MOBILE, Ala.  – The University of South Alabama softball team travels to Oxford, Miss., to compete in the Red and Blue Classic this weekend at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.

The Jaguars are scheduled to play five games on the weekend, beginning with Friday’s 11 a.m. matchup against Louisiana Tech followed by 3 p.m. game against Southeast Missouri. On Saturday, The Jags will take on Austin Peay and tournament host Ole Miss. USA will close out the tournament Sunday against APSU.  

"We have gotten off to a good start so far and we have to continue to take care of the things that helped us have success in the first place," USA head coach Becky Clark said. “This weekend I am looking for us to have a consistent effort and to compete in all five games."

South Alabama (7-3) leads the Sun Belt Conference in slugging percentage (.697), triples (5) and home runs (19). The Jags are ranked second in batting average (.398), runs scored (81), total bases (191), sac bunts (7), hits (109) sac flies (4), on base percentage (.470) and runs batted in (75).

USA first baseman Meghan Collins leads the team in batting average (.536), on base percentage (.594) and hits (15).  Collins leads the league in batting average, and is ranked third in hits and on base percentage.

Junior Haley Hopkins has recorded five multi-hit games and multi-RBI games through ten games this season. In Saturday’s 18-0 victory over Evansville, Hopkins recorded her team leading 5th home run of the season and is now tied for first on USA’s all-time career home runs list with Jenny Stevens.

Outfielder Brittany Fowler hit .562 last week going 9-for-16 at the plate while scoring five runs and driving in nine. In the Jags' 8-5 victory over Ohio State, she was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate scoring a pair and driving in one. She followed that performance, with a 3-for-3 outing, scoring two runs and driving in a career-high five RBI against UE. The Jacksonville, Fla., native went 2-for-4 at the plate in games against Chattanooga and Southeastern Louisiana.

Sophomore centerfielder Britany Campbell hit safely and recorded run in all of the Jags games last week. She went 2-for 4 driving in one run against Southern Miss, and went 3-for-4 at the plate ¬- including a triple - Sunday against Southeastern Louisiana.

The Jags are ranked fourth in the SBC with a team ERA of 2.20 and are third in strikeouts (69). Through ten games, opponents are hitting just .223 against the Jaguar pitching staff.
Pitcher Lindsey Croft (3-0) has struck out nine batters in 16.2 innings of work, while Freshman Hannah Campbell (1-2) has struck out 26 in 26 innings of work and Morgan Druhan (2-1) has a team-leading 34 strikeouts.  

South Alabama holds a 2-0 all-time series lead over Louisiana Tech. The Last time the teams faced each other was in February of 2009, when the Jags shutout La. Tech 2-0. Tech enters the weekend after going 1-5 in the Mississippi State Bulldog Round Robin, in Starkville Miss. Janna Frandrup has a team-leading .423 batting average with 6 runs and 11 hits – including three doubles.

This is the first meeting between USA and Southeast Missouri. SEMO enters the weekend, after going 1-4 last weekend defeating Indiana State (6-2) and falling to Northwestern State twice (10-2, 2-1) and Louisiana Monroe twice (6-1,11-1)  in the Louisiana Lafayette Mardi Gras Classic. Southeastern Missouri has three batters hitting over .300 led by Carmen Fowler (.615), Cheyenne Gibson (.313) and Melissa Walker (.300).            
The Jags are 1-0 all-time against APSU. The Jags have not faced the Lady Govs since 2007, when USA won 5-4 at the Russell Athletic Spring Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. APSU (2-6) went 1-3 over the weekend in Clarksville Tenn., defeating Missouri-Kansas City (5-4), and falling to Belmont( 5-4), Ball State (9-2), and Cleveland State (7-0).

Tiffany Smith is batting .333 for the Lady Govs and leads the team with 24 at bats, six runs and eight hits. Morgan Brewer leads the Lady Gov pitching staff with nine strikeouts in 21.1 innings of work.
The Jaguars contest with Ole Miss will be their first ever meeting. The Rebels enter the tournament after defeating Mississippi Valley State 6-1 on Tuesday in Oxford. Ole Miss is led by Brittany Broome with a team-leading .407 batting average and five runs. Junior pitcher Kendal Bruning has a 3.5 ERA with a team-best 41 strikeouts in the circle.

Live Stats are available here.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).



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