Lion Softball faces No.1 seed McNeese to begin SLC Tournament on Thursday

LAKE CHARLES, La. – The first ever postseason game in the Division I era for the East Texas A&M University softball team comes on Thursday at top seeded McNeese to begin the 2025 Southland Conference Tournament.
 
The Lions, who picked up a win over HCU on Saturday to clinch the final spot into the eight-team conference tournament, are grouped with the top seed Cowgirls, who clinched their fourth SLC title in a row on Saturday, as well as fourth seed UIW and fifth seed Lamar in the double-elimination bracket-play portion of the SLC Tournament.
 
The bracket-play portion of the tournament runs from Thursday through Sunday with the winner of the Lake Charles bracket advancing to face the winner of the Hammond bracket in the SLC Championship Series next weekend. Along with the second seed Southeastern, the Hammond bracket consists of third seed Nicholls, sixth seed SFA, and seventh seed HCU.
 

East Texas A&M finished 10-40 in the regular season and 6-21 in conference play, finishing in a tie with A&M-Corpus Christi for eighth place in the standings, but swept the season series over the Islanders to earn the eighth seed. The eighth-place finish for the Lions in the highest in the Southland era and the 10 overall wins and six conference wins are the most in the Division I era.
 
First pitch for the first round game between the Lions and the Cowgirls is set for 3 p.m. on Thursday at the Cowgirl Diamond. The winner advances to face the winner of the UIW/Lamar game on Friday at 6 p.m., while the losing teams of the two games will play an elimination game at 3 p.m. on Friday. The rest of the schedule for the Lake Charles bracket can be found below.
 
The Lions and the Cowgirls are playing in the postseason for the first time, but McNeese has won each of the previous nine contests between the two teams.
 
All games of the Lake Charles bracket will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and all Lion games can be listened to on the Lion Sports Network. More information on the Southland Conference Tournament can be found HERE.
 
Lake Charles Bracket

Thursday, May 1

Game 1: No. 1 McNeese vs. No. 8 East Texas A&M, 3 p.m.
Game 2: No. 4 UIW vs. No. 5 Lamar, 6 p.m.
 
Friday, May 2

Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 3 p.m.
Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 6 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 3

Game 5: Loser of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 3, 3 p.m.
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 6 p.m.
 
Sunday, May 4

Game 5: Loser of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 6 (if nec), 1 p.m.

 

-ETAMU-