LAFAYETTE, La. – Coastal Carolina and ULM won their opening-round games on Wednesday at the Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park to advance to the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Sun Belt Softball Championship. 
 
 No. 7 seed Coastal Carolina topped No. 10 seed Southern Miss 4-2 in a 10-inning battle, while No 8 seed ULM pulled ahead over No. 9 seed Georgia State 4-1. 
 
The quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Softball Championship will take place on Thursday with four games beginning at 10:00 a.m. CT. All four games will be broadcast on ESPN+. 
 
Game 1: (7) Coastal Carolina 4, (10) Southern Miss 2 [Box Score]
 
Coastal Carolina advanced to the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship quarterfinals on Wednesday after freshman Delaney Keith hammered a walk-off home run in extra innings to down the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, 4-2, in the comeback win. 
 
It was a battle of the pitchers in the opening three innings, with the Chants’ Raelee Brabham throwing two consecutive 1-2-3 innings while giving up one hit. Southern Miss’ Morgan Leinstock recorded a three-up, three-down inning of her own to hold the score at 0-0. 
 
Southern Miss was first to strike after back-to-back singles kicked off the top of the fourth inning. Scout Jennings pushed the first run across the plate when she drilled an RBI single to left field to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead.
 
The Chants looked to level the score in the bottom of the fourth inning after a walk, a wild pitch, and a groundout advanced Keith to third base, but the Golden Eagles held strong to keep the score at 1-0.
 
Coastal was given a lifeline in the bottom of the sixth inning after singles from Keith and Iyanla De Jesus put runners on first and third base. With two outs on the board, Coastal tied up the game on a fielder’s choice to make the score 1-1 heading into the seventh inning. 
 
After three scoreless innings to see the game go into extras, the Golden Eagles regained the lead in the top of the 10th inning when Maria Smith slotted an RBI single up the middle to push Southern Miss in front at 2-1.
 
The Chants refused to back down, as in the bottom of the 10^th inning, Maddy Jennings and Libby Pippin smashed back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second base to give Coastal a fighting chance. Keith then rose to the occasion and belted a three-run walk-off home run over the right-field wall to secure the comeback 4-2 win and send the Chants to the quarterfinals. 
 
Nicolette Picone advanced to 11-4 on the season with the win, recording a career-high nine strikeouts while giving up just one run in 6.0 innings of work.  
 
Game 2: (8) ULM 4, (9) Georgia State 1 [Box Score]
 
ULM moved on to the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship quarterfinals on Wednesday evening after a strong performance in the sixth inning led to a 4-1 victory over Georgia State.  
 
The Warhawks came out hot in the first inning, as Ashlan Ard slammed a quick home run to left center field to give ULM an early advantage.  
 
After both teams were held scoreless in the second, the Panthers looked to level the score in the bottom of the third. Jaycee Goodwin gave Georgia State what it was looking for, knocking an RBI double to right center field to knot the score up at one. 
 
The sixth inning was all ULM. Lourdes Bacon led off the inning with a triple and the rest of the lineup never looked back, tallying three hits and driving in three runs from Andie Edwards, Jacelyn Buck, and Korie Kreps. 
 
Down by three with one frame to play, the Panthers refused to back down. With Jackie Gonzalez on second and Emily Brown on first, Ashton Schroyer stepped to the plate and got the walk to load the bases. With two outs on the board, ULM sent in Gianni Hulett to relieve Victoria Abrams in the circle, who struck out the final Panther to secure the victory. 
 
Abrams earned the victory for the Warhawks, finishing the day with 125 total pitches in 6.2 innings of work. 
 
2023 Sun Belt Softball Championship
 
Wednesday, May 10
Game 1 – (7) Coastal Carolina 4, (10) Southern Miss 2
Game 2 – (8) ULM 4, (9) Georgia State 1
 
Thursday, May 11
Game 3 – (3) South Alabama vs. (6) James Madison – 10:00 a.m. CT
Game 4 – (2) Marshall vs. (7) Coastal Carolina – 1:00 p.m. CT
Game 5 – (4) Troy vs. (5) Texas State – 4:00 p.m. CT
Game 6 – (1) Louisiana vs. (8) ULM – 7:00 p.m. CT
 
Friday, May 12
Game 7 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 – 4:00 p.m. CT
Game 8 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 – 7:00 p.m. CT
 
Saturday, May 13
Game 9 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 – 1:00 p.m. CT