HAMMOND, La. – The 2026 Southland Conference regular season champion and two-time reigning SLC Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team opened the postseason with an 8-0 shutout victory in six innings over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Thursday evening at North Oak Park to open the Hammond Bracket of the Southland Championships presented by North Oaks Health.
Southeastern (45-12) moves on to face Lamar in the winner's bracket game Friday at 2 p.m. The day's action opens at 11 a.m. with UIW and the Islanders (14-38) meeting in the elimination game.
SLC Pitcher of the Year
Hallie Burns (19-4) struck out 10 Islanders in five shutout innings, as she and
Haley Crawford combined to hold Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to three hits in the program's school-record and Division I-leading 22
nd shutout of 2026.
Shelby Morris and
Chloe Magee led Southeastern with two hits apiece, while
Katie Lott hit her first home run of the season to fuel a 10-hit Lion attack.
Zoey Stewart led off the top of the first inning with a triple into the left centerfield gap off Burns, then the game went into a five-hour, eight-minute rain delay. Burns got out of the jam unscathed when the game resumed.
SLU took the lead against Islander ace Kendra Winfrey (9-14) in the bottom of the first inning. A sacrifice fly by
Cydnee Schneider scored Morris, then Magee stole home to give Southeastern a 2-0 advantage.
Winfrey and Burns matched zeroes until
Shenita Tucker singled home
Kailey Dixon in the bottom of the fourth inning. Tucker would score later in the frame when Morris ripped her league-high seventh triple of the season into the right field corner to put SLU up, 4-0.
Lott powered her first home run as a Lion over the left field fence in the bottom of the fifth inning. The three-run shot gave Southeastern a 7-0 lead.
Addison Contorno singled home Magee in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early and enforce the mercy rule.
Friday's games will be televised on ESPN+.
Southland Conference Softball Championships – Hammond Bracket – North Oak Park – April 30-May 3, 2026 (All games on ESPN+)
Thursday, April 30
Game 1 – No. 5 Lamar 7, No. 4 UIW 5
Game 2 – No. 1 Southeastern 8, No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0 (6 Innings)
Friday, May 1
Game 3 – UIW vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 11 a.m. (Elimination game)
Game 4 – Southeastern vs. Lamar, 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 2
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 11 a.m. (Elimination Game)
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 2 p.m.
Sunday, May 3
Game 7 – Game 4 Winner, vs. Game 5 Winner, 1 p.m.
Game 7 is only necessary if Game 5 winner also wins Game 6
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @LionUpSoftball on X and Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook.
HOME RUN CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the softball program are encouraged to join the Home Run Club. Lady Lion softball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
All membership fees and donations to both the Home Run Club and S Club (softball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern softball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit
www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern offers mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit
www.LionSports.net/clear.
