TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The 2026 Southland Conference regular season champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team saw its magical season come to an end with a 5-4 loss to USC Upstate in an elimination game in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Saturday at Rhoads Stadium.
Facing a five-run deficit, Southeastern (46-16) plated four runs in the seventh inning, before USC Upstate (37-22) finally ended the Lion rally. The Spartans move on to face Belmont (41-12) in an elimination game Saturday evening.
Saturday's loss ends another historic season for SLU, which was making its third straight NCAA Regional appearance. Southeastern won its first-ever SLC regular season title and earned the league's first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament since 2003.
Shelby Morris led the Lions with two hits, while
Katie Lott had a team-high two RBI.
Hallie Burns (20-5),
Haley Crawford,
Macie LaRue and
Cera Blanchard combined to hold USC Upstate to six hits, but the Spartans scored three unearned runs off three Lion errors.
Burns and USC Upstate ace Maddie Drerup matched zeroes until the Spartans struck first in the bottom of the third inning. A pair of Lion errors led to a pair of unearned runs and a 2-0 lead for USC Upstate.
The Spartans padded their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Back-to-back bases loaded walks forced in a pair of runs to double the USC Upstate advantage to 4-0.
The Spartans added another insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Laney Jennings led off the frame with a double and scored on an RBI single by Taliyah Thomas to put USC Upstate up, 5-0.
Southeastern would not go away, quietly, as
Cydnee Schneider,
Ka'Lyn Watson and
Kailey Dixon opened the seventh with consecutive singles to get SLU on the board. Lott followed with a two-run single of her own to cut the lead to 5-3.
Addison Contorno replaced Lott on the base paths and advanced to third on a groundout by
Colleen Kulivan, then scored on an RBI groundout by
Shenita Tucker to cut the lead to 5-4. That would be as close as SLU would get, as Drerup retired Morris for the final out to end SLU's historic 2026 campaign.
SLU's season was highlighted by a Southland Conference-record 25-game winning streak and the program's first-ever national ranking. The Lions set or tied single-season school records for shutouts (22), hits (547), triples (33), RBI (318), total bases (786), slugging percentage (.485), fewest errors (45) and fielding percentage (.972).
SLU – 000 000 4 – 4 8 3 (46-16)
UPST – 002 201 x – 5 6 1 (37-22)
Hallie Burns,
Haley Crawford (4),
Macie LaRue (4),
Cera Blanchard (4) and
Cydnee Schneider. Maddie Drerup and Laney Jennings. W – Drerup (21-14). L – Burns (20-5). 2B – SLU:
Shelby Morris (14). UPST: Laney Jennings (9). T – 1:54.
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 3, Belmont 0
Game 4 | USC Upstate 5, Southeastern 4 (SLU Eliminated)
Game 5 | USC Upstate vs. Belmont | 6 p.m. (Elimination Game)
Sunday, May 17
Game 6 | Alabama 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.
