San Antonio - Shelby Lancaster and Tomi Garrison pitched two gems to put Sam Houston in the semifinals of the Southland Conference softball tournament at Roadrunner Field.

The game will begin Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. The winner faces regular season champion Texas State at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Lancaster tossed a one-hitter and center fielder Tori Benavidez provided the winning RBI in the final inning as Sam Houston edged Central Arkansas 1-0  Saturday afternoon.

Then Garrison turned in a four-hit shutout as the Kats defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2-0.

Against UCA, Sam Houston left nine runners on base as the Bearkats totaled nine hits. But the Bears kept the game scoreless until the top of the seventh inning.

Designated player Kim Damian singled, was sacrificed to second and scored on Benavidez's single.

While Lancaster did not strike out any Lion batters, she retired 21 of the 23 batters she faced.

Damian's two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth inning scored the winning runs in the second game. Garrison spread her four hits over seven innings while striking out four Islander batters.

Earlier in the day, catcher Ashley Isbell accounted for Sam Houston's only run with a seventh inning solo home run as McNeese State handed the Bearkats a 6-1 loss in the second round of the Southland Conference Softball Championships at Roadrunner Field.

The Cowgirls broke out a scoreless tie with a five-run sixth inning, scoring the five runs on four hits and two Bearkat errors. 

The game started Friday night at 6:30 p.m. but was suspended due to rain and lightning. Catcher Stacey Conley accounted for two runs in the sixth with a single. All five runs were unearned.

After being shutdown offensively by Sam Houston pitcher Tomi Garrison through five innings, the Cowgirls capitalized on two Bearkat errors in the sixth.

Dani Price started the inning for the Cowgirls with a single down the left field line to give McNeese its second hit of the game. The Cowgirls then loaded the bases after the Bearkats committed consecutive errors on two sacrifice bunt attempts.

McNeese plated the first runs of the game after two consecutive fielder's choices. The big hit of the inning came from catcher Stacey Conley, who roped a two-RBI single to right field. The Cowgirls plated five runs in the sixth inning, all of which were unearned. The Cowgirls added one more run in the seventh innings to increase the lead to 6-0.

Freshman Bianca Lilly went the distance for the Cowgirls, allowing only one run on five hits while striking out two hitters. Lilly improves to 4-1 on the year. Garrison fell to 10-9 on the season after going 5.2 innings, allowing five unearned runs on five hits.

McNeese State (34-19) will face top-seeded Texas State today at 4:30 p.m. for a spot in tomorrow's championship game. Sam Houston State (26-20) will play Central Arkansas in an elimination game today at 2 p.m.

Friday, May 11
Game 1:  No. 4 UTSA 4, No. 5 Central Arkansas 3
Game 2:  No. 3 McNeese State 11, No. 6 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3
Game 3:  No. 1 Texas State2 , No. 4 UTSA 1
Game 4:  No. 3 McNeese State 6, No. 2 Sam Houston 1

Saturday, May 12
Game 5:  No. 6 A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 4 UTSA , 11 a.m.
Game 6:  No. 2 Sam Houston 1, No. 5 Central Arkansas, 0
Game 7:  No. 1 Texas State 5, No. 3 McNeese State 2
Game 8:  No. 2 Sam Houston No. 6 A&M-Corpus Christi 0
Game 9:  No. 2 Sam Houston vs. No. 3 McNeese State, 9:30 a.m.

Sunday, May 13
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 11:05 a.m. (ESPN3)
Game 11: If necessary game, 1:20 p.m.