Box Score

SBC Tournament Central

TROY, Ala. ­— There were shrieks, shrills and deep gasps; several of them. There were expert plays and botched ones; several of those, too. But there was only one hit on Thursday night at Troy Softball Complex in a Sun Belt Conference Tournament winner’s-bracket matchup featuring No. 18/19 University of South Alabama and No. 21 Louisiana at Lafayette, and that hit went the Jaguars’ way.
 
Behind Hannah Campbell’s third career no-hitter, USA (43-7) all at once snapped the Ragin’ Cajuns’ (41-13) 23-game win streak, shut them out for the first time since last year’s Super Regionals and advanced in the league finale.
 
The game’s lone hit came off the bat of senior outfielder and Second-Team all-SBC selection Britany Campbell, who punched a two-out, 2-2 pitch up the middle to score freshman designated player Emily Messer from first base in the top of the eighth inning.
 
Just a half-inning earlier, ULL’s Sarah Draheim led off the bottom of the seventh with a double to left center, but she was called out at first after failing to touch the bag on her trip. After several minutes of official deliberation instigated by ULL head coach Michael Lotief, the call stood and Draheim was sent back to the dugout.
 
H. Campbell struck out a season-high 13 in the contest to no walks, and, in nearly every instance, was matched by ULL ace Jordan Wallace, who struck out 10 on the night, but the sophomore allowed Messer to walk before giving up the hit to B. Campbell (earned), and in turn, the run.
 
With the victory, its 43^rd of the year, South Alabama moves on to face the winner of North Texas and Troy tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.
 
Radio broadcast featuring play-by-play will be available free of charge via the All-Access link found on the university’s athletics webpage, USAJaguars.com. Live stats for all South Alabama softball games are available through the multimedia section at USAJaguars.com. For live video, live stats for all tournament games, ticket information and more, visit the Tournament Central link listed above.
 
In a rematch of last year’s tournament championship, USA overcame three errors to defeat ULL for the fourth time in the teams’ last five showdowns. Not a runner touched base until the bottom of the third inning, when an errant throw to first allowed Cajun Natalie Fernandez to reach; however H. Campbell retired the next seven ULL batters consecutively to keep the Jags’ hopes alive.
 
Two more USA errors allowed a pair of ULL runners to reach in the sixth and seven innings, respectively, before the game went to extras, the first time South Alabama has been taken further than regulation all season.
 
Facing two outs and a full count, Messer watched ball four fly past her, bringing B. Campbell to the plate. With two balls and two strikes against her, the senior belted a screamer up the middle, and Messer exploded off the bag, never looking back until she crossed home plate.
 
H. Campbell struck out two ULL batters in the final half-inning, before USA shortstop Brittany Fowler wrangled a Fernandez grounder and fired to Meghan Collins at first to conclude the contest, sending the Jaguar faithful into a frenzy.
 
“That’s one of the best games I’ve seen Hannah throw,” said USA head coach Becky Clark. “She stayed in there and made tough pitches in tough situations. Our offense kept hanging in there; we needed to make adjustments. We had to cut our swings down, because they were a little bit big. The at-bats for [Britany] Campbell and Messer were great; they stayed off tough pitches."
 
She added, “What can you say? This is an amazing team, and I believe in them.”
 
NOTES:
USA extends its current win streak to 14 games…Combined, tonight’s teams fielded 11 of the 15 First-Team all-SBC selections…The no-hitter was the third of H. Campbell’s career; she posted her second against UC-Santa Barbara on March 8…H. Campbell moved into a tie for first with Beth Pilgrim in all-time USA shutouts…H. Campbell recorded her 150^th strikeout of the season…She moved to 20-7 on the year, and her NCAA-leading ERA fell to 0.90…USA moved to 9-8 all-time in SBC Tournament play.
 
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).
 
— USA —­­­­