USA vs. FIU game 3 box score

MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama senior Haley Hopkins pushed across four of the Jaguars’ seven runs and gave USA its first lead of the contest with a grand slam in the fifth inning helping the Jags to their 7-3 win over Sun Belt Conference foe Florida International Sunday afternoon at Jaguar Field.

“The biggest thing today was that we were just really working on competing,” said USA head coach Becky Clark. “We know that sometimes it’s not going to be perfect and it may not be pretty, but we just have to get in there and compete our tails off. That’s what the end of the year is about. Our offense has struggled a little bit, but, today, they did a great job and worked their way out of it. This was a big win for us. We got down three runs and we didn’t sit down. When they came off the field I told them that we’re not going to give up and that we’re going to keep working, and that’s what they did. They came back, fought and did what they needed to do with the big seven-run inning.”

With the series-clinching win, South Alabama improves to 33-15 on the year and 15-7 in league play and locks up the No. 2 seed in the SBC Tournament May 9-12 in Boca Raton, Fla. The Panthers drop to 25-25 overall and 13-9 in the conference.

The Jaguars scored all seven runs of the afternoon in the bottom of the fifth. Hopkins had two extra-base hits in four at-bats, a run and four RBI while freshman Alex Breeden went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Junior Brittany Fowler and freshmen Alyssa Linn and Blair Johnson put up the other three USA hits of the game.

After trailing for three innings, Breeden led off the fifth with a solo home run to left field putting South Alabama on the board. FIU starting pitcher Shelby Graves walked Linn before giving up a single to Johnson. The Panthers then brought in their first reliever, Mariah Dawson, who issued a walk to Fowler to load the bases with one out in the inning. Dawson followed with another walk giving Collins first base, scoring Linn and narrowing the Panther lead to one run. Hopkins’ grand slam followed putting USA on top 6-3 and chasing Dawson back to the dugout as Jenn Gniadek would come in to finish the game for FIU. Senior Christin Crocker faced Gniadek first and reached on an error by the Panthers’ third baseman. Freshman Kaitlyn Griffith then popped up to the second baseman for the second out of the inning before Breeden hit a double to left center plating Crocker. Gniadek struck out junior Britany Campbell to end the inning and stop the bleeding.

FIU scored in the second, third and fourth innings before the Jaguar rally. With one out in the second, Rachel Slowic hit a triple to right field. Megan Horne then bunted the ball back to Jaguar pitcher Hannah Campbell who tried to throw Slowic out at home, but just missed allowing Horne to reach first.

Erika Arcuri opened the third inning with a single to left field before stealing second. A Jessy Alfonso ground out to third moved Arcuri to third base followed by an Alex Casals single to second bringing Arcuri home giving the Panthers the 2-0 advantage.     

Brie Rojas scored the third and final Panther run of the contest with a solo shot to left field to lead off the fourth.

Sophomore H. Campbell (18-10) gave up seven hits and three runs while sitting down three en route to the win in her 23rd complete game of the season. Dawson was credited with the loss after allowing a hit and three runs and losing the lead. Graves allowed four hits and three runs in 4.1 innings of work while Gniadek gave up two hits and a run in 1.2 innings.

South Alabama will close out the regular season with a doubleheader against in-state rival Troy on May 5 beginning at 1 p.m. at Jaguar Field.

“It’s always a dog fight with us and troy,” Clark said. “That’s one of our big rivals. They are a scrappy team. They’re going to fight and give you everything they’ve got, a lot like FIU. We knew this series and the doubleheader next weekend were going to make us work, which is great. You want to put your best against their best and see what happens. These kinds of games are great for us going into the conference tournament because if you get down in the tournament, you can’t lay down. You have to figure out a way to come back and scratch out a win.”

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).