MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama softball senior right-hander Devin Brown struck out 10 Western Kentucky batters and the Jaguars posted a five-run first to pick up an 8-0, six-inning win over the Hilltoppers Wednesday afternoon at Jaguar Field and extend its win streak to four games.

Lyric Cabral and Kamdyn Kvistad each recorded two hits and drove in three runs for South, while Brown also became the first pitcher in Jaguar history to eclipse the 800-strikeout mark for her career.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (14-11, 2-1 SBC) will step back into Sun Belt play this weekend as they travel to Georgia Southern for a three-game league series.  The two clubs will open up the series with a doubleheader on Saturday with a pair of games (12 p.m. and 2 p.m. [CT]) and then close out the series on Sunday with a single game scheduled to start at 11 a.m. (CT) at Eagle Field.  

Date: 3/14
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)
Final Score: South Alabama 8, (RV) Western Kentucky 0 [6 innings]
Records: South Alabama (14-11), Western Kentucky (17-9)

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-1 Inn. — USA, 2-0 —Kvistad single up the middle (2 RBI), scoring Haleigh Lowe (unearned) from third and Brittani Reid (unearned) from second
-1 Inn. — USA, 3-0 —Savanna Mayo single to right center (RBI), scoring Kristian Foster (unearned) from third
-1 Inn. — USA, 5-0 —Cabral double to center (2 RBI), scoring Kvistad (unearned) from third and Mayo (unearned) from first
-5 Inn. — USA, 6-0 —Cabral double to center (RBI), scoring Mayo (unearned) from first
-6 Inn. — USA, 7-0 —Katelyn Gruich single to right (RBI), scoring Lowe from third
-6 Inn. — USA, 8-0 —Kvistad single up the middle (RBI), scoring Foster from third

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-After Brown struck out the side in the top half of the first, the Jaguar offense sent 10 batters to the plate and erupted for five runs on four hits and on WKU error to take the lead and never looked back.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Brown (10-6) picked up her third-straight win and struck out 10 Hilltopper batters in her six innings of work.  Brown allowed just four base hits (all singles) and didn't issue a walk.
-Kvistad was 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and a run scored, while Cabral was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and two doubles.
-Foster and Mayo each had a hit and scored a pair of runs, while Lowe walked and scored twice.  Reid and Foster also reached with walks.
-Gruich also had a hit, a walk and an RBI, while MC Nichols reached base twice with a single and a walk to go along with a stolen base.
-WKU had four players – Jordan Vorbrink, Paige Carter, Brittany Vaughan and Kelsey McGruffin – combine to record all of the Toppers' hits in the contest.
-Haylee Towers (WKU) pitched four innings of three-hit relief, allowing just one unearned run.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-South Alabama sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning.
-Brown got ahead either 0-2 or 1-2 on the first eight batters she faced, and ended the game by recording nine 0-2 counts in the contest.  She also had 19 first-pitch strikes to the 24 batters that she faced and finished with a season-best 75.6 strike percentage.
-Brown recorded at least two strikeouts first, second, third and sixth innings.
-The Jaguars recorded six two-out RBI and was 6-for-12 at the plate versus the Toppers in two-out situations.  WKU was 1-for-9 in the same category against Brown.
-South was also 6-for-13 with runners on and 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position, while Western finished 1-for-9 with runners on.
-Western Kentucky used four pitchers in the contest.

GAME FACTS
-Brown set the tone in her first inning of work as she struck out the side in the opening frame.
-The Jaguar offense then followed Brown's quick start with one of their own as they sent 10 batters to the plate scoring five runs on four hits and one costly Topper error, and chased WKU starter Shelby Nunn (11-6) after just two-thirds of an inning.  South loaded the bases in the bottom half of the first and Kvistad delivered the first two-out RBI hit of the inning for the Jags as she lined a single back up the middle to plate Lowe and B. Reid.  Mayo followed with a RBI single to right center to bring in the third run of the inning (Foster), and Cabral closed out the scoring with a two-run double over Jordan Thomas' head in center to put the Jags up 5-0.
-South Alabama attempted to add to its lead in the second with a two-out double from Foster and a walk by Gruich, but Towers was able to get a ground out to end the inning.
-The Toppers tried to get something going in the fourth as they placed runners on first and second with two outs.  Vorbrink recorded the first hit of the contest for WKU with a single to shallow center.  Two batters later, Vaughan singled through the left side of the infield.  Brown though was able to get Kendal Smith swinging for her eighth strikeout of the game.
-WKU had another scoring chance in the top of the fifth placing runners at second and third with one out after an infield single and a Jaguar error.  Brown was able to retire the next two Topper batters though to get out of the jam.
-South added another unearned run in its half of the fifth to extend its lead to 6-0.  Mayo reached with two outs on a WKU fielding error and then came around to score on Cabral's second double to center and give the Jags the six-run advantage.
-Brown sat down three of the four Topper batters that she faced in the top half of the sixth, the last two swinging for her ninth and 10th strikeouts of the contest.
-WKU reliever Cassidy Blackford loaded the bases with three straight walks to Lowe, B. Reid and Foster to begin the bottom half of the sixth.  Gruich then plated the first run of the inning when she dropped in a single to right, bringing home Lowe to make it 7-0.  Kvistad registered her second game-winner as she singled up the middle for her third RBI of the contest, scoring B. Reid to end the game (8-0).

NOTES
-Western Kentucky entered the contest receiving votes in the Week 5 USA Today/NFCA Coaches Top 25 Poll.  The Toppers also entered the game with over 200 hits and 73 extra-base hits, ranked among the national leaders in six different offensive categories, but Brown held them to just four singles.  WKU entered the game batting .309 and had seven batters in its lineup with 20 or more hits and each hitting .304 or better.
-The meeting marked the first between the former Sun Belt Conference foes since the 2014 regular season.
-The game against Western Kentucky marked the third-straight midweek contest versus a Conference USA opponent for the Jaguars.
-With the win, South improved to 15-11 all-time versus the Toppers and it was the Jags' fifth-straight in the series.
-The strikeout of the side in the first inning marked the fourth time this season that Brown has done so.
-The 10-batter, first inning marked the third time this season that South has batted around in an inning.
-With Brown's strikeout of Vaughan in the top of the second, Brown became the first Jaguar pitcher to eclipse the 800-strikeout mark for her career.
-The 10-strikeout performance was Brown's third double-digit effort on the season and extended her program-best mark to 35 for her career.
-The complete-game shutout was Brown's second of the season and 28th of her career moving her into a tie with former Jag All-American and current South Alabama pitching coach Hannah Campbell for the program's mark of 28.
-Over her last 13 innings of work, Brown – who was named the Community Coffee Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday – has struck out 21 and not issued a walk.  Over her last six outings – a span of 29 innings – Brown has struck out 39 and walked just three.
-The 3 RBI by Kvistad tied a season high and the two-hit outing marked the fourth multi-hit game of the season for her.
-Cabral's two-hit performance was her third multi-hit contest of the year and the two doubles were also a season-best.  Coming into the game, Cabral had just one double on the year through her first 22 games.
-The run-rule win was the first of the season for the Jaguars and the first since defeating Troy 8-0 in five innings on the final day of the regular season last year.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
-On the win: "I thought today was a great day for us jumping out and putting up the five runs early.  We were able to give Devin [Brown] some breathing room.  I thought Devin was really good today moving the ball around and spinning it.  She kept [Western Kentucky] off balance and did it against a very good team.  I was proud of our effort."
-On offense being led by the younger players today: "I think they're starting to settle in a little bit and getting more comfortable.   They got pitches they could hit and weren't missing it.  I think they're doing a good job and getting a little more confidence and settling in a little more."
-On the game plan for Brown against the WKU lineup: "Our game plan is to always be aggressive early.  It's everything that we do.  We are always trying to get ahead and work ahead of hitters.  She did a great job of that today."
-On adjusting to WKU's reliever: "The only thing I'd like to have seen us do differently was make an adjustment to the second pitcher sooner.  It took us a little while to make the adjustment to her.  We finally broke through on that and got to the third and fourth pitcher.  I think we have to be a little better at adjusting earlier to that, but other than that I thought it was a pretty good game."

Devin Brown
-On reaching 800 career strikeouts: "It's pretty cool.  I'm very excited about it obviously. It's an exciting feeling, but to me it's about going out and winning.  I'm more excited that we won today and finally run-ruled somebody more than the 800 strikeouts."
-On scoring five runs early: "That's amazing because to me that gave us more momentum and allowed me to pitch without pressure."
-On their performance against a good WKU: "I think for us it's just another way of showing us that the work we are putting in is effective.  This shows us that we can compete against anybody."
-On attacking a good WKU offense: "Going in, we wanted to attack their offense every pitch and see if we could beat them."

Lyric Cabral
-On her performance today:  "I went to the plate trusting myself, doing what I've been taught and just tried to be relaxed."
-On the win: "That win was huge for us, especially how it ended.  We've been struggling all year offensively, so it was good to get the win and put those numbers on the board."
-On the offensive outburst today: "It boosts our confidence to show that we can do it.  That was our spark and we need to continue it."
-On getting off to a hot start with the five-run first: "It was huge.  All year we've been looking to back our pitchers up, especially at the beginning of the game.  I feel that Devin was more relaxed afterwards."

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

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