NEW ORLEANS – Georgia State junior designated player Chloe Hatcher and South Alabama junior right-handed pitcher Ryley Harrison claimed the Sun Belt Conference’s first softball weekly awards of the 2026 season.
 
Hatcher becomes Georgia State’s first Player of the Week honoree since Bailee Richardson on Feb. 28, 2022, while Harrison earns Pitcher of the Week recognition for the second time in her career and first since April 29, 2025.

Player of the Week
Chloe Hatcher
[Jr. | DP | Columbus, Ga.]
 
Hatcher helped lead the Panthers to a 5-0 start to the year as one of just two undefeated Sun Belt teams through the first weekend of play. Hatcher made three starts in five appearances and batted .727 with eight hits, two home runs, nine RBIs and a 2.042 OPS. Hatcher racked up 14 total bases and slugged 1.273 which included a two-run homer in an 11-2 opening day win over Drexel (2/6). She added a pair of three-hit performances by going 3-for-4 with one RBI in an 11-6 win at West Georgia (2/7) before going 3-for-4 with three RBI in an 8-3 win over Austin Peay later that day. Hatcher concluded the weekend with her second home run, three RBI and two runs scored in a 13-8 win over Bellarmine (2/8).

Pitcher of the Week
Ryley Harrison, South Alabama
[Jr. | RHP | Fairhope, Ala.]

Harrison appeared in four of South Alabama’s five games during the opening weekend of play and was pivotal in helping the Jaguars begin the season with a 4-1 record at the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. Harrison was named to the all-tournament team after recording a 2-0 record, and posting 1.19 earned run average in her 17.2 innings of work, striking out 14 and holding opponents to a .191 batting average. The Fairhope, Ala., native began her week by picking up a win in relief against Eastern Kentucky (2/6) where she tossed two-and one-third innings of one-hit ball, striking out four. Later that day, Harrison tossed a complete-game, four-hit shutout with four punchouts in a 2-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana. She closed the weekend by firing eight innings, allowing just one earned run, six hits, and struck out six in the team’s 5-4 triumph over Missouri in 11 innings.


2026 Sun Belt Conference Softball Players of the Week
Week 1 – Chloe Hatcher, DP, Georgia State
 
2026 Sun Belt Conference Softball Pitchers of the Week
Week 1 – Ryley Harrison, RHP, South Alabama