LAFAYETTE, La. – The semifinal matchups are set at the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship. 
 
South Alabama, Marshall, Texas State and Louisiana all earned quarterfinal victories on Thursday at the Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park to advance in the tournament. 
 
The semifinal round will take place on Friday, Mary 12 with two games beginning at 4:00 p.m. CT. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. 
 
Game 3: (3) South Alabama 4, (6) James Madison 1 [Box Score]
 
South Alabama scored a pair of runs in each of the first two innings and Olivia Lackie tossed a four-hit complete game as the No. 3 seeded Jaguars earned a 4-1 victory Thursday morning in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Championship. 
 
James Madison threatened to get on the board first, recording back-to-back two-out, singles in the top of the first from Hannah Shifflett and Bella Henzler, but Lackie was able to get Jasmine Hill swinging, her second strikeout of the frame, to leave the runners stranded.

Meredith Keel led off the next half inning with a double to the gap in left center – her 11th double of the season. The Jags took advantage of a defensive miscue with some aggressive base running as Keel came around to score (1-0) from second when Brasher reached on a fielding error when the throw to first was dropped by Shifflett. Brasher then stole second and third to move into scoring position and with two out, Sasha Willems lined a single to left center to plate the second run of the inning for South Alabama (2-0).

After seeing a first-pitch strike to start the Jaguar second, Bailey Welch walked as the next four were out of the zone. Emma Kropp was then hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second, and Marley Sims then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Keel then lifted a ball out to left which was deep enough to bring home Welch from third and extend the lead to 3-0. Pinch runner Erin McGlothlin advanced to third on a wild pitch, and Brasher dropped in a single in shallow center to make it 4-0.

James Madison pushed across an unearned run in its half of the fifth. Hallie Hall reached on an error to start the frame – the first Dukes base runner to reach since the third and snapping a streak of 10-straight retired by Lackie. H. Hall then moved up to third on a ground out and two batters later, Abby Campbell reached on an infield single to score the unearned run (4-1).
 
Lackie (21-7) struck out 10 in her seven innings of work, allowing jut four singles, and didn’t walk a batter. 
 
South Alabama advances to the semifinal round which is set for 4 p.m. on Friday. 
 
Game 4: (2) Marshall 2, (7) Coastal Carolina 1 [Box Score]
 
Camryn Michallas caught the final out on a high pop up in front of home plate to secure No. 2 seed Marshall’s 2-1 win over No. 7 seed Coastal Carolina on Wednesday afternoon at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park. 
 
It was Michallas, the Huntington native’s two-out RBI single in Marshall’s sixth inning rally, that proved to be the winning run for the Herd. 
 
Following Alex Coleman's leadoff single in the sixth, and her 42nd stolen base of the season, two outs set up Grace Chelemen with a runner in scoring position. From there, the senior laced a 2-1 pitch over the center fielder's head to break the scoreless tie. Michallas followed suit with the RBI rip up the middle to score Marshall's second run of the frame.
 
The Chants were given a glimmer of hope in the top of the seventh inning when Livi Payne reached first base on a Marshall fielding miscue with two outs in the inning. Maddy Jennings kept the momentum going when she smoked an RBI double to right-center field to narrow the gap to 2-1. 
 
Syndey Nestor walked Libby Pippin on the next at-bat to put the tying run up for grabs, but it wasn’t meant to be for the Chants, as a foul secured the 2-1 win for the Thundering Herd and put an end to Coastal’s season.
 
Raelee Brabham put up a stellar game in the circle for the Chants, recording 5.0-shutout innings and 10 strikeouts before giving up two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. 
 
Nester improved to 26-7 on the season after a dominant complete-game effort where she struck out nine. 
 
Marshall will move on to face the No. 2-seeded South Alabama Jaguars in the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Championship semifinals on Friday at 4:00 p.m. CT. 
 
Game 5: (5) Texas State 3, (4) Troy 0 [Box Score]
 
Texas State softball will advance to the semifinals of the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Championship after taking a 3-0 shutout win over Troy to open tournament play Thursday night. 
 
This was a game of momentum for Texas State. After just two at-bats, the game went into an hour and a half long weather delay. Heading into the delay, the Bobcats had two outs and Sara Vanderford was up to bat holding a 3-2 count. Vanderford would get walked on the return to play.
 
Right-handed pitcher Jessica Mullins would give up her lone hit of the game in the bottom of the first inning, a single that came back to her off the bat of All-Sun Belt Second Team player Taylor McKinney. Mullins would go on to throw a complete game shutout with just one walk and four strikeouts.
 
Momentum swung fully in the favor of the Bobcats in the fourth inning. Vanderford hit the 52nd double of her career to get on base. She’d go on to steal her second base of the game to advance to third, scoring on a sacrifice fly from Anna Jones. This was the first game of Vanderford’s career with multiple stolen bases in a single outing.
 
Mullins started off the bottom of the fourth with a strikeout, walked the next batter and then two lineouts to the outfield would bring the Bobcats back up to bat.
 
Hannah Earls would be the first Bobcat on base after being walked on a nine-pitch at-bat. She’d steal second and advance to third off a throwing error. When Trahan struck out swinging for the second out, Woodard opted to bring in freshman Emilee Baker to pinch hit.
 
Baker singled to right center and Earls scored on the play. Next up to bat was Vanderford, she hit a second single for Baker to score. The two runs in the fifth inning would be enough to put an end to the scoring in the game.
 
Troy would go three up and three down in the final three innings of play and was unable to get any runs on the board.
 
The Bobcats will take on No. 1 seed Louisiana at 7 p.m. inside Lamson Park.
 
Game 6: (1) Louisiana 3, (8) ULM 1 [Box Score]
 
The No. 24-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Softball team used a pick-me-up from the bench to capture a 3-1 win over ULM on Thursday, May 11 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.

Knotted at 1-all since the second inning, Louisiana (44-13) inserted Jourdyn Campbell as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning after a leadoff walk from Maddie Hayden. Campbell promptly delivered a wall-banging triple to right field bringing home Hayden with the tiebreaking run.

The Ragin’ Cajuns got insurance in the very next at bat from another pinch hitter as Stormy Kotzelnick lined a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Campbell and make it 3-1.

From there Sam Landry (7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 7 K) would silence the Warhawks (25-32), retiring the side in order the final three innings.

The win advanced Louisiana to Friday’s semifinal round in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to face Texas State at 7:00 p.m.

The Ragin’ Cajuns extended their season-best winning streak to 10 games and claimed a Sun Belt Tournament-opening victory for the for the 13th straight time (dates back to 2010).

Landry opened the game with the first of what would be first of five three-up, three-down frames and Louisiana struck in its first at bat when Laney Credeur delivered a two-out RBI single up the middle.

The lone two hits that Landry would yield to the visiting Warhawks came in the top of the second, the latter an RBI double from Ashlan Ard that evened things at 1-apeice. A strong throw by Hayden off a grounder that hugged the third base line recorded the crucial second out and kept ULM from continuing to build momentum.

Campbell’s clutch triple kept ULM reliever Gianni Hulett, who took over in the second inning after the lineup turned over, from making one round through the Cajuns lineup unscathed. 
 
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 4, (6) James Madison 1 
Game 4 – (2) Marshall 2, (7) Coastal Carolina 1
Game 5 – (5) Texas State 3, (4) Troy 0 
Game 6 – (1) Louisiana 3, (8) ULM 1
 
Friday, May 12
Game 7 – (2) Marshall vs. (3) South Alabama – 4:00 p.m. CT
Game 8 – (1) Louisiana vs. (5) Texas State – 7:00 p.m. CT
 
Saturday, May 13
Game 9 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 – 1:00 p.m. CT