In the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Thursday night in Lafayette, fourth-seeded Southern Miss Golden Eagles softball (33-24, 14-11 Sun Belt) was eliminated by fifth-seeded South Alabama Jaguars softball (29-25, 14-11 Sun Belt) in a 13-0 run-rule loss through five innings.
South Alabama wasted no time taking control, scoring four runs in the opening inning. An early Southern Miss error set the tone before a three-run homer by Lillie Stagner extended the Jaguars’ lead. From there, First Team All-Sun Belt pitcher Ryley Harrison dominated in the circle, earning her 16th victory of the season and keeping the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard.
Southern Miss rotated four pitchers throughout the game, including Kayla Giardina, McCall Davis, Madilyn Graham and Briley Whittington. Giardina took the loss after pitching 3.1 innings while surrendering only one earned run.
The Golden Eagles showed flashes offensively throughout the contest. Kinsley Gordon-Sivley recorded a single in the second inning, while Issie Coker hit a deep ball to center field that was hauled in by Presley Lively. In the third inning, Nealy McManus drew a leadoff walk and Hannah Christian reached on a fielder’s choice, but Harrison escaped the inning with a key strikeout.
South Alabama added another run in the fourth inning before erupting for eight runs on seven hits in the fifth to put the game out of reach. The Jaguars then closed out the victory with a quick three-up, three-down inning to advance to the semifinals.
Despite the season-ending loss, Southern Miss finished with its highest regular-season win total since 2010 and its most conference victories since 2016. Seniors Natalie Herrington and Paris Ferguson also wrapped up their careers in black and gold.
