NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference softball league schedule begins the month of April with the fourth weekend of league play beginning Thursday, April 2. All 18 Sun Belt contests between Thursday and Saturday will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
WHAT TO WATCH FOR

• POWER STATIONS COLLIDE: Tied atop the Sun Belt standings, Marshall (25-10, 7-2 SBC) hosts one of the five teams currently tied for fifth place -App State (23-10, 4-5 SBC) - for a three-game series between two of the nation’s premier home-run-hitting teams this season. The visiting Mountaineers lead the conference and rank 11th nationally with 59 homers on the year, followed by the Thundering Herd at 13th in the country with 58. Individually, App State senior second baseman Makayla McClain leads all Sun Belt players and ranks No. 5 nationally with 17 long balls, while Marshall sophomore third baseman Sydni Burko is tied for second in the league and 18th nationally with 14 round trippers. Through nine conference games, McClain and Burko are tied for the most home runs with five apiece.
• ACES WILD: Tied with Marshall atop the Sun Belt standings, South Alabama (23-15, 7-2 SBC) hosts Texas State (22-15, 4-5 SBC) for a three-game set between teams possessing two of the most consistent pitching staffs in conference play this season. As a team, South Alabama is first in earned run average (1.49) ahead of Texas State (1.92) in second. Individually, junior right-hander and two-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week Ryley Harrison leads the Jaguars with her 4-1 record, three saves and 1.44 ERA in 39 innings of work in conference play up against junior lefty and two-timer Pitcher of the Week honoree Maddy Azua’s 3-2 record, three saves and league-leading 0.88 ERA in 39.2 innings. Additionally, both hurlers rank in the top 15 nationally in overall complete games with Azua 11th (11) and Harrison 15th (10).
• CIRCLE OF TRUST: Multiple Sun Belt pitchers are being handed the ball at high volumes and producing equally high rates of efficiency. Texas State’s Maddy Azua ranks No. 1 nationally in both innings pitched (143.1) and pitching appearances (30) this season, while South Alabama’s Ryley Harrison ranks No. 5 in appearances (28) and 11th in innings (119.2). Additionally, Georgia State junior right-hander Makayla Stephens ranks No. 2 in the country in complete games (15), No. 4 in total strikeouts (152), No. 5 in innings (130.1), No. 7 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.91) and No. 11 in WHIP (0.84). Stephens and Harrison are tied for ninth among all pitchers nationally in shutouts (4), while Azua (1.95 ERA), Harrison (2.22 ERA) and Stephens (2.26 ERA) hold down the top the spots in the Sun Belt in ERA in 2026.
• RPI RUNDOWN: As of April 1, the Sun Belt Conference is one of just five conferences with 10 of its 12 programs are ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA’s Division I Softball RPI Rankings and comprises the most top 100 teams among all non-autonomy conferences. Marshall leads the Sun Belt at No. 30 nationally, followed by South Alabama (38) and Texas State (48) inside the top 50. Louisiana (51), ULM (63), App State (68), Coastal Carolina (69), Southern Miss (74), Troy (78) and Georgia Southern (93) round out the top 10, followed closely by Georgia State (112) and James Madison (116).

 
SUN BELT SOFTBALL SERIES – WEEK 4
 

Series	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Troy at Louisiana	4:00 p.m.	6:00 p.m.	1:00 p.m.
ULM at Georgia Southern	5:00 p.m.	4:00 p.m.	11:00 a.m.
Coastal Carolina at Georgia State	5:00 p.m.	3:00 p.m.	11:00 a.m.
App State at Marshall	5:00 p.m.	2:00 p.m.	11:00 a.m.
Texas State at South Alabama	6:00 p.m.	6:00 p.m.	12:00 p.m.
James Madison at Southern Miss	6:00 p.m.	6:00 p.m.	12:00 p.m.

 
All Times CT