MOBILE, Ala. – No. 19 University of South Alabama softball will play five games, including one to be aired on ESPN3.com, this weekend at the 2014 Citrus Classic, hosted by Diamond 9 Events at the ESPN Wide World of Sports located at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.
 
USA (7-1) will face Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and East Carolina (ESPN3.com) on Friday, Lehigh and Mercer on Saturday and Georgia on Sunday. South Alabama's clash with East Carolina on Friday at 5:45 p.m. CT will be aired by ESPN3.com. A link to the broadcast can be found by visiting the softball schedule page.
 
South Alabama competed in the Citrus Classic once before, in 2012, going 4-1 with wins over Ball State, Lipscomb, Purdue and Georgetown.
 
The Jaguars have won back-to-back contests since dropping their first game after a 5-0 start to the year to Northwestern. USA defeated No. 21 LSU last Saturday and downed UAB after 11 innings in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday.
 
USA is batting .250 as a team to its opponents' .173. The Jags have outscored 2014 opponents, 39-6, outhit them, 50-33, and outhomered them, 7-1. Sophomore center fielder Stephanie Pilkington leads the club at the plate with a .400 average, .680 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage.
 
Farish Beard is 4-1 in the circle and Hannah Campbell is 2-0. The Jaguar pitching staff has combined for a 0.53 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 53.0 total innings. Despite three successive 2-1 results, USA is averaging more than five runs per game, while the club has allowed no more than one run in a game this year.
 
IPFW is 7-2 on the year with a marquee win over No. 15 Texas in Austin a week ago. For their 1-2, third-place showing at the Texas Classic, the Mastadons of the Summit League earned national poll votes in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association weekly edition on Tuesday.
 
East Carolina enters the weekend 5-3 on the heels of three wins at the Pirate Snow Classic in Greenville, N.C. USA and ECU will be meeting for the first time.
 
Lehigh will open its season this weekend at the Citrus Classic. The Mountain Hawks were 37-16-1 in 2013, winning their second straight Patriot League regular-season title.
 
Mercer brings a 6-3 record to Orlando. The Bears had a six-game winning streak snapped in back-to-back losses to No. 17 Georgia on Monday. USA is 4-0 all-time versus Mercer.
 
No. 17 Georgia is 9-0 on the year and will be playing away from home for the first time in 2014 this weekend. The Bulldogs defeated USA, 1-0, in the teams' only previous meeting in 2010.

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).