SULPHUR — St. Amant’s offense came alive in the second half of the game as the Gators scored three runs in the fourth inning of a 4-0 win over Sam Houston in the Non-Select Division I championship game at the state tournament on Saturday.

The Gators (32-2) were held hitless over the first three innings by Broncos (31-3) pitcher Lexi Dibbley. St. Amant’s only baserunner in that span came on a walk. No batted ball reached the outfield as Dibbley kept the powerful Gator lineup in check.

The Gators pieced together a rally in the fourth inning. Alix Franklin led off with a single. Addison Jackson followed by reaching on a fielder’s choice. Pinch runner Ryleigh Morgan stole second base and scored on a single by Kami Gautreau. Mary Beth Zeller followed with a run-scoring double to make the score 2-0. Aralee Beene singled to score Zeller.

The Gators added an insurance run in the sixth inning. Beene walked and scored on a single by Brooke Rabalais.

Sam Houston generated traffic early in the game but left two runners stranded in three of the first four innings. Jackson struck out two batters to escape a first inning jam when the Broncos had two on with one out after Carolina Eidson was hit by a pitch and Dibbley reached on an infield single.

Sam Houston had two runners on with two outs in the third, fourth and seventh innings, but Jackson escaped without allowing a run each time.

‘We competed well, I thought we had a chance until the final out,” Broncos head coach Beth Domingue said. “Lexi was great. They have some studs over there. That’s a very good team and I knew Lexi would want to compete. They had some timely hitting. We had some opportunities. We had a chance. It was 4-0, but it felt like it was a 1-0 game.”

Jackson was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player after allowing four hits and striking out three.

Dibbley held St. Amant, who had scored 31 runs in three previous playoff games, to five hits and struck out three. Hailey Mire, Trenna Jones, Dibbley and Bralyn McCain had the hits for Sam Houston.