STARKVILLE, Miss. – University of South Alabama senior right-hander Devin Brown became the program's all-time strikeout leader against Murray State Sunday as she moved into first place with eight strikeouts against the Racers to pass former Jag Beth Pilgrim.

The Jaguars (5-4) split the final day of the February Freezer hosted by Mississippi State at Nusz Park, falling 4-0 to Drake in game one of the day, but bouncing back with a 3-1 win over Murray State.

UP NEXT: South Alabama will return home for the first time since the opening day of the season when the Jaguars welcome No. 8/6 Florida State for a doubleheader.  First pitch for game one is set for 4 p.m. at Jaguar Field, while game two is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Date: 2/18
Place: Nusz Park (Starkville, Miss)

GAME 1 – South Alabama vs. Drake
Final Score: Drake 4, South Alabama 0
Records: Drake (6-2), South Alabama (4-4)

Box Score.pdf

SCORING PLAYS
-3 Inn. — Drake, 2-0 — Throwing error by Katelyn Gruich, allowing Mandi Roemmich and Tasha Alexander to score – both unearned
-4 Inn. — Drake, 4-0 — Taryn Pena home run to left (2 RBI), scoring Nicole Newman

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-With two on and two outs, the Jaguars look as if they might get out of the third unharmed and keep the game scoreless as Alexis Reid got a ground ball to third.  The ball was bobbled and then the throw to first was high pulling Jag first baseman Abby Krzywiecki off the bag allowing a pair of unearned runs to score for Drake.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-South Alabama only had three players record hits – Kaleigh Todd, Gruich and Krzywiecki.  
-Megan Harris, Kamdyn Kvistad and MC Nichols also reached base via walks.
-Drake's Pena was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI.  
-Roemmich and Alexander also had a hit and a run scored for the Bulldogs.
-Nicole Newman allowed just two hits and a pair of walks, while striking out seven in her five innings of work.
-Kaliee Smith pitched two inning of scoreless relief allowing a hit and a walk to go along with her three strikeouts.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Alexis Reid (2-2) held the Bulldogs hitless the first time through the order.
-After surrendering a leadoff walk to MC Nichols to start the third, Newman retired the next nine Jaguar batters that she faced before being replaced in the circle by Kailee Smith.
-Newman threw just 90 pitches in her five innings of work.

GAME FACTS
-The Jaguars put two on with one out in the top of the first, but left runners at the corners when Newman got Kristian Foster swinging.
-After missing a scoring opportunity the previous time up, Drake scored two unearned runs on two hits and a Jaguar error in the third.  Roemmich (double) and Alexander (single) reached with back-to-back one-out hits.  After being moved over to second and third on a groundout, the two Bulldog baserunners came around to score when Gruich initially mishandled a chopper and then her throw to first was high.
-Drake added two more runs its next time up. Newman walked to lead off the inning and then Pena homered off the scoreboard in left on the first pitch she saw from A. Reid to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead.
-After being retired in order the previous two innings, South had a scoring opportunity in its half of the sixth.  Kaleigh Todd singled to start the frame and Kvistad worked a two-out walk to put runners at first and second, but Smith was able to get Kristian Foster swinging to end the threat.
-Drake placed runners at the corners with two outs in the sixth, but the Jaguars were able to get the final out of the inning at home on a double steal attempt.

NOTES
-The game was the first-ever between the two clubs and the first against a Missouri Valley Conference member since the season
-With the two errors in the game, South Alabama has now committed multiple errors in its last three outings.  It was also the fourth game this season that USA has had two or more errors in a game.
-The shutout marked the second time this season that South Alabama has been held scoreless this season.
-The shutout was also Drakes of the season and second straight this weekend as they held Mississippi State scoreless on Friday night in a 1-0 victory.
-With her walk versus the Bulldogs, Kvistad extended her reached base safely streak to seven games, while Nichols has reached safely in her last five contests.

GAME 2 – South Alabama vs. Murray State
Final Score: South Alabama (5-4), Murray State 3-5
Records: South Alabama 3, Murray State 1

Box Score.pdf

SCORING PLAYS
-2 Inn. — USA, 1-0 — Morgan Lutticken (pinch hit) fielder's choice (RBI), scoring Savanna Mayo
-5 Inn. — USA, 2-0 — Brittani Reid solo home run to left (RBI)
-6 Inn. — MSU, 2-1 — Madison Culver double to center (RBI), scoring Brenna Finck (unearned)
-6 Inn. — USA, 3-1 — Lyric Cabral single to right (RBI), scoring Kristian Foster

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-Brittani Reid homered to left on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth to stake the Jags to a 2-0 advantage.  The home run would prove to be the eventual game-winning run as Murray State added a run in the sixth.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Todd, Foster and B. Reid each finished 2-for-3 at the plate, while the latter also scored a run and drove in a run.
-Foster and Mayo also scored a run, while Cabral had an RBI.
-Brown (3-2) recorded the 56th complete game of her career.  In her seven innings of work, Brown struck out eight and game up an unearned run on three hits.  She did not issue a walk in the outing.  With her eight strikeouts, Brown became South Alabama's career strike out leader.
-Madison Culver was 2-for-3 with a RBI for Murray State.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Olivia Suski (0-3) worked a 1-2-3 inning just using four pitches in the third.
-Murray State used three?? Pitchers in the contest.
-Of Brown's 98 pitches, 66 were for strikes.
-Of the 21 outs recorded by Brown, just one was a fly-ball out to an outfielder.
-South Alabama was 2-for-2 with runners at third and less than two outs against the Racers.

GAME FACTS
-Murray State put runners at second and third in the opening inning, but Brown was able to get strikeout and a ground out to end the inning.
-The Jaguars got on the scoreboard first with a run in the second.  With the bases loaded Lutticken plated Mayo with a fielder's choice to short.  Mayo had reached earlier in the inning on a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt.
-B. Reid led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot deep over the leftfield wall on the first pitch she saw from to put South Alabama up 2-0.
-Racer posted their first run of the game in the sixth.  Finck reached on a dropped ball at first on a ground out attempt and later moved to third.  With two outs, Culver lined a ball to the wall in center scoring Finck for an unearned run.
-The Jaguars got the run back in the bottom half of the sixth.  Foster led the frame off with a double to left and after being sacrificed to third by Mayo, the second baseman came in to score on Cabral's single to right.
-Brown closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to end the game.

NOTES
-With her strikeout of Lillie Goetz to end the top of the fourth inning, Brown tied Pilgrim's career mark for strikeouts with 735 for her career.  
-The next time up against the Racers, Brown captured the program mark with her strikeout of pinch-hitter Jenny Homann.  She now has 738 for her career.
-B. Reid's home run was the third of her career and the first of the season for South Alabama.  The home run snapped a streak of eight-plus games and 227 at-bats without a home run to start the season for the Jags.
-The multi-hit games for Todd and Foster were the 45th and 24th, respectively, of their careers.
-Todd batted in the two hole for South Alabama snapping a streak of 63-consecutive games in which she has batted in the leadoff spot for the Jaguars.  The last time that she was not in the leadoff spot for South was on May 13, 2016 against Georgia State in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.
-After starting 54 of the Jaguars' 55 games a year ago at third base, Savanna Mayo made her first start of the season at the position against the Racers.
-The one hour, 29 minutes marked the shortest game to date this season for South Alabama.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
-On today's game: "I think overall we didn't play incredibly great this weekend, but I feel we fought through it.  After the loss to Drake today, I told the team that they had to fight through it and keep playing because we are a better team than the way we are playing right now.  I thought the win against Murray State was a great team win; we got contributions from a lot of different people and we just have to stay locked into that.  I feel that game was a step forward for us going into this next week, which is a big week for us.  We just have to keep taking steps forward."
-On Devin Brown: "Devin's ability to move the ball and get the swing-and-misses is huge for us.  The overall steadiness and knowing what you are get when you put her on the mound is big for us.  She's able to make adjustments when she needs to, and she's a big piece of what we are able to do this season and what we've done the past three years."

Devin Brown
-On becoming the program's career strikeout leader: "I'm really excited to have achieved the honor.  I really hadn't been keeping track of it, but my dad has been.  I know my family's excited for me.  It's nice to have the record, but I'm happier that we were able to get the win."
-On the importance of closing out the weekend with the win: "I think that we had some stuff that we needed to figure out as a team, especially going into this weekend.  Coming out of it, I definitely think we took the steps forward that we needed to take.  The game against Murray State was the result of us coming together as a team and making those corrections."

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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