USA vs. Georgetown box score
ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of South Alabama softball team recorded its fifth shutout of 2012, topping Georgetown 8-0 in five innings on the final day of the Citrus Classic Sunday afternoon.
After posting a 4-1 mark in the tournament, USA advances to 10-6 on the year while GU falls to 8-9 overall.
“Overall, this tournament was a step forward for us,” said USA head coach Becky Clark. “We saw a lot of good competition. There were a lot of distractions around with this big of a tournament, and I thought our kids did a good job of playing good teams. They locked in and did what we needed them to do. Going 4-1 with us starting conference play next weekend was really big for us. We’ve just got to keep the momentum going.”
Freshman Alyssa Linn led all Jaguar bats with three hits, including a double and singles hits, in four at-bats, scoring three runs and dirving one in. Seniors Haley Hopkins and Christin Crocker, junior Meghan Collins and freshman Blair Johnson also recorded a hit apiece as USA outhit the Hoyas 8-4.
“From and offensive standpoint, we had a great day today,” Clark said. “Alyssa had a huge day, and when she’s getting on in front of us we tend to feed off of her. She’s definitely our spark plug. She got it going, then everyone else got on board.”
Linn led off the game with a double over the third baseman’s head down the left line, advanced to third on a wild pitch and made it home on a throwing error by GU catcher Shikara Lowe to put South Alabama on the board early.
With two outs in the first and Hopkins on first and Fowler in scoring position, Collins hit a double down the right-field line plating Fowler for the 2-0 Jaguar advantage.
A five-run second inning that included three hits combined with two Hoya errors pushed the Jags to a 7-0 lead.
After a pair of Hoya errors, freshman Alex Breeden and junior Britany Campbell were on third and second base, respectively, when Linn got her second hit of the contest to bring Breeden home; she advanced to second on the throw as the Jags upped their advantage to 3-0. Johnson followed with another single to make it a four-run game, with Crocker putting the contest out of reach with a two-out, three-run home run.
“Christin’s home run was a big one,” said Clark. “It kind of put the exclamation point on the win. Their pitcher is a good pitcher, our kids did a great job against her.”
Junior Jessica Dobson (2-0) picked up her second with of the season Sunday afternoon after going the distance in the circle for the Jaguars. Dobson only allowed four hits, striking out three batters and giving up two walks.
“Jessica did a great job,” Clark said. “She threw strikes and kept them off balance mixing in her change-up. We got a lot of ground balls which is great. We love ground balls, so she did exactly what we needed her to do today.”
GU’s Lauren O’Leary took the loss and dropped to 4-4 on the season after four innings of work. Hannah Slovacek tossed one inning of scoreless relief, surrendering only one hit to USA.
South Alabama returns home on March 7 to take on Southeastern Louisiana for the second time this season in a 6 p.m. midweek game at Jaguar Field before opening conference play with a weekend series against Louisiana-Monroe on March 10-11.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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