β By David Walsh
Marshallβs softball team is a win away from making the NCAA Championships.
The Thundering Herd, No. 2 tournament seed, pushed across a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 2-2 tie and get a 3-2 win over South Alabama in one Sun Belt Conference semifinal game Friday at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La.
The win puts the Herd in the title game Saturday with a win securing the leagueβs automatic NCAA Tournament bid. It will face top seed Louisiana in the final after the Raginβ Cajuns defeated Texas State in the other semifinal, 4-1.
It will be the first meeting between Marshall (45-9) and Louisiana (45-13).
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No. 2 seed @HerdSB advances to the #SunBeltSB Championship. βοΈπ₯ pic.twitter.com/vLeeSUbzvs
β Sun Belt (@SunBelt) May 12, 2023
Bri Godfrey went 3-for-3 and drove in one run for the Herd. Alex Coleman and Autumn Owen had the other two. The Herd is 45-9 with the 45 wins adding to its single-season win total.
Sydney Nester (27-7) went the distance for Marshall to get her second tournament win. She allowed four hits.
Olivia Lackie went the first five for the No. 3 seed South Alabama. Jenna Hardy (17-8) worked the last two and took the loss.
Gabby Stagner drove in both runs for the Jaguars on a two-run homer.
Coleman and Owen each plated a run in the third on singles and Godfrey got the go-ahead RBI in the sixth on an infield single.
In the top of the seventh, Nester retired the Jaguars in order.
The title game will begin at 2 p.m. EST and can be seen on ESPN+.