MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team will travel to No. 8 Louisiana-Lafayette for a Sun Belt Conference series Friday and Saturday at Lamson Park to open a five-game road trip.

Friday’s doubleheader will begin at 4 p.m. while first pitch in Sunday’s matchup is set for noon.

For the first time in program history, South Alabama (24-9, 11-2 SBC) currently holds the No. 1 spot in the Sun Belt Conference standings after going undefeated in its last five conference games including a series sweep of Middle Tennessee at Jaguar Field last weekend. On April 3, the Jaguars run-ruled Nicholls State 10-1 for their sixth straight victory since March 25.  

The Jags are hitting .302 overall with eight student-athletes batting .250 or better. USA’s offensive power comes off the bats of junior Brittany Fowler and freshman Blair Johnson. Johnson leads the squad with a .361 batting average and 39 hits including 10 doubles. Fowler has recorded a .357 average so far this season with a club-high .602 slugging percentage. Fowler is No. 1 on the team in total bases (59) home runs (5) and RBI (28).   

South Alabama’s ace, sophomore Hannah Campbell (14-6), has a team-low ERA of 2.40. Campbell has thrown five shutouts and struck out 118 batters in 122.1 innings. Senior Katy Neal (5-3) is right behind Campbell with an ERA of 2.57 after 11 appearances in the circle.

ULL leads the all-time series 12-3. Last season, the Ragin’ Cajuns took four games from the Jags including a 10-0 win in the semi-finals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament in Lafayette, La.

Louisiana-Lafayette (30-1, 5-1 SBC) has held on to the No. 8 spot in both the USA Softball/ESPN.com and the USA Today/NFCA Coaches’ polls for the past two weeks. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ only loss of the year thus far came to Troy – who South Alabama defeated 6-3 on March 28 – in game one of their series on March 24 in Troy, Ala.

The Ragin’ Cajuns have four student-athletes batting .400 or better. Natalie Fernandez tops the list at .432 followed by Nerissa Myers (.429), Christi Orgeron (.423) and Katie Smith (.417). Orgeron paces the club with 45 runs and an .885 slugging percentage which includes 10 doubles, a triple and 12 home runs.

ULL splits time in the circle between Jordan Wallace (16-0) and Ashley Brignac (11-1). Wallace holds a 2.41 ERA and has allowed 60 hits in 95.2 innings while Brignac has posted a 2.68 ERA and has given up 72 hits in 88.2 innings of work.

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).