CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Texas State, Louisiana and Southern Miss claimed one-run wins on Wednesday at the 2026 Sun Belt Baseball Championship presented by Troy University in Montgomery, Ala.
 
Four games dot the altered Thursday slate—No. 5-seeded South Alabama vs. No. 4-seeded Troy in each team’s postponed tournament opener at 9:00 a.m. CT, No. 3-seeded App State vs. No. 2-seeded Coastal Carolina in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. CT, No. 9-seeded Georgia State vs. the loser of the 9:00 a.m. CT game in an elimination game at 4:00 p.m. CT and No. 7-seeded Louisiana vs. No. 6-seeded Texas State at 7:30 p.m. CT. 

GAME 3 – No. 6 seed Texas State def. No. 3 seed App State, 6-5
Texas State held on for a 6-5 victory over App State in the opening game of the double-elimination portion of the Sun Belt Baseball Championship presented by Troy University.
 
The Mountaineers loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second, but the Bobcats limited the damage to one run and responded with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Junior designated hitter Manny Salas plated senior outfielder Rashawn Galloway—who had reached on a double—and came around to score on a sacrifice fly. 
 
A loud double to dead center from junior first baseman Kameron Miller brought home the App State equalizer to make it 2-2 in the bottom half of the third. 
 
A three-run, two-out rally in the top of the sixth gave Texas State a lead it would never relinquish. Freshman outfielder Blake Beheler hit a two-RBI ground-rule double to center and then scored on a single up the middle from Galloway. 
 
Redshirt junior first baseman Jalen Seward got one back for the Mountaineers with a 413-foot shot to left in the sixth, before the teams traded runs in the eighth to make it 6-4. 
 
A leadoff single by graduate student second baseman Joseph Zamora and a two-out double to the gap in left center by sophomore third baseman Ethan Puig pulled App State within a run, 6-5, but Texas State induced an 0-2 ground out to third to close its postseason-opening victory. 
 
Bobcats freshman right-hander Wade Cooper improved to 6-3 on the season, earning the victory after conceding three runs on four hits over 6.0 innings of work. Graduate student right-hander Kyle Froehlich earned the save—his second of the season—using 17 pitches to get through the final 1.2 innings. 
 
No. 3 seed App State will take on No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, May 21. The Chanticleers swept the regular-season series in Boone, N.C. No. 6 seed Texas State will square off against No. 7 seed Louisiana at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Bobcats swept the regular-season series in San Marcos, Texas. 
 
GAME 4 – No. 7 seed Louisiana def. No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina, 12-11
Louisiana held on for a 12-11 win over Coastal Carolina to make it two victories in as many days at the Sun Belt Baseball Championship presented by Troy University. 

The Ragin’ Cajuns raced out to a 7-0 lead—headlined by a 355-foot three-run shot off the bat of junior designated hitter Steven Spalitta that capped a five-run top of the third. 
 
A 428-foot solo blast off the scoreboard in left field from junior outfielder Blagen Pado sparked the Chanticleer offense in the bottom of the fifth, with junior third baseman Walker Mitchell following up with a 363-foot three-run home run to punctuate a four-run inning for Coastal Carolina. 
 
In the Chanticleers next frame, Pado carded another home run—this one a 415-foot, three-run equalizer—to knot the game up at 7-7. 
 
Behind a leadoff double from freshman catcher Colt Brown and a single by junior third baseman Drew Markle, Louisiana used small ball to answer with three runs in the top of the seventh to retake a 10-7 lead. The game then entered a 51-minute weather delay due to lightning in the area. 
 
After the delay, the Ragin’ Cajuns used four singles and an error to plate a pair in the top of the eighth to extend their advantage to 12-7. 
 
Down to its final three outs, Coastal Carolina’s first three batters reached base in the bottom of the ninth, with senior second baseman Blake Barthol’s single up the middle scoring a run. Sophomore outfielder Rex Watson singled home another to bring the tying run to the plate. Junior first baseman Trace Mazon delivered a two-run triple off the wall in dead center to put the game-tying run 90 feet away. 
 
Louisiana sophomore right-hander Parker Smith entered in relief and struck out junior catcher Brice Estep on four pitches, before giving way to freshman left-hander Hayden Pearson. Pearson induced an 0-2 ground out to third base to close out the Ragin’ Cajuns win and earn his second save of the year. Graduate student left-hander Tyler Papenbrock, who threw 3.0 innings in relief, earned the win to improve to 3-0 on the year. 
 
No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina will face No. 3 seed App State in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, May 21. The Chanticleers swept the regular-season series in Boone, N.C. No. 7 seed Louisiana will match up against No. 6 seed Texas State at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Bobcats swept the regular-season series in San Marcos, Texas.
 
GAME 5 – No. 1 seed Southern Miss def. No. 9 seed Georgia State, 7-6
Regular-season champion Southern Miss used a four-RBI performance from senior first baseman Matthew Russo to outlast Georgia State, 7-6, for its national-best 10th-straight victory in its Sun Belt Baseball Championship presented by Troy University opener. 
 
With two-on and two-out in the bottom of the first, Russo delivered a two-RBI single to give the Golden Eagles an early 2-0 lead. 

Georgia State sophomore outfielder John Beverley then had a hand in back-to-back two-run frames in the third and fourth to equalize and give the Panthers their first lead of the game. Following an RBI double to right by redshirt sophomore shortstop Carter Bailey, Beverley reached on a bunt single and forced an errant throw that allowed another Panther run to cross the plate in the third. After a 2:21 weather delay, he added a two-out, two-RBI single to right in the ensuing inning that put the Panthers on top. 
 
A 353-foot home run to left from senior second baseman Kyle Morrison pulled the Golden Eagles back within one in the bottom of the fifth. Junior catcher Tucker Stockman followed a one-out single by senior outfielder Ben Higdon with a first-pitch-swinging double down the right field line to knot the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth. 
 
Following back-to-back walks to open the bottom of the seventh, Russo delivered another RBI single for the Golden Eagles. Two batters later, Higdon singled up the middle to score a run and extend the Southern Miss lead to 6-4. 
 
A two-out double by senior catcher Cole Griffith, followed by a two-out single by senior second baseman Nick Garagozzo, pulled the Panthers back within one, 6-5, in the top of the eighth. 
 
Georgia State walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth and Russo plated what would prove to be the game-winning run on a ground out to first. The Panthers strung together three hits in the top of the ninth—capped by an RBI double to center by graduate student outfielder Adam Haber—that would provide the final 7-6 margin. 
 
Southern Miss senior right-hander Colby Allen struck out Panthers junior designated hitter Brandon Davis and induced a ground out to strand the potential game-tying run at third. He earned the win to run his record to 6-1 on the year, throwing the final 2.1 innings in relief. 

No. 9 seed Georgia State will take on the loser of No. 5 seed South Alabama vs. No. 4 seed Troy at 4:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, May 21. No. 1 seed Southern Miss will square off against the winner of No. 5 seed South Alabama vs. No. 4 seed Troy at 11:00 a.m. CT on Friday, May 22.  
 
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 19
Game 1 – No. 7 seed Louisiana def. No. 10 seed Marshall, 11-1 (7 Innings)
Game 2 – No. 9 seed Georgia State def. No. 8 seed Old Dominion, 17-1 (7 Innings)
 
Wednesday, May 20
Game 3 – No. 6 seed Texas State def. No. 3 seed App State, 6-5 
Game 4 – No. 7 seed Louisiana def. No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina, 12-11 
Game 5 – No. 1 seed Southern Miss def. No. 9 seed Georgia State, 7-6

Thursday, May 21
Game 6 – No. 5 seed South Alabama vs. No. 4 seed Troy, 9:00 a.m. CT 
Game 7 – No. 3 seed App State vs. No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina, 12:30 p.m. CT
Game 8 – No. 9 seed Georgia State vs. Loser Game 6, 4:00 p.m. CT
Game 9 – No. 7 seed Louisiana vs. No. 6 seed Texas State, 7:30 p.m. CT
 
Friday, May 22
Game 10 – No. 1 seed Southern Miss vs. Winner Game 6, 11:00 a.m. CT
Game 11 – Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 7, 3:00 p.m. CT 
Game 12 – Loser Game 10 vs. Winner Game 8, 6:30 p.m. CT
 
Saturday, May 23
Game 13 – Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11, 9:00 a.m. CT
Game 14 – Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 12, 12:30 p.m. CT
If Necessary – 4:00 p.m. CT
If Necessary – 7:30 p.m. CT
 
Sunday, May 24
Championship Game – 1:00 p.m. CT