Box Score - South Alabama 5, Appalachian State 3.pdf
BOONE, N.C. – The University of South Alabama softball team completed the Sun Belt Conference series sweep Sunday afternoon with a 5-3 win over Appalachian State at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium.
"Anytime you get road wins in conference you have to be please with that," South Alabama head coach Becky Clark said. "I was glad to see us come up here and take care of business. We've got to keep this forward momentum and lock into what we've created for ourselves from an execution, fight and mentality standpoint. Staying locked into that is the biggest thing for us. We need to stay locked in every single inning and every single pitch; we've just got to keep working."
South Alabama (23-12, 6-7 SBC) will now return home to host Southern Mississippi on Wednesday night with first pitch set for 6 p.m. at Jaguar Field. Live stats and web streaming can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com. Fans can also keep up with in-game Twitter updates via the softball program's official handle, @USAJagsSoftball.
Destin Vicknair, Kaleigh Todd and Savanna Mayo each recorded multi-hit performances in Sunday's win, while Haleigh Lowe was 1-of-1 with a pair of walks. Vicknair was 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Todd and Mayo were each 2-for-4. Kristian Foster drove in two runs in the finale and finished the series with five RBI. Amanda Minahan and Morgan Lutticken also had a hit and a RBI against the Mountaineers.
Devin Brown (12-6) won her third-straight and went the distance for her 14th complete game of the season. In her seven innings of work, Brown allowed three runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out five.
First baseman Haley Stewart was the lone Appalachian State (12-21, 0-9 SBC) player to record more than one hit as she finished the day 2-for-3 with a RBI. Katie Mathewson drove in both her runs on her first home run of the season in the fourth.
App State starter Katie Williford (1-1) took the loss and lasted just 2.2 innings and gave up two runs on four hits. Annaleise Kennedy pitched 1.1 innings in relief and allowed three runs on four hits, while Kenzie Loganecker closed out the game with three scoreless innings.
The Jaguars struck first with a run in the top of the second. Vicknair walked on four-straight to start things off and Mayo then reached on a swinging-bunt single. The duo was moved into scoring position one batter later on Abby Krzywiecki's sacrifice bunt, setting the table for Lutticken. The freshman catcher making just her second start behind the plate lined a solid single to center, scoring Vicknair. USA threatened to add to its lead, loading the bases with just the one out, but Williford was able to get Todd to line out to second and get Megan Harris swinging to end the inning.
South added to its lead in its next at-bat. With two away in the inning, Vicknair drove a 1-1 offering from Williford deep over the wall in straight-away center for her first home run as a Jag and giving USA a 2-0 advantage.
Lowe and Lane sparked the Jag offense in the fourth when they reached on back-to-back one-out infield singles. The single by Todd extended her reached base safely streak to 14 games. After moving around to second and third on a ground out, Foster delivered a two-run single to center and advanced to second on the throw home. With the two-run base hit, Foster has now recorded 14 RBI in her last 13 games.
Foster then stole third and came around to score South's third run of the inning on Minahan's RBI single, extending the Jaguar advantage to 5-0.
In the home half of the fourth, App State answered back with two runs of its own. Natalie Orcutt worked a full-count walk after a nine-pitch at-bat to begin things and drew a leadoff walk. Two batters later, Mathewson cut the Jag advantage to three (5-2) when she drove a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left for a two-out, two-run home run. It was her first home run of the season.
The Mountaineers made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh as they scored a run and brought the tying winning run to the plate. Ally Walters led off the inning with a single to center and two batters later, Dodd singled through the right side of the infield. Brown then got Keri White to strike out looking, but Stewart lined a double to left to bring around Walters and cut the deficit to 5-3. With two outs and the winning run at the plate, Brown was able to get pinch-hitter Taylor Rivenburgh to pop out to Todd at second to end the game.
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).
Join the Bullpen Club, the softball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. Members have access to purchase parking passes and receive Jaguar Softball gear. All donations to the Bullpen Club go directly to support the South Alabama softball program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/bullpenclub
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