TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The 2026 Southland Conference regular season champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team came out on the wrong end of a 2-0 pitcher's duel versus Belmont on the opening day of the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Friday afternoon at Rhoads Stadium.
Friday's loss marked the first time in three regional appearances that Southeastern (46-15) lost its first game of regional play. SLU will face USC Upstate (36-22) in an elimination game Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Belmont (41-11) moves on to face No. 1 national seed Alabama (50-7) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the winner's bracket game. The host Crimson Tide run-ruled USC Upstate, 8-0, in Friday's opening game.
Chloe Magee,
Maria Detillier,
Shenita Tucker and
Ka'Lyn Watson all managed singles versus Belmont All-American ace Maya Johnson (28-2). Johnson struck out eight Lions on the way to her Division I-leading 15
th shutout of the season.
Cera Blanchard (13-3) and
Macie LaRue combined to hold the Bruins to seven hits in the loss.
Belmont jumped out to the lead in the top of the first inning, as an RBI single by Lydia Vander staked the Bruins to the early 1-0 advantage.
Singles by Magee and Detillier were all the Lions could manage in the first, then Blanchard shook off a leadoff double in the top of the second inning with consecutive strikeouts to keep the lead at 1-0.
Blanchard and Johnson matched zeroes until the Bruins padded their lead in the top of the sixth inning. A sacrifice fly by Tallulah Eichholz staked Belmont to a 2-0 advantage.
Watson led off the seventh inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Johnson recovered and retired
Brilee Ford and
Katie Lott to bring the game to the final out. Johnson struck out
Addison Contorno but the third strike scooted away from catcher Brenna Blume. The aggressive Watson tried to score on the wild pitch, but was tagged out by Johnson for the game's final out.
2026 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional | May 15-17 | Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Rhoads Stadium)
Friday, May 15
Game 1 | Alabama 8, USC Upstate 0 (5 Innings)
Game 2 | Belmont 2, Southeastern 0
Saturday, May 16
Game 3 | Alabama vs. Belmont | 1 p.m.
Game 4 | USC Upstate vs. Southeastern | 3:30 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Game 5 | Game 4 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser | 6 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Sunday, May 17
Game 6 | Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner | Noon
Game 7 | Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner | 2:30 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.
