2016 Southland Conference Softball Tournament

The 2016 Southland Conference tournament was held at Cowgirl Diamond on the campus of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana from May 11 through May 13, 2016. The tournament winner, the McNeese State Cowgirls, earned the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. The Championship game was broadcast on ESPN3 with the remainder of the tournament airing on the Southland Digital Network.[1]

2016 Southland Conference Softball Tournament
Classification	Division I
Teams	6
Format	Double-elimination tournament
Site	Cowgirl Diamond Lake Charles, Louisiana
Champions	McNeese State (4 title)
Winning coach	Joanna Hardin (1 title)
MVP	Erika Piancastelli (McNeese State)
Television	ESPN3

Format

The top 6 teams qualified for the Southland Softball Tournament. Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word were ineligible due to their transition from D2 to D1. Abilene Christian finished the regular season in third place. Since Abilene Christian was ineligible for tournament play, the fourth through seventh place finishers moved up in seeding. In addition, the Sam Houston Bearkats, finishing the regular season in seventh place, qualified for the tournament.

2016 Southland Conference softball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
McNeese State **  ‍‍‡‍^y	23	–	4		.852			42	–	12		.778
Nicholls  ‍‍‍	21	–	5		.808			39	–	17		.696
Abilene Christian *  ‍‍‍	19	–	8		.704			26	–	21		.553
Lamar  ‍‍‍	18	–	9		.667			35	–	22		.614
Central Arkansas  ‍‍‍	16	–	11		.593			35	–	22		.614
Stephen F. Austin  ‍‍‍	13	–	13		.500			28	–	29		.491
Sam Houston  ‍‍‍	13	–	14		.481			21	–	33		.389
Northwestern State  ‍‍‍	10	–	17		.370			27	–	25		.519
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi  ‍‍‍	7	–	19		.269			18	–	30		.375
Houston Baptist  ‍‍‍	7	–	19		.269			15	–	29		.341
Incarnate Word *  ‍‍‍	7	–	20		.259			18	–	34		.346
Southeastern Louisiana  ‍‍‍	6	–	21		.222			23	–	32		.418
‡ – SLC Tournament Champion *ineligible for postseason play due to Div. I transition **Southland Tournament #1 seed and regular season champion As of May 13, 2016[2]; Rankings from USA Today/NFCA Coaches

Tournament

Sources:[3]

	First Round					Second Round					Semifinals					Finals
						5	Stephen F. Austin	14
	3	Lamar	6			6	Sam Houston State	11
	6	Sam Houston State	2								2	Nicholls	0
											5	Stephen F. Austin	1
						2	Nicholls	3
	4	Central Arkansas	3			4	Central Arkansas	1
	5	Stephen F. Austin	4													1	McNeese State	5	–
																3	Lamar	2	–
	2	Nicholls	2
	3	Lamar	7								3	Lamar	5
						1	McNeese State	8			5	Stephen F. Austin	3
						3	Lamar	4
	1	McNeese State	8
	4	Stephen F. Austin	2

• New Orleans does not sponsor a softball team.
• All times listed are Central Daylight Time.

Line Scores

Day One

Game 1 (Sam Houston State vs Lamar)

May 11, 2016 11:00 am CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Sam Houston State	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	4	2
Lamar	0	2	0	1	1	2	0	6	11	2
WP: Luna, C. (16-7)   LP: McLeod, L. (10-11)   Sv: None [[4] Boxscore]

Game 2 (Stephen F. Austin vs Central Arkansas)

May 11, 2016 1:50 pm CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Stephen F. Austin	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	5	0
Central Arkansas	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	3	7	2
WP: Guffey, C. (11-5)   LP: Landeros, S. (21-13)   Sv: None [[5] Boxscore]

Game 3 (Lamar vs Nicholls)

May 11, 2016 4 pm CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lamar	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	7	6	1
Nicholls	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	10	3
WP: Napoli, L. (9-7)   LP: Haydel, H (22-8)   Sv: None [[6] Boxscore]

Game 4 (Stephen F. Austin vs McNeese State)

May 11, 2016 6:30 pm CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Stephen F. Austin	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	4	4
McNeese State	0	0	3	0	5	0	0	8	5	3
WP: Vincent, E. (15-3)   LP: Sikes, M. (7-12)   Sv: None Attendance: 1,023 [[7] Boxscore]

Day Two

Game 5 (Stephen F. Austin vs Sam Houston State)

May 12, 2016 11:00 am CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Stephen F. Austin	0	1	0	0	2	0	11	14	11	4
Sam Houston State	2	0	4	0	0	4	1	11	10	0
WP: Sikes, M. (8-12)   LP: McLeod, L. (11-11)   Sv: None [[8] Boxscore]

Game 6 (Central Arkansas vs Nicholls State)

May 12, 2016 1:30 pm CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Central Arkansas	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	0
Nicholls	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	3	5	1
WP: Haydel, H. (23-8)   LP: Landeros, S. (21-15)   Sv: None [[9] Boxscore]

Game 7 (Lamar vs McNeese State)

May 12, 2016 4:00 pm CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Lamar	0	0	3	1	0	1	0	4	7	1
McNeese State	4	0	0	3	1	0	0	8	9	3
WP: Allred, J. (17-3)   LP: Luna, C. (16-8)   Sv: None [[10] Boxscore]

Semi-Final Game One (Nicholls vs Stephen F. Austin)

May 12, 2016 6:30 CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Nicholls	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Stephen F. Austin	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
WP: Guffey, C. (13-5)   LP: Landry, M. (15-8)   Sv: None Attendance: 892 [[11] Boxscore]

Day Three

Semi-Final Game Two (Lamar vs Stephen F. Austin)

May 13, 2016 10:30 am CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Stephen F. Austin	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	5	1
Lamar	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	5	6	4
WP: Luna, C. (17-7)   LP: Sikes, M. (8-13)   Sv: None [[12] Boxscore]

Championship Game (Lamar vs McNeese State)

May 13, 2016 2:00 pm CDT at Cowgirl Diamond, Lake Charles, LA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
McNeese State	0	0	3	0	1	1	0	5	8	3
Lamar	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	2	4
WP: Vincent, E. (16-3)   LP: Napoli, L. (9-8)   Sv: None Attendance: 965 [[13] Boxscore]

Awards and honors

Source: [14]
Tournament MVP: Erika Piancastelli, McNeese State

All-Tournament Teams:

• Morgan Catron, McNeese State
• Tori Yanator, McNeese State
• Emily Vincent, McNeese State
• Brittany Rodriguez, Lamar
• Jenna Holland, Lamar
• Ciara Luna, Lamar
• Kelly Meeuwsen, Lamar
• Stephanie Meeuwsen, Lamar
• Taylor Fraccastoro, Stephen F. Austin
• Annie Mehringer, Stephen F. Austin
• Callee Guffey, Stephen F. Austin

See also

2016 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament

References

1. "Southland Softball - 2016 Southland Softball Season Begins Thursday". Southland Conference. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
2. "2016 Softball Standings". Southland Conference. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
3. "2016 Southland Softball Tournament Field Set". Southland Conference. May 7, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
4. "No. 3 Lamar Defeats No. 6 Sam Houston State In Game One Of Southland Conference Tournament". Southland Conference. May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
5. "No. 4 Ladyjacks Survive Late Rally To Defeat No. 5 Central Arkansas". Southland Conference. May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
6. "No. 3 Lamar Earns 7-2 Victory over No. 2 Nicholls". Southland Conference. May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
7. "Top-Seeded McNeese Downs Fifth Ranked Stephen F. Austin". Southland Conference. May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
8. "No. 5 Ladyjacks Rally Past No. 6 Bearkats". Southland Conference. May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
9. "Second-seeded Colonels Eliminate Fourth-seeded Bears". Southland Conference. May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
10. "No. 1 McNeese Defeats No. 3 Lamar To Reach Southland Championship". Southland Conference. May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
11. "Fifth-seeded Ladyjacks Outlast Second-seeded Colonels". Southland Conference. May 12, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
12. "No. 3 Lamar Advances To Southland Tournament Championship". Southland Conference. May 13, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
13. "McNeese (42-12) -VS- Lamar (35-22)". McNeese State University. May 13, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
14. "Cowgirls Celebrate 2016 Southland Tournament Title". Southland Conference. May 13, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.