LAKE CHARLES, La. — No. 2 McNeese played from behind for much of Friday's Game 2 of the Southland Softball Championship Series. However, the Cowgirls would flip the script Saturday evening at Joe Miller Field, using a potent offensive display to pull away from No. 5 Lamar 10-2 in five innings. The win secured McNeese's 10th Southland Tournament Championship, the most in the history of the conference. 

McNeese's first five batters would reach base in the 1st inning, including the top three in the lineup who loaded the bases for Jada Munoz. Munoz, coming off five RBI in Friday's defeat, nearly matched that total with a single swing, sending a screamer over the wall in left for a grand slam that swung the momentum early. Maddie Taylor would score off a flyout later in the inning, giving McNeese a 5-0 lead after one inning. 

The Cowgirls came back with more fireworks in the 2nd, seeing Nyjah Fontenot and Maddie Weeks send solo shots out of Cowgirl Diamond to extend the Pokes' lead to a 7-0 margin. Needing a major swing in the third, the Cardinals settled things down when Ariel Flores drove out her own solo home run to cut into the deficit. Lamar would inch closer in the 5th to make it 7-2. 

However, the Cowgirls would put the game away in the bottom of the frame. Munoz scored on a Rylee Cloud single, setting up Alexis Dibbley who walked it off on an RBI double that made the score 10-2 to end the game. 

McNeese awaits their regional destination following the announcement of the 2026 NCAA Division I Softball Bracket set for 6 p.m. on Sunday. 

All-Tournament Team
Kassidy Chance, McNeese (MVP)
Jada Muñoz, McNeese
Maddie Weeks, McNeese
Rylee Cloud, McNeese
Meiko Dominguez, McNeese
Maddie Taylor, McNeese
Reagan Smith, Lamar
Isabella Flores, Lamar
Sicily Windham, Lamar
Gracee Hess, Lamar
Hallie Burns, Southeastern
Claire Sisco, Nicholls