Southwest Mississippi Softball makes school history with three playoff wins in 2026 season

Southwest Mississippi Softball finished its 2026 season with a historic run, setting numerous school records and earning the program’s first playoff wins. The Lady Bears secured their first-ever playoff victory in school history on May 2, defeating Hinds 8-4 in the Region 23 Tournament opener, according to team sources.

After being pushed to the lower bracket, Southwest faced LSU-Eunice and won 9-4, marking the team’s second playoff win and its 30th victory of the season. This was the first time in school history that a Southwest softball team reached 30 wins in a season.

The Lady Bears then faced Northwest in a winner-take-all game, which they won 3-2. The victory was their third in the postseason, setting a new school record, and brought their season total to 31 wins—the most in school history. The team’s playoff journey ended with a 10-2 loss to Co-Lin in the championship game.

Individual players also broke numerous records. Freshman Bailey McLin led off as the team’s leadoff hitter and set records for hitting streak (21 games), hits in a season (67), at-bats (168), and runs scored (50). Senior Corin Talbot set new records for hits (110), runs scored (79), doubles (31), and ranked second in several categories. Freshman Tristan Allen shattered records for home runs (23) and RBIs (64), while fellow freshman Alexis Dejean set a second-place RBI record with 58.

Starting pitcher Allie Ladnier set a single-season wins record with 17, including three during the playoffs. The team also set season records for at-bats (1,350), hits (456), doubles (85), home runs (66), RBIs (317), runs (336), walks (168), batting average (.336), on-base percentage (.410), and slugging percentage (.553). Coaches Shea Johnson, Larry Lippert, and Callie Venable led the team through its most successful season in school history, according to school officials.

Source: Original Article