Game Notes

MOBILE, Ala. – No. 22 University of South Alabama softball takes on Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi State in a midweek clash slated for an 8 p.m. start at MSU Softball Field in Starkville on Wednesday.
 
Links to live stats and live play-by-play audio, provided free-of-charge as part of Jaguar All-Access, can be found by visiting the softball schedule page. In-game Twitter updates are provided via the program's official handle, @USAJagsSoftball.
 
The contest will also be broadcast live by the SEC Network, marking USA's second appearance on the network this season. The Jaguars defeated South Carolina, 4-1, in Columbia, S.C., on the first occasion. A link to access Wednesday's broadcast has also been added to the softball schedule page.
 
University of South Alabama softball is currently enjoying a 10-game win streak in all competitions, while having won 15 of its last 16, including 13 straight Sun Belt Conference contests.
 
USA (31-7, 14-3 SBC) is 16-4 at home and 9-2 in away games this season. The Jaguars are batting .326 overall with six starters hitting at over a .300 clip. The club also owns a .496 slugging percentage and .424 on-base percentage. South Alabama has outhit its opponents, 327-195, this year and outscored them, 227-116 this season.
 
The Jaguars are 1-2 versus Southeastern Conference opponents this season with a win over South Carolina and losses to No. 3 Alabama and No. 1 LSU.
 
South Alabama went 4-0 in Mobile last week with Wednesday's win over Nicholls State and a Sun Belt Conference series sweep of Georgia Southern at Jaguar Field over the weekend. The Jaguars scored 11 runs off 10 hits in the midweek victory, staving off a Colonel rally in the final inning to win, 11-7. USA improved its all-time record over Nicholls State to 12-4.
 
South Alabama shut Georgia Southern out in Saturday's doubleheader, taking game one, 7-0, and game two, 11-0. Freshman right-hander Kalen McGIll picked up her second career complete-game victory in the former, while senior Farish Beard recorded her third career no-hitter in the latter, in which the mercy rule was put into effect in the fifth inning.
 
Beard was credited with the game-three win to move to 3-0 on the week. McGill recorded her fourth save of the year in the contest, which was cut short due to heavy rain in the area after USA loaded the bases and went ahead, 7-2, in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Jaguar junior third baseman Emily Messer led USA at the plate on 10-for-15 (.667) over the week with nine runs scored and four RBI. The Mobile, Ala., native slugged one-thousand, stole three bases and recorded a .706 on-base percentage in four games. Senior Kaitlyn Griffith supplied nine RBI on three hits for the week, while sophomore Chloe Rathburn drove in six runs and drew five walks. Senior left fielder Blair Johnson scored four runs, including a pair of homers.
 
Beard finished the week 3-0 with 17 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings pitched, allowing six runs (all earned) on seven hits with seven walks. McGill was 1-0 with a pair of saves and only one earned run allowed in 11 2/3 and nine strikeouts.
 
Rathburn leads the club at the plate with a .402 batting average, 47 hits and 42 RBI. With a team-high 14 multiple-RBI games under her belt this season, the Mission Viejo, Calif., native is now 10 runs batted in away from tying the Jaguar single-season record set by former USA standout Brittany Fowler in 2011.
 
Rathburn made 17 consecutive starts at catcher for the Jaguars in the absence of senior Alex Breeden earlier this season, but the role behind the dish has been handed to 2014 all-SBC first-team outfielder Stephanie Pilkington over the last four games. Pilkington is second on the club in batting average (.382) and leads in on-base percentage (.510) with a team-high 27 walks.
 
Sophomore outfielder Amanda Minahan has reached safely in her last 15 appearances and has hit safely in nine of her last 10, including an explosive performance in USA's three-game league set versus Georgia State, in which she went 7-for-14 with eight RBI and five runs scored, including a pair of home runs.
 
Griffith leads the Jaguars with 11 homers on the year, which ties for the most in USA single-season history. The Centre, Ala., native has hit at a blistering pace in conference play with nine home runs for a team-high .957 slugging percentage.
 
USA (31-7, 14-3 SBC) is 16-4 at home and 9-2 in away games this season. The Jaguars are batting .326 overall with six starters hitting at over a .300 clip. The club also owns a .496 slugging percentage and .424 on-base percentage. South Alabama has outhit its opponents, 327-195, this year and outscored them, 227-116 this season.
 
The Jaguars are 1-2 versus Southeastern Conference opponents this season with a win over South Carolina and losses to No. 3 Alabama and No. 1 LSU.
 
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
Mississippi State (31-12, 9-9 SEC) has won eight of its last 12 contests and boasts a 19-6 record at MSU Softball Field this season. The Bulldogs most recently dropped a series at Missouri last weekend after defeating No. 1 LSU, 9-4, in a midweek clash in Starkville.
 
Sophomore infielder Caroline Seitz leads MSU in hits (50), doubles (13), home runs (11) and RBI (42). Sophomore Katie Anne Bailey has scored a team-high 32 runs and boasts a club-best six triples. Junior outfielder Loryn Nichols is a perfect 26-for-26 in stolen bases, while classmate Kayla Winkfield is close behind with 16 in 19 attempts.
 
Sophomore left-hander Alexis Silkwood is 22-9 in the circle for the Bulldogs with a team-low 2.51 ERA. Silkwood has thrown 18 complete games with five shutouts and two saves, while recording 172 strikeouts in 176 innings pitched.
 
Head coach Vann Stuedeman is in her fourth year at Mississippi State and owns a 135-81 career record.
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS MISSISSIPPI STATE
South Alabama leads the all-time series with Mississippi State, 3-2. USA has won its last three contests versus the Bulldogs after losing in the teams' first meeting in 2009, 5-2, in Starkville and dropping the next, 7-2, in Mobile at the 2012 Mardi Gras Invitational.
 
USA dropped the Bulldogs, 3-2, in Mobile in a midweek clash last season on April 9 and defeated them twice in 2013 – in the season-opener for both teams, 3-2, in Starkville at the Bulldog Kickoff Classic and 3-0 in the knockout stages of the 2014 NCAA Mobile Regional on May 18.

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).