Games 37-39: vs. Texas State Game Notes.pdf
2017 Softball Alumni Weekend List.pdf
GAMES: 37-39 | VS. TEXAS STATE
April 8-9, 2017 | Mobile, Ala. | Jaguar Field | 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 1 p.m.
Game Day Information
Television: None
Radio: None
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: www.USAJaguars.com
Twitter: @USAJagsSoftball
Ticket Information: Reserved seat tickets can be purchased for $8, while general admission seating is available for $5.
Promotions: "Alumni Reunion Weekend" (Saturday and Sunday) / Inaugural "Bark in the Park" (Sunday)
-- / -- South Alabama (24-12, 6-7 SBC)
JAGUARS
Batting Avg.: .280
Runs: 139
Runs Per Game: 3.9
Hits: 256
Home Runs: 16
Stolen Bases: 29
ERA: 2.23
Strikeouts: 219
-- / -- Texas State (26-8, 8-3 SBC)
BOBCATS
Batting Avg.: .251
Runs: 155
Runs Per Game: 4.6
Hits: 211
Home Runs: 29
Stolen Bases: 15
ERA: 1.37
Strikeouts: 247
Series History vs. Texas State
All-Time: TXST, 6-1
In Mobile: TXST, 1-0
Last Meeting: L, 6-0 – 5/12/16
Streak: L6
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
– South Alabama (24-12, 6-7 SBC) comes into the weekend series after winning its fifth-straight Wednesday night against Southern Mississippi with a 4-3 win.
– Trailing by three runs, the Jaguars used a four-run fourth inning to rally back. Abby Krzywiecki and Megan Harris each recorded an RBI, while Kristian Foster had the big hit of the inning with a two-run single to give USA the lead.
– With her two runs driven in against the Golden Eagles, Foster (.327) has now recorded 16 RBI in her last 14 games with five multi-RBI games during that stretch.
– She is second on the club with 25 RBI this spring. Entering the Texas State series, Foster has recorded at least one RBI in seven-straight outings, and two RBI in four of her last five.
– Kaleigh Todd also extended her reached-base safely streak to 15 games – two shy of tying a career high – with a base hit against USM.
– During that stretch, Todd has had a hit in all but two games, including six with two or more. The junior second baseman has a team-best 15 multi-hit outings this spring.
– Todd ranks among the conference leaders in hits (45, third), triples (3, third), stolen bases (16, third), runs scored (33, T-fourth) and batting average (.391, fifth).
– MC Nichols also sits among the Sun Belt leaders in batting average, hitting a .386 clip. Nichols' 32 hits are third-most on the Jag roster, two behind Foster (34).
– Like Todd, both Nichols (11) and Foster (10) have both had several multiple-hit outings.
– Senior outfielder Amanda Minahan paces the team in home runs (7) and RBI (31). She is fifth in the Sun Belt in runs driven in and tied for sixth in the league in home runs.
– Minahan currently has 24 career home runs as a Jag, which is tied with former Jag Haley Hopkins (2009-12) for fourth place on the program's all-time list. Minahan is just four away from the all-time mark of 28 set by Christin Crocker (2009-12).
– Last weekend at Appalachian State, Minahan moved into fifth-place on South Alabama's career RBI list as she now has 109. She is two back of Kaitlyn Griffith (111) who sits in fourth and 27 back of Brittany Fowler's all-time mark of 136.
– Devin Brown (13-6) picked up her fourth-straight complete-game win Wednesday against Southern Mississippi on Wednesday.
– The junior right-hander leads the Sun Belt in opposing batting average (.189), while also ranking among the conference leaders in several other categories – strikeouts (150, second), strikeouts looking (36, T-third), earned run average (1.85, fourth), hits allowed (88, sixth), runs allowed (35, sixth) and earned runs allowed (34, seventh), among other categories.
– Brown also ranks among the NCAA leaders in shutouts (9, third), strikeouts (18th), hits allowed (56th), strikeouts per 7 innings (8.2, 43rd) and ERA (86th).
– Senior pitcher Destin Vicknair has been solid in the circle this season as she holds a 10-5 record and a 2.29 ERA. Vicknair has eight complete games in her 16 starts, while also registering a total of three shutouts – two solo and one combined.
– Vicknair has also seen time as the designated player in the Jaguar lineup as of late. In her seven games in that role this season, Vicknair is batting .333 with five hits, while also walking four times in her 19 total plate appearances.
– Against App State on Sunday, Vicknair blasted her first career home run in a South Alabama uniform – a two-out solo shot in the third inning of the series finale.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
– Texas State (26-8, 8-3 SBC) enters the weekend sitting in third place in the Sun Belt standings.
– On Wednesday, the Bobcats completed the season sweep of in-state rival Texas with a 2-1 ninth-inning walk-off win. The season sweep of the Longhorns was the first for Texas State since the 2000 season, was the Bobcats third straight against UT.
– TXST loaded the bases with one out in the final frame on a pair of singles and a fielder's choice and Jalen Young delivered a single to left to plate the winning run.
– Last weekend, the Bobcats dropped their first Sun Belt series of the spring to Georgia State in San Marcos. The Panthers took games one (5-3) and three (4-0), while Texas State won game two (7-5).
– Ariel Ortiz ranks in the Top 10 in the Sun Belt in numerous categories – second in slugging percentage (.798) and RBI (37), third in home runs (11) and total bases (83), tied for fourth in doubles (9) and triples (2) and 10th in batting average (.356) and hits (.37).
– Ortiz also sits among the NCAA leaders in home runs (16th), home runs per game (18th), total bases (20th), RBI (24th) and slugging percentage (26th).
– The junior shortstop has been even better in Sun Belt play as she is batting .436 in her 11 games and five of her 11 home runs and 18 of her RBI have come in league play, and holds a 1.026 slugging percentage.
– Young also ranks among the conference leaders in a few categories as she is fourth in home runs with nine, which is also 32nd-best in the NCAA, and eighth in both slugging percentage (.644) and total bases (58).
– The Bobcats are tied with Coastal Carolina for second in the league in home runs (29) and also rank second in sacrifice hits (31), sacrifice flies (13) and walks (142).
– As a team, Texas State is first in the SBC in earned run average (1.37), opposing batting average (.203), runs allowed (63) and walks allowed (43), while also ranking second in strikeouts (246), strikeouts looking (70) and hits allowed (173). The Bobcats currently hold the seventh-best team ERA in the NCAA.
– Randi Rupp (16-5) – the reigning pitcher of the year and two-time pitcher of the week this spring – leads the Sun Belt in five different pitching categories coming into the weekend – ERA (1.12), strikeouts (178), strikeouts looking (61), wins, and earned runs allowed (22).
– Rupp is 11th nationally in strikeouts, 20th in shutouts (5), 22nd in ERA and 26th in strikeouts per 7.0 inn. (9.0). Rupp has also combined on two other shutouts bringing her total to seven this season.
– On Wednesday, Rupp went the distance and recorded her 800th career strikeout, only the fourth Bobcat to ever do so.
– Senior pitcher Quincy Charleston has also been strong in the circle as she holds a 1.28 ERA – 31st in the NCAA – and a 5-1 record in her 17 appearances and four starts. Charleston has also combined on three shutouts this spring.
THE SERIES
– South Alabama and Texas State have met seven previous times with the Bobcats holding a 6-1 advantage in the all-time series.
– USA one the first meeting in the series (8-0), but Texas State has since won the last six, including a 5-0 victory over the Jags in their opener at last season's Sun Belt Conference Championships.
– Since scoring eight runs in the very first meeting, South has scored just five over the last six and has been shutout in each of the last three contests in the series.
– The Bobcats hold a 1-0 record in Mobile against the Jaguars.
– This season will mark Texas State's first regular-season trip to Mobile.
LAST TIME THEY MET
– Second-seeded South Alabama was shut out, 5-0, by third-seed Texas State in the second round of the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Championships at Jaguar Field.
– Texas State right-hander Randi Rupp earned the complete-game victory after striking out eight Jags against two walks, while scattering eight hits.
– Kimberlin Naivar led the Bobcats at the plate on 3-for-4 hitting with two runs scored and Taylor Webb was 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI and a run scored. Corrina Liscano went 1-for-2 with a run and two walks.
– Jaguar third baseman Emily Messer went 3-for-4 to lead USA. Kaleigh Todd, Stephanie Pilkington, Haleigh Lane, Kristian Foster and Alex Breeden each recorded hits, as the Jags outhit Texas State, 8-7, but left 11 runners on base.
– Texas State took a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning, beginning with Ariel Ortiz's sacrifice fly, which plated Kelli Baker, who got on with a one-out double. Webb then supplied a two-out double to left center, scoring Naivar and Baker. Kendall Wiley put the Bobcats ahead four runs with a run-scoring base hit down the right field line to plate Webb.
– USA answered by loading the bags in the bottom of the third after Messer and Todd got on with back-to-back singles and Pilkington reached on a fielding error, but Rupp struck out a pair of Jags to escape the jam. – The Bobcats tacked on a fifth and final run in the top of the seventh when Ortiz lifted another sacrifice fly to score Naivar, who reached on a one-out triple to right center.
– As was the story for most of the game, South stranded two runners on in each of the final three innings.
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
