MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama will head out on the road this weekend for the first of four non-conference tournaments when the Jags compete at the Friends of Jaclyn Invitational held at Soldier's Creek Park in Winter Springs, Fla., and hosted by Central Florida.

The Jaguars (0-1) will open up tournament play on Saturday when they take on Providence at 10 a.m. (CT) and then face Illinois later in the day at 3 p.m. (CT).  USA will also take on Butler (8:30 a.m.) and North Florida (11 a.m.) on Sunday.

Friends of Jaclyn Invitational Game Notes.pdf

GAMES: 2-5 | FRIENDS OF JACLYN INVITATIONAL
Feb. 10-11, 2018 | Winter Springs, Fla. | Soldier's Creek Park
Saturday - Providence vs. South Alabama - 10 a.m. (CT)
Saturday - South Alabama vs. Illinois - 3 p.m. (CT)
Sunday - Butler vs. South Alabama - 8:30 a.m. (CT)
Sunday - South Alabama vs. North Florida - 11 a.m. (CT).

GAME INFORMATION
Television: None
Radio: None
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: None
Twitter: @USAJagsSoftball

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: No. -- | USA: No. --
Record: 0-1, 0-0 SBC
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .273 / .390 / .377

Providence FRIARS
NFCA: No. -- | USA: No. --
Record: 0-0, 0-0 Big East
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .293 / .442 / .390
Series History: First Meeting

Illinois FIGHTING ILLINI
NFCA: No. RV | USA: No. RV
Record: 0-0, 0-0 Big 10
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .303 / .454 / .377
Series History: USA leads 2-0
In Winter Springs: 0-0
Last Meeting: 3/9/14
Current Streak: USA 2

Butler BULLDOGS
NFCA: No. -- | USA: No. --
Record: 0-0, 0-0 Big East
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP)
.274 / .388 / .359
Series History: USA leads 2-0
In Winter Springs: 0-0
Last Meeting: 2/11/17
Current Streak: USA 2

North Florida OSPREYS
NFCA: No. -- | USA: No. --
Record: 0-0, 0-0 ASUN
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .295 / .397 / .360
Series History: First Meeting

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (0-1, 0-0 SBC) comes into the Friends of Jaclyn Invitational after dropping its season opener, 1-0 at home to No. 10 Alabama.
– The Jaguars were held to three hits, but managed to get seven runners aboard in the contest.
– USA had scoring opportunities in the third, fourth and fifth innings as it was able to get the leadoff batter aboard in each inning.  South also had two on and just one out in both the third and fifth innings, but was unable to push across any runs.
– Alexis Reid entered in relief in the fifth inning and pitched 2.1 innings of one-hit ball in relief.  
– Alabama's lone run in the contest came in the third on a one-out RBI ground out to first with the bases loaded.
– MC Nichols, Brittani Reid and Lyric Cabral each recorded a hit a piece for the Jaguars' three hits on the night.
– Todd moved into a tie for eighth place on South's walks list as she now has 62 for her career.
– Devin Brown (0-1) is just 28 strikeouts away from tying the program's career strikeout mark as she has 707 entering the weekend.

SCOUTING THE FRIARS    
– Providence (0-0, 0-0 Big East) will open the season on Friday at the Friends of Jaclyn Invitational against Illinois and North Florida, before facing South Alabama on Saturday.
– Offensively, the Friars return three hitters who each batted over .300 a year ago.
– Senior Julianne Rurka – a second-team all-Big East selection last season – posted a  .388 batting average with 19 hits, four doubles, two home runs and 21 RBI in conference play. Rurka also ranked fourth in the Big East in batting average (.328) and fourth in RBI (34).  
– Emma Lee – also a second-team all-Big East honoree – led the Friars in hits (65) and doubles (15), while she was second in batting average (.361).  Lee ranked second in the Big East in runs scored and was fourth in hits.
– Senior outfielder Brittney Veleralso batted .320 with 48 hits, 30 runs scored and 13 doubles, which was second-best on the club, during the 2017 season.

THE SERIES    
– The meeting between South Alabama and Providence will mark the first in the all-time series between the two clubs.

SCOUTING THE ILLINI    
– Illinois (0-0, 0-0 Big 10) comes into the season receiving votes in both major polls.
– The Illini will open up the 2018 campaign on Friday against Providence and North Florida before facing South Alabama.
Last season, Illinois finished fourth in the Big 10 and recorded 39 wins, while advancing to its sixth NCAA Regional.
– The Fighting Illini are led by third-year head coach Tyra Perry who has familiarity with South Alabama as she faced the Jags while at both Birmingham Southern and Western Kentucky.
– IU returns three of its top four hitters from a year ago, led by Annie Fleming who batted .347 and had a .532 slugging percentage.  
– Fleming – an NFCA Third-Team all-region selection – scored 43 runs and 22 of her 66 hits were for extra bases.  Fleming also drove in 36.
– Kiana Sherland was close behind Fleming with a .343 batting average, while her 71 hits led the club and were tied for sixth in the Big 10.  She was also 17-for-20 in stolen base attempts, which was tied for fifth best in the league.
– Stephanie Abello batted .307 in 2017 and led the club with 13 home runs, to go along with her 41 RBI.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. ILLINOIS    
Series: 2-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 2-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 1-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 1-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 3/8/14
Last Meeting: 3/9/14
Longest South Alabama Streak: 2 ('14)
Longest Illinois Streak: --
Current Streak: 2 by South Alabama

THE SERIES    
– The meeting between South Alabama and Illinois will mark the third in the all-time series between the two clubs.
– The lone two meetings between the two clubs came back during the 2014 season when they met at the Parent's Weekend Tournament hosted by Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla.
– The Jaguars took both of those contest defeating the Ilini 5-3 in the first game and then taking a 5-2 decision in extra innings in the second.

Last 5 – 2-0

THE JAGUARS VS. THE BIG 10    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 6-2 (.750) against current Big 10 Conference members.
– Along with Purdue (3), Illinois is the only other Big 10 member that the Jaguars have met on multiple occasions.
– Last season, South Alabama defeated the Boilermakers (5-2) at the Diamond 9 Citrus II Classic in Kissimmee, Fla.
– South Alabama is also scheduled to meet league member Minnesota (2/23) later this season.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS    
– Butler (0-0, 0-0 Big East) will open up play at the UCF tournament against Louisville and the host Knights on Friday, and North Carolina and North Florida on Saturday before facing South Alabama.
– The Bulldogs return 14 letterwinners, including All-Big East second-team selections Kaitlin Doud and Jenna Foreman.
– In 51 games, Foreman led the Bulldogs with a .371 batting average, which was fifth in the conference and her 30 stolen bases were a new Butler single-season record
Foreman's 57 hits on the season were fourth in the Big East to go along with her 18 multi-hit games.
– Doud was Butler's most consistent pitcher last season, while also providing power in the middle of the lineup, earning all-conference second team honors as a utility player.  Doud batted .267 a year ago and led the team with a 3.73 earned run average.
– Sarah Dixon (.331) and Madi Christiansen (.308) also hit better than .300 last season.  Dixon also had 18 extra-base hits and her 83 total bases led the club.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. BUTLER    
Series: 2-0 (H: 2-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/14/15
Last Meeting: 2/17/17
Longest South Alabama Streak: 2 ('15-'17)
Longest Butler Streak: --
Current Streak: 2 by South Alabama

THE SERIES    
– The meeting between South Alabama and Butler will mark the third in the all-time series between the two clubs.
– The first meeting between the two clubs came during the 2015 season when the Jaguars picked up a 9-4 win in Mobile at the Mardi Gras Invitational.
– South then captured a 2-0 victory over the Bulldogs last season in Mobile at the Sand Dollar Classic during the opening weekend of the season.

Last 5 – 2-0

THE JAGUARS VS. THE BIG EAST    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 6-0 (1.000) against current Big East Conference members.
– The two meetings against Butler are the most by the Jaguars against a current Big East member.
– South picked up a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs last season at the Mardi Gras Invitational in Mobile, Ala.

SCOUTING THE OSPREYS    
– North Florida (0-0, 0-0 ASUN) will open the 2018 season this weekend at the Friends of Jacklyn Invitational, taking on Illinois and Providence on Friday, and Louisville and Butler on Saturday before taking on the Jaguars.
– Junior Navia Penrod was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year in the Atlantic Sun, while teammates Dominica Cocuzza and Kayla McGory each received all-conference recognition.
– Last season, Penrod ranked 30th in the nation batting .422 and finished sixth in the country with 87 hits.  She also scored a team-best 50 runs, while knocking in 28 to earn NFCA All-Region team and First-Team ASUN All-Conference honors.
– McGory was the 2017 ASUN Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman and earned a spot on the ASUN all-Freshman Team after ranking third in the league for RBI (47) and batted .362 which was second on the team.  McGory posted a team-best 12 multi-RBI games including four with three or more, while also boasting 39 walks to rank second in the conference.
– Cocuzza recorded a .352 average and ranked 30th in the country and third in the ASUN with 16 doubles.  She led the team with 48 RBI to rank second in the league to go along with 62 hits. Cocuzza had 19 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI contests to go along with six home runs and a team-leading .557 slugging percentage.

THE SERIES    
– The meeting between South Alabama and North Florida will mark the first in the all-time series between the two clubs.

THE JAGUARS VS. THE A-SUN    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 14-1 (.933) against current Atlantic Sun Conference members.
– The six meetings versus Lipscomb are the most against any current A-Sun member.
– The last time USA faced an A-Sun member was back during the 2016 season when the Jaguars faced Kennesaw State in Mobile, Ala.

PREVIEWING THE WEEKEND
Head coach Becky Clark
-On this weekend's tournament and bouncing back from the opener: "This is a big weekend for us, we are going to play some good teams down there.  For us, we just have to compete every pitch.  Against Alabama, I felt like we got caught in between some pitches and weren't as aggressive as we needed to be.  When we're aggressive and going after the other team, we're really, really good.  I felt like we got caught in between too much in our last game and that's something going down to Orlando that we need figure that part out.  If we do that, we can be a good team."

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

—USA—