NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference softball league schedule enters the final two weekends of the regular season.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
RED HOT WARHAWKS
ULM (32-18, 14-4 SBC) has won 13 of its last 14 games dating back to March. 22, to pull within one game of Marshall (35-12, 15-3 SBC) who sits at the top of the league standings. Defensively the Warhawks keep it clean with a .973 fielding percentage, which ranks second in the league and 38th nationally. ULM has found success on the mound behind pitcher Ashanti McDade who ranks 12th nationally in appearances with 16 and 26th nationally in saves with 3. ULM has won five of its six conference series after sweeping Georgia State last weekend. The Warhawks travel to Troy (30-17, 8-10 SBC) looking for their third-consecutive series sweep.
TROJANS ON THE RISE
Troy (30-17, 8-10 SBC) took down Auburn 2-0 on Wednesday night, shutting out an autonomy conference opponent for the first time since taking down Ohio State 4-0 on Feb. 26, 2022. The Trojans have now won five-consecutive games heading into their series with ULM (32-18, 14-4 SBC) this weekend. Troy leads the league in batting average at .329 and ranks third among Sun Belt teams in runs with 264 so far this season. The bat of Makaley Boswell remains hot for the Trojans with a .422 average, 62 hits and seven home runs.
MADDY’S MILESTONES
Texas State (31-18, 11-7 SBC) pitcher Maddy Azua had stellar appearances throughout last week. Through 21.0 innings this week, Azua allowed just three runs and walked only three batters while striking out 13. She only surrendered 13 hits, three for extra bases. Her win versus Texas Tech was her 20th of the season, while the weekend win over Southern Miss was the 50th of her career.
SERIES STATUSES
Marshall has won each of their first six Sun Belt series and just two teams have won five of their six sets this season—ULM (29-18, 11-4 SBC) and Southern Miss (30-20, 11-7 SBC). The Warhawks swept Louisiana (22-22, 5-10 SBC), App State (24-16, 4-11 SBC) and Georgia State (25-25, 4-14) and took two of three from Georgia Southern (19-23, 6-9 SBC) and South Alabama (24-18, 8-4 SBC). South Alabama, Marshall and ULM are the only teams to record multiple sweeps so far this year with two apiece.
MADE FOR MOON SHOTS
Three Sun Belt teams rank among the nation’s leaders in total home runs this season, as Marshall’s 81 big flies rank eighth, while Coastal Carolina’s 77 rank 13th and App State’s 71 rank 17th. Individually, Coastal Carolina junior first baseman Georgia Hood is tied for 7th with 21 homers, Marshall sophomore third baseman Sydni Burko and App State senior second baseman Makayla McClain are tied for 22nd nationally with 18.
RPI RUNDOWN
As of April 16, the Sun Belt Conference is one of just five conferences with 11 of its teams 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. The Sun Belt is also the only non-autonomy conference with five teams listed in the top 60. Marshall leads the Sun Belt at No. 25 nationally—as the highest-ranked non-autonomy program in the country—and is followed by Texas State (31), South Alabama (45), ULM (52) and Louisiana (55) inside the top 60. App State (74), Troy (76), Southern Miss (79), Coastal Carolina (86), James Madison (94) Georgia Southern (97) round out the top 100 Sun Belt teams, followed closely Georgia State (113).
RANKED WINS
Multiple Sun Belt teams earned wins over ranked opponents during the first seven weeks of the season. Texas State is the conference’s lone team with multiple ranked with victories over No. 23 Clemson (Feb. 12), No. 10 Texas A&M (March 6) and No. 5 Texas Tech (April 15). Additionally, Coastal Carolina defeated No. 20 Arizona (Feb. 13), Georgia Southern topped No. 25 Clemson (Feb. 27) and Louisiana took down No. 10 Texas A&M (Feb. 27).
SUN BELT SOFTBALL SERIES – WEEK 7
| Series |
Friday |
Saturday |
Sunday |
| Georgia State at James Madison |
4:00 p.m. |
12:00 p.m. |
11:00 a.m. |
| App State at Georgia Southern |
5:00 p.m. |
2:00 p.m. |
12:00 p.m. |
| ULM at Troy |
6:00 p.m. |
2:00 p.m. |
12:00 p.m. |
| Coastal Carolina at Texas State |
6:00 p.m. |
2:00 p.m. |
12:00 p.m. |
| Marshall at Louisiana |
6:00 p.m. |
2:00 p.m. |
12:00 p.m. |
| South Alabama |
6:00 p.m. |
2:00 p.m. |
12:00 p.m. |
All Times CT