Softball

Marshall & ULM Lead Sun Belt Softball Standings Entering Regular Season’s Final Weekend

NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference softball regular season's final weekend begins Thursday, April 30 with Marshall and ULM leading four teams in contention for a share of the regular season championship. All 18 games between Thursday and Saturday will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
  • TITLE CHASE: Marshall (36-14, 16-5 SBC) and ULM (34-19, 16-5 SBC) enter the final weekend of conference play tied for first place with a two-game buffer in the standings, as both teams jockey down the final stretch to clinch at least a share of their first Sun Belt regular season title. Entering the eighth week of league play, the Thundering Herd have been tied or alone in first place for five-straight weeks, while the Warhawks are tied atop the standings for the first time this season. Both teams will close the season at home, as Marshall hosts James Madison (25-22, 11-10 SBC) in Huntington, W.Va., while ULM welcomes Southern Miss (33-20, 14-7 SBC) to Monroe, La. Texas State (34-18, 14-7 SBC) and Southern Miss also remain in the hunt just two games behind the leaders, as the Bobcats travel to App State.
  • HOMERING HOOD: Coastal Carolina fifth-year first baseman Georgia Hood leads the Sun Belt with 21 home runs which is one shy of creating a five-way tie for the seventh most in a single season in Sun Belt history. The last time a Sun Belt player hit at least 22 round-trippers in a season was 2017 when Louisiana’s DJ Sanders (29) Georgia State’s Megan Litumbe (22) accomplished the feat. Hood currently has 50-career deep flies, as her 21 homers this season ranks 13th among all players nationally.
  • WALK THIS WAY: Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year and Texas State senior first baseman Aiyana Coleman currently ranks No. 2 nationally in walks per game (1.18) and her 60 total walks in 2026 stand one shy of tying the Sun Belt single-season record set by Louisiana’s Gabriele Bridges (2011) and Lace Bertucci (2007). Coleman’s 60 free passes are nearly double the amount of the second most (37) by a player in the Sun Belt this season and she has been intentionally walked 19 times. She has been a base on balls multiple times in 19 contests, including two games with four walks, five games with three and 11 games with two.
  • TRIPLES CROWN: In just her second collegiate season, South Alabama sophomore outfielder Presley Lively broke the Sun Belt’s single-season and all-time records for triples with her eighth of the year on April 19 at Marshall, coincidentally, topping the previous record of seven held by former Marshall standout Sydney Bickel in 2023. The three-bagger was also the 13th of her career, eclipsing the previous Sun Belt standard of 12 set by FIU’s Deomni Murray from 2004-07. Her eight triples this season currently rank No. 2 nationally.
  • GOLDEN EAGLES & WARHAWKS: ULM hosts Southern Miss in the lone head-to-head battle between teams in contention for the regular season crown during the final weekend. The Warhawks nearly captured their first regular season title on the final weekend at home last season but can guarantee at least a share of the title with three wins over the Golden Eagles. Meanwhile, Southern Miss owns an outside shot at a trophy just two games behind ULM and Marshall, and a three-game sweep of the Warhawks would guarantee the Golden Eagles a top three seed in next week’s conference tournament in Lafayette, La.
  • BOURGEONING BOBCATS: The Sun Belt’s reigning regular season champions, Texas State has won 11 of its last 13 games, including series sweeps over Troy and Coastal Carolina and a non-conference win over then-No. 2 ranked Texas Tech on April 15. Through 21 conference games, the Bobcats lead the league with a 1.64 ERA. Texas State can claim at least a share of the regular season title with a three-game sweep at App State (28-19, 7-14 SBC) and losses in two of three games by both Marshall and ULM.
  • RPI RUNDOWN: As of April 28, the Sun Belt Conference is one of just five conferences with 11 of its 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 55. Marshall leads the Sun Belt at No. 27 nationally, followed by Texas State at No. 30, as the highest-ranked non-autonomy programs in the country. The conference’s top 100 teams also include: Louisiana (51), ULM (53), South Alabama (54), Southern Miss (65), Troy (74), App State (82), James Madison (85), Georgia Southern (91) and Coastal Carolina (93).
     
SUN BELT SOFTBALL SERIES – WEEK 8
 
 Series   Thursday  Friday  Saturday 
 Troy at Coastal Carolina  4:00 p.m.  1:00 p.m.  11:00 a.m.
 Georgia Southern at Georgia State  5:00 p.m.  3:00 p.m.  11:00 a.m.
 Texas State at App State  5:00 p.m.  5:00 p.m.  12:00 p.m.
 Louisiana at South Alabama  6:00 p.m.  6:00 p.m.  1:00 p.m.
 James Madison at Marshall  6:00 p.m.  5:00 p.m.  11:00 a.m.
 Southern Miss at ULM  6:00 p.m.  6:00 p.m.  12:00 p.m.
 
All Times CT