NEW ORLEANS – Rematches of the last two Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship title games headline the docket for the second weekend of league play in 2026 when games get underway Friday, March 20. All 18 Sun Belt contests will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
WHAT TO WATCH FOR

• CHAMPIONSHIP REMATCH: Coastal Carolina (15-14, 2-1 SBC) visits James Madison (14-12, 2-1 SBC) for a three-game series in Harrisonburg, Va., for the first meeting between the teams since the championship game of the 2025 Sun Belt tournament in Troy, Ala. Seeded seventh, the Chanticleers won last year’s championship game against the ninth-seeded Dukes, 3-2, on a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. This season, both teams rank inside the top 40 nationally in home runs with Coastal Carolina in 26th with 41 and James Madison in 35th with 36 long balls. Two of the Sun Belt’s batting leaders will square off as the Chanticleers’ junior shortstop Brie Normandin (.476) ranks second in the conference, followed by the Dukes’ junior infielder Kendra Lewis (.471) in third.
• LAMSON PARK BATTLEGROUND: The teams who met in the Sun Belt’s 2024 championship game, Louisiana (17-12, 1-2 SBC) hosts Texas State (19-10, 2-1 SBC) at Lamson Park - the site of the 2026 conference tournament - for a three-game set. The teams have met in the title game five times (2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024), as the 2018 bout was the only one of those played in Lafayette, La., when the Bobcats earned their first Sun Belt crown. The Ragin’ Cajuns have won the regular season series against the Bobcats each year since Texas State joined the conference in 2014.
• SPEED DEMONS: Troy (17-10, 0-3 SBC) hosts Georgia State (19-11, 1-2 SBC) where a battle of highly efficiency base-stealers will go head-to-head. Troy’s Makaley Boswell and McKinnon Howard are both 13-for-13 on stolen base attempts this season and are tied for the Sun Belt lead in total steals. Meanwhile, Georgia State’s Maya Bagby is alone in third place at 12-for-12 on the basepaths, while teammate McKenzie Walker is fourth with 11 steals on 15 attempts.
• RPI RUNDOWN: For the first time in history, all 12 Sun Belt Conference softball programs are ranked in the top 100 of the latest NCAA Division I RPI Rankings, The Sun Belt is one of just two conferences nationally with all of its teams listed in the top 100 along with the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and one of just four leagues with at least 10 teams within that specific threshold. The Sun Belt’s collective RPI currently ranks third nationally behind only the SEC and Big 12 Conference and comprises the most top 100 teams among all non-autonomy conferences. Marshall leads the Sun Belt at No. 32 nationally, followed by South Alabama (41) and Coastal Carolina (45) inside the top 50.

 
SUN BELT SOFTBALL SERIES – WEEK 2
 

Series	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Coastal Carolina at James Madison	3:00 p.m.	12:00 p.m.	10:00 a.m.
Southern Miss at App State	5:00 p.m.	2:00 p.m.	11:00 a.m.
Georgia Southern at Marshall	5:00 p.m.	2:00 p.m.	11:00 a.m.
Texas State at Louisiana	6:00 p.m.	2:00 p.m.	12:00 p.m.
South Alabama at ULM	6:00 p.m.	2:00 p.m.	12:00 p.m.
Georgia State at Troy	6:00 p.m.	2:00 p.m.	1:00 p.m.

 
All Times CT