TROY, Ala. – The Coastal Carolina softball team erupted for five runs in the fourth inning to knock off No. 3 seed Louisiana, 6-1, on Friday morning and punch its ticket to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final for the first time since 2019.

After two scoreless innings, the Chants got on the board when Keirstin Roose laced a single through the left side to drive in Libby Pippin and give Coastal a 1-0 lead.

The offense broke the game open in the top of the fourth inning when Reese Collier ignited the rally with an RBI double down the right-field line to make it 2-0. Sophomore Clara Hudgens followed with her second triple of the season, bringing home Collier to push the lead to 3-0.

The runs continued to come in the fourth, courtesy of a Pippin single, a Georgia Hood sacrifice fly, and an RBI double from Maddy Jennings that gave the Chants a commanding 6-0 lead.

The Ragin' Cajuns got a runner on base in the bottom of the fourth, but the Coastal defense turned a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning.

Louisiana pushed across its lone run in the bottom of the sixth when Sam Roe hit an RBI single through the left side. However, the Chants stranded two runners to limit the damage to 6-1.

Nicolette Picone struck out the final two batters in the bottom of the seventh to secure the 6-1 victory and improve to 27-9 on the season.

The Chanticleers will the No. 9 seed James Madison  in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final on May 10 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSoftball (X), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.