University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Tuesday, February 17
Hattiesburg, Miss.
6 p.m.
Southern Miss
vs
McNeese
Softball Hosts McNeese State for Girl Scout Night and Midweek Matchup
2/16/2026 10:03:00 PM | Softball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -– Southern Miss softball (6-5) returns home from The Spring Games, in Leesburg, Fla., for a match against McNeese State (7-4). Head coach Natalie Poole led her alma mater, the Cowgirls, to three-straight 30-win seasons.
The Golden Eagles are coming off a 2-3 record at The Spring Games, picking up wins over Alabama State and Bethune-Cookman, looking to win one at the Southern Miss Softball Complex before heading down to Ruston, Louisiana to play Louisiana Tech in a three-game weekend series.
The game is on the slate for 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17 being streamed to ESPN+ and with live stats to follow along. The theme for the game is "Girl Scout Night" which will include a custom Southern Miss Girl Scout patch for those in uniform.
Southern Miss leads the Sun Belt in fielding percentage with .982, triples with six, tied-for first with 48 walks to ULM, first in the conference for SAC flies and SAC hits with eight and seven respectively capping off with leading the Sun Belt with 107 assists.
Nealy McManus is ranked second in the country with 39 assists behind Marshall's own Paige Simpson hoisting 42. Preseason All-Sun Belt Team Hannah Christian is ranked 57th in the nation and third in the conference with 15 hits. McManus and Abbi Troquille lead the Sun Belt with two SAC flies a piece. Madison Johnson is in a nine-way tie for first place leading the nation with three triples.
Head coach Natalie Poole gets to face off against her alma mater and former team where Poole spent three years at the helm leading the Cowgirls to a record breaking 38 wins. In her undergraduate, Poole graduated from McNeese State with a bachelor's degree in painting while as a student-athlete, she was a catcher from 1994-97 where she earned numerous awards such as the All-Southland Conference Pick three times and a two-time All-South Region Selection in 1996-97. Deciding to pursue a higher education, Poole later went on to get her master's degree in institutional technology then getting a Doctorate in Education in Higher Ed Administration.
Series History
The Golden Eagles are coming off a 2-3 record at The Spring Games, picking up wins over Alabama State and Bethune-Cookman, looking to win one at the Southern Miss Softball Complex before heading down to Ruston, Louisiana to play Louisiana Tech in a three-game weekend series.
The game is on the slate for 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 17 being streamed to ESPN+ and with live stats to follow along. The theme for the game is "Girl Scout Night" which will include a custom Southern Miss Girl Scout patch for those in uniform.
Southern Miss leads the Sun Belt in fielding percentage with .982, triples with six, tied-for first with 48 walks to ULM, first in the conference for SAC flies and SAC hits with eight and seven respectively capping off with leading the Sun Belt with 107 assists.
Nealy McManus is ranked second in the country with 39 assists behind Marshall's own Paige Simpson hoisting 42. Preseason All-Sun Belt Team Hannah Christian is ranked 57th in the nation and third in the conference with 15 hits. McManus and Abbi Troquille lead the Sun Belt with two SAC flies a piece. Madison Johnson is in a nine-way tie for first place leading the nation with three triples.
Head coach Natalie Poole gets to face off against her alma mater and former team where Poole spent three years at the helm leading the Cowgirls to a record breaking 38 wins. In her undergraduate, Poole graduated from McNeese State with a bachelor's degree in painting while as a student-athlete, she was a catcher from 1994-97 where she earned numerous awards such as the All-Southland Conference Pick three times and a two-time All-South Region Selection in 1996-97. Deciding to pursue a higher education, Poole later went on to get her master's degree in institutional technology then getting a Doctorate in Education in Higher Ed Administration.
Series History
- McNeese State holds the lead with a 9-7 all-time record against the Golden Eagles
- Southern Miss is 4-3 when playing at home against the Cowgirls
- The first time the programs met, in 2006, the Golden Eagles were victorious with a 10-2 score
- The last matchup was in 2022 at Lake Charles, La. with the Cowgirls taking a 8-5 victory
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
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