Sun Belt Conference Softball Recap: Week 1

The 7th-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns have yet to play a game, but a couple of Sun Belt Conference schools picked up a couple of big wins to begin their respective 2021 college softball seasons over the weekend.

The Troy Trojans, picked to finish second behind Louisiana in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll by the league's coaches, went a perfect 4-0 over the weekend in the Trojan Classic in Troy, Alabama, including a big 5-2 win over Ole Miss.

The other three victories for Troy was an 8-0 triumph over UAB, a team the Cajuns will face twice this weekend, as well as two wins over Belmont, by scores of 3-1 and 8-0.

The other big win for the league was South Alabama's 9-8 win over Georgia in the Red & Black Showcase in Athens, Georgia.

The Jaguars did drop their other game to Georgia, 8-3, as well as falling to Virginia, 9-4, but a win over an SEC program like Georgia is a really good win for South Alabama, and for the league.

In other action around the league over the weekend, ULM dropped its season-opener to Louisiana Tech, 3-2, before defeating Jacksonville St., 7-6, while Georgia St. had a 3-2 weekend, with the wins over Radford and one over Boise St., while suffering setbacks to Boise St. and Georgia Tech.

Finally, Appalachian St. dropped its season-opener over the weekend, falling 4-3 to Charlotte in 8 innings.

All in all, especially with the two wins over SEC schools, it was a good opening weekend for the Sun Belt Conference.

Louisiana, which had its season-opening weekend tournament, the 35th Annual Louisiana Classics canceled last weekend due to inclement weather, will now open the season on the road this weekend when they travel to Birmingham, Alabama to take part in the UAB Green & Gold Classic.

The Cajuns are scheduled to play five games this weekend, including two on Friday, against Southeastern Louisiana (noon) and UAB (5 p.m.)