Championship Central
SAN MARCOS, Texas – James Madison and Marshall collected wins in the first round of the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship on Wednesday evening at Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Texas State University.
Eighth-seeded James Madison defeated ninth-seeded Southern Miss, 6-2, while 10th-seeded Marshall outlasted seventh-seeded Georgia Southern, 4-2, in 11 innings.
Quarterfinal action at the Sun Belt Softball Championship begins Thursday with four games beginning at 10 a.m. CT. All four games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Game 1: (8) James Madison 6, (9) Southern Miss 2 (Box Score)
James Madison (31-21) used a five-run first inning to fuel a 6-2 victory over Southern Miss (22-29) in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship. The Dukes advance to challenge top-seeded Louisiana (40-16) in Thursday’s first quarterfinal at 10 a.m.
James Madison drew first blood with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first inning by taking advantage of a costly Southern Miss fielding error. Junior Lexi Rogers delivered a three-run double to right field, as the Dukes sent 10 batters to the plate and pushed across two more runs in the frame following a pair of walks and utilizing savvy baserunning to extend the lead.
Southern Miss junior Jana Lee came on to pitch in relief to start the second inning and fired three scoreless frames before the Golden Eagles’ offense came to life with two outs in the top of the fifth on back-to-back RBI singles by junior Kayla Agner and freshman Lauren Lindsey to trim the deficit to three, 5-2.
The Dukes added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when freshman Madison Edwards led off with a triple to right center field before junior Abbie Campbell drove her in with a sac fly to center to push the advantage to four runs.
Senior pitcher Alissa Humphrey allowed just one baserunner and recorded the final seven outs for James Madison to secure her fifth save of the season.
Lee finished her day in the circle with three strikeouts and one run allowed in five innings of work for the Golden Eagles, as Agner added two hits.
Game 2: (10) Marshall 4, (7) Georgia Southern 2 (11 inn.) (Box Score)
Marshall (25-27) plated two runs in the top of the 11th inning to complete a comeback victory over Georgia Southern (30-21) in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship. The Thundering Herd advances to faced second-seeded Texas State (42-13) in Thursday’s final quarterfinal at 7 p.m.
Herd senior right-hander Savannah Rice pitched the final nine innings, allowing three hits, three walks and one run while striking out five to earn her ninth win of the season. Junior first baseman Rielly Lucas went 2-for-2, drew three walks and scored three runs.
Georgia Southern tallied the first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning when freshman Kyla Maxwell stroked a two-out RBI single up the middle to score sophomore Brooke Kell.
The Eagles scraped another run across in the bottom of the fourth by drawing a pair of walks before Delanie Thames scored on the second wild pitch of the inning, increasing the lead to 2-0.
Georgia Southern sophomore starting pitcher Alana Barnard cruised through four shutout innings in the circle, but Marshall’s offense came to life in the top of the fifth when Lucas and senior Reagan Glanz started the inning with back-to-back singles. Junior Kasia Parks drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with no outs and freshman Destiny Washington bounced an RBI single up the middle to cut the deficit in half, 2-1, and force a pitching change.
The Thundering Herd kept the pressure on the defense with consecutive hard-hit balls that the Eagles turned into a pair of force-outs at home plate. Georgia Southern escaped the bases loaded jam one batter later when freshman relief pitcher Anslie Petit recorded a strikeout to end the inning.
Marshall mustered a two-out rally in the top of the sixth when Lucas doubled to center field and Glanz followed up with an RBI single to tie the game, 2-2.
The game moved into extra innings where the Herd escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth before breaking through in the top of the 11th when Lucas drew a leadoff walk before coming around to score on a one-out, RBI triple by Parks who also scored on the play on a throwing error to put Marshall in front.
2024 Sun Belt Softball Championship
Wednesday, May 8
Game 1: (8) James Madison 6, (9) Southern Miss 2
Game 2: (10) Marshall 4, (7) Georgia Southern 2 (11 inn.)
Thursday, May 9
Game 3: (1) Louisiana vs. (8) James Madison – 10:00 a.m. CT
Game 4: (4) Coastal Carolina vs. (5) Troy – 1:00 p.m. CT
Game 5: (3) South Alabama vs. (6) ULM – 4:00 p.m. CT
Game 6: (2) Texas State vs. (10) Marshall – 7:00 p.m. CT
Friday, May 10
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 11
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 – 1:00 p.m. CT