HAMMOND, La. / BEAUMONT, Texas – No. 5 McNeese and No. 2 Lamar claimed their respective brackets Sunday to advance to the 2026 Southland Baseball Championship Series. The best-of-three championship series will be hosted by Lamar at Vincent-Beck Stadium in Beaumont, Texas, from May 21-23 with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. each night.
Game 7 — (5) McNeese 8, (1) Southeastern Louisiana 5
McNeese leaned on a remarkable relief performance from Eric Nachtsheim and timely offense to eliminate top-seeded Southeastern Louisiana and capture the Hammond Bracket title Sunday afternoon.
After earning the win in Thursday’s opening-round victory against Nicholls, Nachtsheim returned on short rest and delivered six innings of dominant relief to send the Cowboys to the championship series. Entering in the fourth inning with the game tied, Nachtsheim settled the Lions offense and struck out six while allowing just two runs across the final six innings.
His outing became even more impressive after a 45-minute lightning delay in the middle innings. Despite the stoppage, Nachtsheim returned to the mound and continued to overpower Southeastern, retiring key hitters late and shutting down multiple Lions threats as McNeese protected its lead.
The Cowboys offense steadily answered every Southeastern push throughout the afternoon. Marcus Heusohn sparked McNeese early with a two-run home run in the second inning and later reached base four times while scoring three runs. Connor Walker added three hits, while Isaiah Keller homered in the ninth inning to provide a critical insurance run late.
Southeastern briefly grabbed the lead in the third inning behind Justin Williams’ two-run single, but McNeese responded immediately and never trailed again. Connor Cuff and Alex Perry each homered late for the Lions to keep pressure on the Cowboys, but Nachtsheim consistently delivered key outs to close the door and complete the championship-clinching victory.
Game 7 — (2) Lamar 11, (7) Stephen F. Austin 0 (7 innings)
Lamar completed an impressive turnaround in the Beaumont Bracket on Sunday, routing Stephen F. Austin in seven innings to advance to the championship series after dropping its tournament opener to the Lumberjacks earlier in the week.
Since falling to SFA on Thursday night, the Cardinals responded by winning four consecutive elimination games to secure the bracket title while outscoring opponents 26-4 over the final three contests.
Lamar’s pitching staff once again set the tone Sunday. Five different Cardinals pitchers combined for the shutout, limiting the Lumberjacks to 10 hits while repeatedly escaping scoring threats throughout the afternoon. Julius Carpio opened the game with 2.2 scoreless innings before Fabian Ramirez earned the win with two shutout frames in the middle innings.
The Cardinals offense steadily built separation throughout the game, scoring in five different innings and erupting for five runs in the sixth inning to trigger the run-rule victory. Hector Rodriguez drove in two runs and collected multiple hits, while Jake Wagoner finished with three hits and two RBIs. Lane Sparks added two RBIs, and Lamar finished with 16 hits as nearly every spot in the lineup contributed offensively.
Stephen F. Austin threatened multiple times early, including loading the bases in the second inning and placing runners in scoring position in both the third and sixth innings, but Lamar’s pitching staff consistently delivered key outs to preserve the shutout.
The victory sends Lamar into the championship series on a four-game winning streak and gives the Cardinals hosting duties for the league finale beginning Thursday night at Vincent-Beck Stadium.