HAMMOND — No. 4 UIW derailed No. 1 McNeese's plan for a fourth straight Southland Championship Wednesday afternoon and the Cardinals dealt the final blow to the Cowgirls Thursday night, surviving a furious rally for a historic 8-7 win. 

UIW moves to its first ever SLC Championship game appearance a year removed from missing the tournament altogether. The win marks the end of McNeese's three-year stretch of consecutive SLC Championships. 

Larissa Jacquez gave UIW three innings of work in her start along with three strikeouts and three hits before Samantha Portillo followed with a four-inning night with two hits and one earned run.

Shaelyn Sanders totaled 5.2 innings in relief with four strikeouts and three earned runs after pitching all eight innings for the Cowgirls against No. 3 Nicholls earlier in the day. 

Six differrent Cardinals recorded RBI in the semifinal contest. Avalon Sanchez, Baylee Lemons and Maddison Guillen highlighted the UIW offense with two hits on four attempts apiece. 

Alexis Dibbley finished a perfect three-of-three at the plate while Corine Poncho reached base all four times at the dish. 

UIW brought the heat from the opening moments at the plate. Gutierrez floated a triple down the right field line in the in the top of the first, bringing in Altamirano before scoring on the same play off an error on the play to third. 

Dibbley carried over her potent plate performance from the Cowgirls first game of the day, sending a ground-rule double into the gap in right center and positioning two McNeese runners in scoring position. 

But Jacquez struck out the next batter to protect the early Cardinal lead. Ayla Gonzales brought in the next UIW run after the Cowgirls committed an error on a bunt attempt, making the score 3-0 in the top of the second. 

Altamirano brought in another run off an RBI single and an Avalon Sanchez bunt scored Ayla Gonzales, stretching the lead to a 5-0 difference. 

The onslaught progressed into the third. Baylee Lemons dribbled in another run from a single to left center and UIW led 6-0.

However, the champs found their stride in the bottom of the third. A Corine Poncho triple brought in the first run then Dibbley singled to left to call her home, making it a 6-2 game.

Mariana Torres pulled the Cowgirls closer with a solo home run over the left field wall in the bottom of the fourth. The Cowgirls would find two runners in scoring position in the fifth, but could not bring any in. 

The teams played to a standstill until the seventh inning until Ryleigh Mata and Jasmine Contreras recorded RBI singles to extend the lead to an 8-3 difference. 

Those runs proved the difference for the Cardinals after the Cowgirls had a final surge in the bottom of the seventh. McNeese scored four runs. Crislyne Moreno, Bella Perez and Reese Reyna all recorded RBI hits that would bring the game to an 8-7 score. 

But the comeback attempt fell short once Torres lined out to right to end the game. 

UIW will face No. 2 Southeastern at noon on Friday. The Lions already own a win over the Cardinals in the tournament, meaning UIW will need two wins to claim the championship title by virtue of the double-elimination structure of the bracket.