With Texas State’s time in the Sun Belt Conference nearing an end, Bobcats softball will partake in their final in-conference Sun Belt game with a chance to leave as champions in the SBC Championship Game today at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La.
The Bobcats enter the title game facing off against a common foe: the fifth seeded South Alabama Jaguars. How do Texas State and South Alabama compare with each other and what led up to this matchup?
The Bobcats
Despite being listed as the preseason favorites to win the conference regular season title, Texas State entered their final SBC Tournament as the third seed after finishing with a 16-8 in-conference record, trailing behind Marshall and actual-regular season champion Louisiana-Monroe.
Still, Texas State was able to build an NCAA Tournament-type resume throughout the course of the regular season, headlined with multiple ranked wins against the likes of Clemson, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Combine that with a scorching red-hot April where the Bobcats won the last 14 of their 18 regular season contests that helped culminate with a Rating Percentage Index (RPI) of 31, even if Texas State was to fall, they would likely still find their names be called on Selection Sunday.
The pitching staff, headlined by junior Maddy Azua and senior Emma Strood, has been arguably the biggest contributor to the Bobcats success this season, having the 12th best WHIP (1.21) and 11th best ERA (2.51) across the NCAA. The defense has also provided quite a bit, ranking 15th in the country in double plays.
While the offense seemed to have fluctuated to start off the season, they’ve more recently found their stride through the last couple of months. In fact, the numbers compared to last season seem to average better all-around, especially in OPS, jumping from .783 in 2025 to .839 this year. Seniors Aiyana Coleman and Keely Williams have been the biggest producers, with Williams leading the team in total hits with 67 while Coleman delivered the runs with 49 RBI, including 16 home runs.
Coleman, Williams, Azua and freshman outfielder Harley Vestal found themselves earning All-Conference honors, as well as Azua earning the SBC Pitcher of the Year award, priming themselves for a postseason run.
On their way to the title game, the Bobcats earned a bye to the quarterfinals, where they completed a comeback against James Madison Thursday morning before run-ruling Coastal Carolina yesterday evening.
The Jaguars
South Alabama had a more up-and-down type season. They finished with a 13-11 record in-conference play, resulting in a fifth place finish behind Southern Miss and the aforementioned schools above.
Statistically, the Jaguars possess the worst offense in the conference with the lowest batting average (.252), on-base percentage (.337), least amount of hits (339), RBI (191) and striking out the second-most (259). The offense has a lot of solid hitters, but is headlined by junior first basemen Virginia Mambelli, who leads the team in OPS (1.053) and is among the top in stats like home runs with seven and a slugging of .603. South Alabama’s offense has been clicking in the tournament just enough to win games, highlighted with a dominating blowout 13-0 win against the Golden Eagles Thursday evening.
Pitching wise, they have among one of the best within the SBC. Despite ranking fifth in the conference with an ERA of 3.07, they have the third most strikeouts within the conference and possess the lowest batting average (2.37), just slightly lower than Texas State.
Junior Ryley Harrison, the only Jaguar on the All-SBC First Team, leads the pitching staff, competing among the best in the SBC with the fifth best individual ERA (2.36), third in strikeouts (186) and complete games (17) alongside leading the conference in shutouts with six and saves with five.
While the Jaguars likely don’t have the resume to make an NCAA Regional with an at-large, they have found success this postseason thanks to the efforts of Ryley, who has stifled the bats of the Golden Eagles and most recently the Warhawks, limiting the top seed to just two hits in a 3-1 victory.
Head-to-Head
The two programs have been playing each other for just over a decade, stretching back to their first matchup in 2014. Overall, the Bobcats have been the largely dominant team in the pair, having won 25 out of the total 37 games played. Texas State has won eight in the last 10 games going back to 2024, most recently taking the weekend series earlier this year at the beginning of April in Mobile, Ala.
The Bobcats and Jaguars faced each other twice in conference tournament history dating back to 2021, each with their own win in the semifinal stage. In their last postseason matchup in 2024, Texas State came back down a 3-0 deficit late, including a Katarina Zarate walk-off home run in the eighth inning at Bobcat Softball Stadium en-route to the Bobcat’s conference title.
This will be each program’s sixth time in the title game, with Texas State possessing two tournament championships in 2018 and 2024 while the Jaguars have one more, winning all within a four-year period, going back-to-back in 2012 and 2013 and their most recent in 2015.
Texas State will seek to win their third and final SBC tournament title later today, May 9 at 1:30 p.m. at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La. The championship game is slated to be televised on ESPN2.
