MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team continues its’ four-game home stand when it takes on its third Southeastern Conference opponent of the season No. 23 Auburn. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday night at Jaguar Field.

USA (24-5, 5-1) leads the league in conference wins, is tied for the best overall winning-percentage (.828), and is tied for the longest win-streak in the league (3). The Jaguars also lead the league in team batting with a .351 average and are ranked second in pitching with a 2.60 ERA.

"We know that we have a very solid team coming in Wednesday,” USA head coach Becky Clark commented. “Auburn has been having a great year and we are going to have to play fundamental softball to beat them. Fortunately, we are coming off of one of our better outings and just need to bring the same aggressive approach to the field that we did this past weekend."

Last weekend, the Jaguars went 3-0 sweeping their Sun Belt Conference series against Western Kentucky. The SBC sweep was just the third in the programs brief history.

The Jags enter the weekend, after winning 18 of their last 20 contests.

Offensively, eight Jaguar batters are hitting over .300 led by sophomore Meghan Collins. Collins leads the team with a .453 batting and a .539 on-base percentage. The Slidell, La., native is ranked fifth in the league in individual batting with a .462 average in conference games.

Outfielder Brittany Fowler has recorded a team-leading .663 slugging percentage and 37 hits. She has recorded a conference leading eight RBI through six games this season.

Senior Jenny Steven leads the SBC in runs scored (10) and stolen bases (4) in conference games. The shortstop has tallied a team-leading 38 runs with a .333 batting average overall.

Sophomore pitcher Morgan Druhan (8-1) leads the Jaguar pitching staff with her 2.11 ERA and her 98 strike outs. Left-hander Hannah Campbell (9-3) has recorded 72 strikeouts in 82.1 innings in the circle.

Auburn (25-4, 6-2 SEC) has a 2-1 all-time series lead over the Jaguars. The last time the two teams met was in March of 2009 when the Jags defeated the Tigers 3-1 in extra innings at Jane B. Moore Field. The game remained scoreless until the final inning. USA is 0-1 when facing AU at Jaguar Field and 1-1 when playing in Auburn. The Jaguars are 1-1 against SEC opponents this season and are 2-13 all-time against SEC opponent - earning their second career-victory over an SEC school in February against Ole Miss on the road.  The Jags are 2-1 against ranked opponents this season and are 5-15 all-time against ranked opponents.

AU enters the weekend after sweeping its’ three-game series against South Carolina 9-1, 3-0 and 3-2. The Tigers are 3-4 in road games this season and are 6-0 when playing at a neutral site. Auburn is led at the plate by Morgan Estell, who has a team-best batting average of .394. Lauren Guzman has a team-leading 21 runs and ranks second on the team with 29 hits.

Auburns’ pitching staff is led by Angel Bunner and Lauren Schmalz. Schmalz has a team-leading 11 wins in the circle and has struck out 95 batters in 70.2 innings of work. Bunner leads the team with a 1.51 ERA and has recorded 52 strikeouts in 65 innings of work.

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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