MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team opened up Sun Belt Conference play with a doubleheader sweep of UT Arlington as the Jaguars recorded a pair of walk-off wins to get the Saturday sweep at Jaguar Field.  

Abby Krzywiecki delivered a seventh-inning pinch-hit RBI single in the opener to give South the 1-0 victory, and freshman catcher Kamdyn Kvistad blasted her first career home run in the second game to give USA a 3-2 win.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (13-11, 2-0 SBC) and UTA (9-11, 0-2 SBC) are scheduled to conclude the three-game set Sunday.  Due to the possibility of inclement weather, first pitch of the series finale has been moved to 10 a.m.

Date: 3/10
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

Game 1
Final Score: South Alabama 1, UTA 0
Records: South Alabama (12-11, 1-0 SBC), UTA (9-10, 0-1 SBC)

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-7 Inn. — USA, 1-0 —Krzywiecki (pinch hitter) singles through the left side of the infield (RBI), scoring Taylor Stevens (pinch runner)

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Jag pinch hitter Abby Krzywiecki came through with a run-scoring single through the left side of the Maverick infield, plating pinch runner Taylor Stevens to give South Alabama the 1-0 win.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Krzywiecki recorded a single and drove in the game-winning run in her only plate appearance.
-Kaleigh Todd and Kvistad were each 2-ofor-3 at the plate in the opener.  Dayla Gulledge and Brittani Reid also had a hit in the contest.
-Devin Brown (8-6) allowed just the one hit and struck out nine in her seven innings of work.
-Whitney Walton recorded the lone hit of the game for UTA with a double.
-Jojo Valencia (4-7) allowed just the one run on seven hits and didn't issue a walk in her six innings

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Brown retired the first 13 batters that she faced.
-The Jaguar senior also recorded first-pitch strikes to 19 of the 24 UTA batters that she faced and got ahead 0-2 to nine batters.
-In addition to her two strikeouts, Valencia also recorded 10 ground-ball outs.
-Both pitchers threw 88 pitches in the contest with Brown tossing 64 for strikes and Valencia throwing 55 strikes.

GAME FACTS
-Jaguars put multiple runners on in the bottom of the first.  Todd led off the inning, but was caught stealing.  B. Reid then singled back up the middle and Kristian Foster was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second, but Valencia was able to get a fielder's choice out to end the inning.
-Kvistad reached with a one-out single in the second, but that would be the last Jag baserunner over the next three innings as Valencia retired 11 straight Jag batters until Todd's infield single to start the sixth.  
-After Brown had retired the first 13 Maverick batters of the game, UTA's Raegan Wright and Madison Miller were both hit by pitches to put two on and two out, but Brown was able to get Laura Curry to fly out to center to end the frame.
-Todd recorded her second hit of the contest to begin South's half of the sixth and moved into scoring position on Haleigh Lowe's sacrifice bunt, but Valencia was able to retire the next two Jaguar batters to keep the game scoreless.
-UTA puts two on with one out in the seventh.  Walton led off the inning with a double off the wall in left.  After a failed sacrifice attempt, Wright was hit
-In the bottom half of the seventh, Kvistad got a two-out rally started for South Alabama as she singled through the left side of the infield.  Gulledge then dropped in a single just inside the right field line, allowing Stevens to race around to third.  Stevens was pinch running for Kvistad on the play.  Krzywiecki then stepped to the plate and lined a 2-2 pitch from Valencia through the left side bringing in Stevens from third to give the Jags the 1-0 walk-off win.

NOTES
-Kvistad made her second start behind the plate this season, and Gulledge made her first start of the season in the designated player position.  It was Gulledge's first start since game one of a doubleheader at Troy (5/7) during the final regular-season weekend last season.
-UTA's first baserunner (Wright) came on a hit-by-pitch when Brown was ahead in the count (1-2).  Three of the Mavericks four base runners in the contest came via hit-by-pitch.
-The win was the first walk-off win of the season for South Alabama.
-South also improved to 9-3 all-time in SBC openers on its home field and have won seven of their last eight

Game 2
Final Score: South Alabama 3, UTA 2
Records: South Alabama (13-11, 2-0 SBC), UTA (9-11, 0-2 SBC)

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-3 Inn. — UTA, 1-0 — Sandra Mendoza sacrifice fly to center (RBI), scoring Laura Curry
-3 Inn. — USA, 2-1 —Lowe single to right (2 RBI), scoring Stevens (pinch runner) and MC Nichols
-5 Inn. — UTA, 2-2 — Mendoza double to left center (RBI), scoring Curry
-7 Inn. — USA, 3-2 — Kvistad solo home run to left center (RBI)

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-With the game tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Kvistad led off the inning and blasted a 2-1 pitch deep over the wall in left center to give South Alabama its second walk-off win of the day.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Lowe had a hit and drove in a pair of runs in her three at-bats, while Gruich was 1-for-1 in her lone credited at-bat.  Gruich was also hit by a pair of pitches.
-Kvistad recorded her first career home run and game-winning RBI.
-Brown (8-6) entered in relief in the sixth and picked up her second win of the day, allowing just one hit and struck out two in her two innings of work.
-Curry was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate for the Mavericks and scored both of their runs.  She also had three of UTA's five stolen bases.
-Mendoza recorded a hit and scored both runs for the Mavs.  Krista Rude, Walton and Wright also had a hit in the contest.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Jag starter Alexis Reid went five-plus innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits, while striking out four and walking one.
-UTA's Randi Phillips (4-4) took the loss after allowing three runs on three hits.  She struck out a pair of Jag batters and walked three.
-UTA recorded five stolen bases in the game.

GAME FACTS
-Gruich reached second on a one-out double in the bottom of the second to put a runner in scoring position for the Jaguars.  Gruich was initially called out on the play as UTA second baseman Sandra Mendoza was originally ruled to have caught the pop up, but after an umpires meeting, Mendoza was ruled to have lost control of the ball and Gruich was awarded second base.  Phillips though retired the next two batters to keep the game scoreless.
-UTA manufactured a run in the third to take the early lead.  Curry led off the inning with a bunt single.  She then stole second to move into scoring position.  She was sacrificed over to third and then came around to score on Mendoza's sac fly to center, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
-South answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.  Krzywiecki and Nichols walked to lead off the inning.  Todd then moved the runners up with a sac bunt of her own and Lowe delivered a single to right to plate the two Jaguar runs (2-1).
-Jags had a chance to extend their lead in the fourth as Gruich was hit by a pitch and Kvistad worked a two-out walk, but both runners were left on base as Phillips got a pop out to end the inning.
-The Mavericks tied the game back up at 2-2 on Mendoza's two-out double to the left center gap, which scored Curry from second.  Curry singled up the middle with one out and then moved into scoring position with her second stolen base of the game.
-Walton walked to lead off the sixth for the Mavericks, and Brown entered in relief of A. Reid with a runner on.  Brown got Wright to pop up a sac bunt attempt and then was helped out by her defense as Savanna Mayo started a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
-Curry reached on a one-out bunt single in the top of the seventh and moved into scoring position with another steal, but Brown got Brittany Willie to ground out to third and Mendoza to pop out to short to end the frame.
-After having quality at-bats earlier in the game and just missing a home run her previous time up, Kvistad lifted a 2-1 offering from Phillips that landed deep over the wall in left center for her first career home run.

NOTES
-Entering play today, South Alabama had not recorded a walk-off win, but had two in the doubleheader.
-With her 11 strikeouts in her two outings on Saturday, Brown is now just four strikeouts shy of becoming the first Jag to reach 800 for her career.
-The three stolen bases by UTA's Curry are the most allowed by South Alabama in a game since ULM''s Rochelle Roberts matched the total on March 15, 2015.
-The five stolen bases matched the most allowed the season by South to an opponent (Mississippi State).
-Kvistad's home run was the first of her collegiate career and the first walk-off home run for South since Mayo's run-rule walk-off versus Alabama State on Feb. 12, 2017.  It was the first walk-off to win a game since Amanda Minahan vs. Kennasaw State on April 30, 2016.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- Opening statement: "It was a great start [to conference play] for us.  I'm excited for our players.  I love them hanging in there with an opportunity presenting itself and coming on in the clutch.  Abby [Krzywiecki] came off the bench, got a pitch she could hit and did something with it.  The people in front of her were able to get on base to give her that opportunity and that was huge.  I thought Devin [Brown] pitched a great game in that first game only allowing the one hit.  In the second game, I've been waiting for Kam [Kvistad] to get into something.  She got a count and a pitch she could do something with and she knew what to do with it."

-On Kivstad getting going today: "It's been there.  I think that's huge to give her a chance to get that under her belt and get something going and get a little momentum.  She's a great hitter and she's going to have an amazing career here.  To see her breakthrough, I thought that was big for her."

-On what the team did well today: "We competed as a team.  I thought all the way around you had people coming in off the bench and do big things. The pitchers were doing what they needed to do.  I thought today was the epitome of two great team wins."

Kamdyn Kvistad
-On hitting the walk-off home run: "It was great.  It was an exciting game for us.  We battled through the whole game and there were so many emotions going through everybody.  I was looking for a good pitch to hit and wasn't looking to do anything special with it.  I was just looking to drive through a ball for a base hit.  It felt good coming off the bat.  I was seeing the ball well today and I finally put two-and-two together and got a hold of one."

-On what that type of moment does for her: "It just gives me a lot of confidence.  I know what kind of hitter I am, what my abilities are and every at-bat I work hard.  Finding a good pitch to drive is the main goal and hit it the best that I can."

-On what the team needs to do going forward: "We have to keep being aggressive offensively and defensively.  Our team has the ability to go far this year.  We have to keep battling and working hard off the field.  Starting conference play 2-0, I'm excited to see what this team can do the rest of this year."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_Jags. 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—