Games 11-14: South Alabama Invitational Game Notes
South Alabama Invitational Tournament Central

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team will host its third tournament in as many weeks this weekend at Jaguar Field.  The Jags will take on Tennessee Tech (4 p.m.) and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi (6:30 p.m.) on Friday and then face Middle Tennessee (2 p.m.) and Stephen F. Austin (7 p.m.) on Saturday.

Live stats for every game of the South Alabama Invitational can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com, while all games in which the Jaguars are competing will be live streamed on JagNation TV.  Fans can purchase tickets Friday-Sunday and that ticket will cover all games played on that particular day.  Tournament seating is $15 for reserved seating and $10 for general admission.

"This weekend I will be looking for us to be consistent and play complete games," South Alabama head coach Becky Clark said.  "We are working hard to build a 'compete every pitch' mentality so these games will be a continuation of that approach.  I thought over the last few games we picked up our intensity and I definitely expect that to continue."

South Alabama enters this weekend's home tournament after improving to 9-1 on the year as the Jags swept through the Mardi Gras Invitational last weekend at Jaguar Field.  USA picked up an 11-1 five inning victory over Jackson State on Sunday, a day after defeating McNeese State 1-0 in extra innings.

The 9-1 start for the Jaguars this season is tied for the program's best record after the first 10 games of the season.  USA also began the 2014 campaign with a 14-1 mark and the 2013 season with a 13-1 record and earned a berth in a NCAA Regional, while also reaching the championship game of the Sun Belt tournament each of those seasons, winning the title in 2013.

"Up to this point I think we have had some bright spots, but we still have areas that need to keep moving forward," Clark said.  "I don't see any glaring issues, but rather the majority of the things we are addressing are little things that can make a big difference in a winning or losing.  So right now we are addressing things more individually with our players and trying to help them on a person by person basis figure out areas they can improve on."

For their play, Devin Brown, Kristian Foster, MC Nichols and Haleigh Lowe were all named to the Mardi Gras Invitational all-tournament squad.

USA was originally scheduled to travel to No. 1 Florida State on Tuesday, but that game was postponed due to rain.  

South also received its first ranking on Tuesday as the Jags were ranked No. 24 in the latest FastPitch News Top 25 poll.  USA also received 10 votes in the USAToday / NFCA Top 25 poll and 5 votes in the Week 2 ESPN.com / USA Softball Top 25 poll on Tuesday.

Coming into play this weekend, the Jaguars rank first in the Sun Belt in batting average (.299) and third in hits in with 73.  As a team, USA has 12 doubles and five home runs.

Offensively the Jags are led by the trio of Nichols, Foster and Kaleigh Todd, all batting .400 or better.  Nichols leads the club with a .458 clip.  She would rank among the conference leaders in that category with a couple more plate appearances.  Nichols has a team-best three sacrifices.

Foster is second on the club and sixth in the Sun Belt with a .423 batting average.  Foster also ranks in the top 10 of the SBC in on-base percentage (fifth, .531), hits (tied-seventh, 11) and slugging percentage (ninth, .577).  Todd is hitting .400, which is tied for seventh, and her seven stolen bases are second-most in the conference.

Senior center fielder Amanda Minahan and freshman infielder Abby Kryzwiecki have done a good job of driving in runs.  Minahan has two home runs on the year and her 10 RBI rank third in the SBC.  Krzywiecki has three doubles and she has driven in six, which is tied with Haleigh Lowe and Savanna Mayo.

As has been for the past several seasons, pitching has been a staple for the Jaguars this season.  As a staff, USA they lead the SBC in earned run average (0.64), opposing batting average (.163) and strike outs (70).  Nationally, the Jags rank second in ERA, one spot behind Florida State.  South has allowed just six earned runs – 11 runs total – through its first 10 games.  USA also has five complete games during that same time.

Brown (4-1) leads the Sun Belt in ERA (0.57), opposing batting average (.115) and strike outs (53), while she has five complete games and four shutouts on the year.  In her 36.2 innings of work, she has allowed just three earned runs and 14 hits.  Her 2.67 hits per seven innings is 12th in the NCAA and her four shutouts are the most.  She is fifth in the nation in strikeouts, 12th in hits allowed and 37th in ERA.  She has recorded 12 strikeouts in a game on three occasions this season.

Senior pitcher Destin Vicknair has been just as solid in the circle as she has a 5-0 record.  Vicknair is just behind Brown in the league in ERA as she is second in the conference in at 0.80.   She also has three complete games and one shutout this season.  

Friday afternoon's opponent Tennessee Tech (1-8) enters the weekend tournament after falling to IUPUI on Sunday at the Chattanooga Challenge.  The Golden Eagles allowed three runs over the final two innings, including a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh.

Of TTU's eight losses, four have been decided by two runs or less.  The Golden Eagles have already faced one Sun Belt opponent this season, falling 8-7 to Georgia Southern during the opening weekend of the season at the Eagle Round Robin.

Senior infielder Gabby Perez leads the club with a .360 batting average.

Hallie Davis and Gabby LaSala pace the club and are tied for 30th in the NCAA with three home runs this season.  Davis also has two doubles and six RBI and a .704 slugging percentage.  LaSala recorded two of her three home runs against Chattanooga in TTU's lone win of the season, a 7-6 decision.  All three of LaSala's hits this season have gone over the fence and she leads the team with eight RBI and a 1.091 slugging percentage.

Tennessee Tech has struggled in the circle this season as it has a team earned run average of 5.84.  TTU has allowed 73 hits (8.11 per game) and 57 runs (6.33 per game).  Junior pitcher Taylor Waldrop has a team-best 3.44 ERA, while Danielle Liberatore has 17 strikeouts.  Opponents are batting .317, while the Golden Eagles are batting .211.

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi enters play this weekend with a 2-5 record on the year.  This will be A& - Corpus Christi's first action in over a week.  The Islanders are coming off split of a midweek doubleheader at Texas Southern on Feb. 15.  A&M-CC win the first game of the double header, 1-0, but dropped the second, 4-2.

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi was shut out its first four games of the year, including an 8-0 loss to Sun Belt member Texas State during the opening weekend at the Centurylink Classic in San Marcos.  

Kandace Johnson (.286) and Mackinzee Griebel (.263) pace the Islanders at the plate.  Johnson has two doubles and the club's lone home run.  Johnson and Mackinzee also have combined for all four of the team's RBI.

As a team, Texas A&M - Corpus Christi is hitting .181 through seven games, while opponents are hitting .310.

The Islanders have a team ERA of 4.78 and are led in the circle by senior Liz Carter.  Carter has a 4.20 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 25.0 innings of work.  

A&M - Corpus Christi lists just 12 players on its roster.

Middle Tennessee (6-3) after going 2-2 last weekend at the 2017 Lion Classic II hosted by Southeastern Louisiana.  MT picked up wins over Southeast Missouri (8-4) and Alcorn State (10-2 [6]), but dropped a pair of one-run decisions falling to SBC member Texas-Arlington (0-1) and tourney host Southeastern Louisiana (5-6).

The Raiders' midweek game against Morehead State was canceled in the second inning due to heavy rainfall.

MT is led at the plate by senior infielder Austyn Whaley and sophomore outfielder/catcher Kirstyn Cuccia.  Whaley is hitting .440 as she has 11 hits in her 25 at-bats.  Of her 11 hits, three have been doubles, one a triple and two home runs.  She also leads the team in runs scored (9) and RBI (12) and holds an .880 slugging percentage.  Cuccia is hitting .400 with a .533 slugging percentage and a .640 on-base percentage.  She has walked eight times, which are the most on the Raider roster.

Four other players are hitting above .300 – Morgan Harris (.370), Keely McGee (.364), Precious Birdsong (.353) and Summer Burgess (.348).  Lexi Cushing (.296) is just below .300 as she also has a team-high three home runs and 10 RBI.

The Raiders have a team earned run average of 2.35 and have struck out 38 and walked just 14 in 59.2 innings of work.  Among the starters in the circle, junior right-hander Gretchen Gree is 2-0 in three starts.  She has a complete game and a 2.06 ERA in 17.0 innings.  Cori Jennings is right behind her with a 2.33 ERA and a 3-2 record.  Jennings also has three complete-game efforts.

Stephen F. Austin (3-9) comes into the South Alabama Invitational after splitting a midweek doubleheader at Southern Mississippi on Wednesday.  SFA fell 6-2 the Golden Eagles in the opener, but picked up a 5-0 decision in the nightcap that was led by a five-run third inning.

Freshman utility player Kiriany Homberger has a team-best .417 batting average and a .563 on-base percentage.  Amber Landry has also been solid at the plate as she is batting .324 with a home run and four RBI.  Brittany Lewis is batting .306 and has a team-high two home runs and five RBI.

The Ladyjacks have yet to steal a base in 12 outings as they are 0-for-2 on the year in that category.

Junior right-hander Callee Guffey has been strong in the circle as she is posting a 1.24 ERA with a 2-2 record.  She has gone the distance in all four of her starts this season and in 29.0 innings of work, she has only allowed five runs – four earned – with 15 strikeouts.

As a staff, SFA has a team earned run average of 3.11.  Of the 39 runs given up, only 26 have been allowed.

 The meeting between South Alabama and Middle Tennessee will first meeting in the series since 2013, MT's last season in the Sun Belt.  The Jags hold a 15-8 advantage in the series with the Blue Raiders and a 6-4 record in games played at Jaguar Field.  It will also be the first meeting for the Jags against Texas A&M - Corpus Christi and Stephen F. Austin, while it will be just the second versus Tennessee Tech (USA, 1-0).

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).

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