, followed by Texas State sophomore Madison Azua in third at 2.13 and Troy sophomore Alyssa Faircloth in fourth at 2.44. Additionally, eight of the first 10 Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week accolades have been doled out to three different southpaws as Picone (4) and Azua (3) have earned multiple weekly honors while App State junior Sophie Moshos earned her first on April 2.
• RPI RUNDOWN: The Sun Belt currently boasts the No. 6 conference RPI in the nation – trailing only the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and AAC. Additionally, seven Sun Belt softball programs are currently listed among the top 100 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings, led by No. 40 Coastal Carolina. No. 43 Texas State, No. 66 Louisiana, No. 77 Georgia Southern, No. 86 Troy, No. 87 ULM and No. 90 Southern Miss. The seven top-100 teams represent the most among non-autonomy conferences. 

SUN BELT SOFTBALL SERIES – WEEK 6
 

Series	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Southern Miss at James Madison	4:00 p.m.	4:00 p.m.	9:30 a.m.
South Alabama at Louisiana	4:00 p.m.	6:00 p.m.	2:00 p.m.
Coastal Carolina at Marshall	5:00 p.m.	4:00 p.m.	11:00 a.m.
App State at Georgia State	5:00 p.m.	5:00 p.m.	12:00 p.m.
Georgia Southern at ULM	6:00 p.m.	6:00 p.m.	12:00 p.m.
Troy at Texas State	6:00 p.m.	6:00 p.m.	12:00 p.m.

 
All Times CT