NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama softball senior outfielder Haleigh Lowe earned the second Community Coffee Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honor of her career on Tuesday as announced by the league office and voted on by the coaches.  Lowe was also selected as the SBC Co-Player of the Week last season on May 2 after helping lead the Jaguars to a series sweep of Georgia Southern.

With Lowe's selection, South Alabama has now had three players total honored by the league office for one of the weekly awards.  Kamdyn Kvistad and Alexis Beard were player and pitcher of the week by the league office on March 27 (Week 7) and Devin Brown was named the pitcher of the week on March 15 (Week 5).

Lowe's player of the week selection marks the 16th offensive player honor and the 38th total conference weekly award selection in program history.

Lowe came up clutch several times and played a huge role in all three Jaguar wins this past week.  In her four contest, Lowe was 10-for-16 at the plate (.625), had five extra-base hits – three doubles, a triple and a home run – scored three times, and drove in eight.  She also registered a 1.125 slugging percentage.  

On Wednesday, Lowe helped kick start the Jaguar offense at Troy as her first-inning, inside-the-park two-run home run put South Alabama on top early.  The inside-the-park home run was the first of Lowe's career and was the first by a Jag since Kaleigh Todd did so last season at ULM (4/22).  It was also just the fourth in program history. Her next time up, Lowe helped South extend its lead as she tripled to center to score Todd.  In the top of the fourth with the bases loaded and two outs in the frame, Lowe lined a ball to right center to score a pair of runs and stake the Jaguars to a 7-0 lead.  Lowe finished the night 3-for-4 at the plate and was a double away from becoming the first South Alabama player to hit for the cycle.  Lowe did reach base in all four of her plate appearances and drove in a career-high five runs.

In game one of Saturday's doubleheader against Appalachian State, Lowe continued her hot hitting as she went 4-for-4 with a double and drove in the game-winning run.  With a runner on and two out in the bottom of the seventh, Lowe dropped in a double just out of reach of the diving effort by Mountaineer leftfielder Alisha Josey, scoring Lyric Cabral from second for the walk-off win.

In the second game of the day, Lowe recorded just one hit, but made it count.  With South Alabama holding a narrow one-run advantage with two on and two out in its half of the sixth, Lowe bounced a two-run double back up the middle to score the first two runs of a three-run inning for the Jags.  The senior leftfielder then scored South's fifth run of the game when she came around from second on Kristian Foster's RBI double.  All three of Lowe's RBI in the doubleheader came with two outs.

On Sunday, Lowe went 2-for-4 and tried to get something going offensively for the Jaguars with a first-inning double and a lead-off single in the sixth that eventually led to a bases-loaded situation.  The multi-hit game for Lowe was 10th of the season and the 30th of her career moving her into 14th on the all-time program list.

The senior leftfielder has been outstanding at the plate lately as she has a seven-game hit streak and at least one hit in eight of her last nine.  During that time, she has raised her batting average to .322.  Lowe is third on the team in multi-hit games and leads the team with eight multi-RBI games.

Over her last nine games, Lowe has hit .485 (16-for-33) with seven extra-base hits and a team-high 11 RBI.  She has had multiple hits in five of those contests.

Louisiana's Summer Ellyson was also voted as the Sun Belt's Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday.

The Jaguars will begin travel to Baton Rouge, La., to take on No. 13/14 LSU later today with first pitch versus the Tigers set for 6 p.m. at Tiger Park.  The game will be shown on the SECNetwork+.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_Jags. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
    
Join the Bullpen Club, the softball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  Members have access to purchase parking passes and receive Jaguar Softball gear.  All donations to the Bullpen Club go directly to support the South Alabama softball program.  For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/bullpenclub

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