MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team will continue Sun Belt Conference play this weekend as the Jaguars travel to Statesboro, Ga., to take on Georgia Southern in a three-game series at Eagle Field.  

Game Notes (PDF)

GAMES: 26-28 | AT GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Venue: Eagle Field | Statesboro, Ga.

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: Sat., March 10 | 11 a.m. (CT)
Game 2: Sat., March 10 | 1 p.m. (CT)
Game 3: Sun., March 11 | 11 a.m. (CT)

GAME DAY INFORMATION
Television: None
Radio: 99.5 The Jag FM (Saturday games only)
Audio Stream: www.USAJaguars.com (Saturday Game 2 conclusion and Sunday game)
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: www.USAJaguars.com
Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | RPI: --
Record: 14-4, 2-0 SBC
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP) – .238 / .291 / .334
Runs Per Game: 3.1
Runs Per Game Allowed: 3.2

Georgia Southern EAGLES
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | RPI: --
Record: 17-7, 2-1 SBC
Head Coach: Kim Dean (Wisconsin-Parkside, '06)
Team Slash Line (AVG / OBP / SLG) – .297 / .451 / .361
Runs Per Game: 4.6
Runs Per Game Allowed: 3.2

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (14-11, 2-0 SBC) enters the SBC road series after winning its fourth-straight contest.  USA defeated Western Kentucky 8-0 in six innings at home on Wednesday afternoon.
– The Jaguars erupted for five runs in the first and rode the pitching of Devin Brown en route to the shutout victory.
– Two-out hitting was clutch for South in the win as the Jaguars recorded six two-out RBI and were 6-for-12 at the plate versus the Toppers in two-out situations.
– WKU entered the game ranked nationally in six different offensive categories, but Brown held the Toppers to just four hits and struck out 10 batters, recording multiple strikeouts in four of her six innings pitched.
– Brown also became the first Jag to eclipse the 800 strikeout mark for her career in the contest.  The senior right-hander got ahead in the count 0-2 to nine WKU batters and had 19 first-pitch strikes to the 24 batters that she faced to finish with a season-best 75.6 strike percentage.
– 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.
– Brown (10-6) has picked up a win in each of her last three outings, and holds a 2.04 earned run average and has struck out 105 in her 96.0 innings of work.  She is also holding opponents to a .207 batting average, and has four total shutouts this season.
– Brown's 105 strikeouts rank second in the SBC and 16th in the NCAA.  The Mobile native is also second in the league in strikeouts looking (33) wins, innings pitched, third in ERA and fourth in opposing batting average.
– South Alabama's offense was led by a pair of freshmen on Wednesday as Kamdyn Kvistad and Lyric Cabral each had a pair of hits and drove in three runs apiece.
– Cabral leads the club with 12 RBI, while Kvistad has driven in eight and drawn 13 walks – which is tied for fifth in the Sun Belt.
– Over her last three games, Kvistad is batting .556 and has driven in four.
– Brittani Reid continues to pace the Jags at the plate with a .318 average.  B. Reid also enters the weekend with a team-best .515 slugging percentage.  Of her team-high 21 hits, seven have gone for extra bases as she has three doubles, two triples and two home runs.
– Kaleigh Todd is second on the club in batting, hitting at a .268 clip.  Todd has six of USA's 14 steals this season to lead the team.
– Junior Alexis Reid has started 13 games for South this season and holds a 2.93 ERA entering the weekend.  She has struck out 45 in her 69.1 innings of work and has three total shutouts this season, including one no-hitter.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES    
– Georgia Southern (17-7, 2-1 SBC) comes into the weekend series versus the Jaguars with a four-game win streak as well, and seven of its last eight.
– The Eagles defeated UT San Antonio, 12-4, in six innings in game one, then downed host Central Florida, 7-1, in the second game of a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday in Orlando.
– GSU collected 29 hits in the two contest including four doubles and three home runs.
– Georgia Southern leads the Sun Belt in doubles (37) also ranks second in the league in home runs (21).  The Eagles have recorded a combined 61 extra-base hits in their 204 hits on the year.
– GSU also leads the conference in hits and total bases (310) are second in slugging percentage (.451), and third in both batting average (.297) and runs driven in (104).
– Offensively, the Eagles are led by the quartet of Alesha Mann, Hannah Farrell, Logan Harrell and Shelby Wilson.
– Mann is 10th in the SBC in hitting (.368), and also ranks among the league leaders in slugging percentage (4th – .684), on-base percentage (9th – .455), runs scored (T-5th – 17), hits (T-5th – 28) RBI (T-10th – 15), total bases (3rd – 52), triples (T-1st – 2), walks (7th – 12) and home runs (T-3rd – 5).
– Farrell leads the conference in home runs with six and is fourth in total bases (49), tied for fourth in doubles (6) and sixth in slugging percentage (.645).
– Harrell also ranks among the SBC leaders in hits (T-3rd – 30), RBI (4th – 19), total bases (6th – 45)
– Wilson has scored 15 runs for the Eagles and driven in 17 – both of which rank in the top 10 of the league.  Her six doubles are tied with Farrell and her 13 walks are tied with USA's Kvistad.
– In the circle, Kierra Camp (9-4) has had a solid 2018 as she ranks among the conference leaders in several different statistical categories.  Camp currently holds a 2.41 ERA and in her 81.1 innings of work, she has struck out 44, including 14 looking.
– Camp has gone the distance in eight of her 14 starts.

THE SERIES VS. GEORGIA SOUTHERN    
– The series opener between South Alabama and Georgia Southern will mark the 10th in the all-time series between the two clubs.
– Georgia Southern's lone win to date in the series came in the series finale during the 2016 season when the Eagles picked up a 5-3 victory in Statesboro.
– South Alabama has outscored Georgia Southern 73-12 for an average of 9.4 runs per game to 1.3 runs.  The Jags have shutout the Eagles four times in the series.
– Last season, South won all three meetings in Mobile, outscoring GS 20-4 in those three contests.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. GEORGIA SOUTHERN    
Series: 8-1 (H: 6-0 / A: 2-1 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 8-1 (H: 6-0 / A: 2-1 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 3-0 (H: 1-0 / A: 2-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 4/11/15
Last Meeting: 4/30/17
Longest South Alabama Streak: 5 ('15-'16)
Longest Georgia Southern Streak: 1 ('16)
Current Streak: 3 by South Alabama
Last 5 – 4-1

LAST TIME THEY MET    
– South Alabama swept a three-game series to close out the 2017 home schedule, outscoring the Eagles 20-4 in the three-game set.
– The Jags took the opener 7-0, game two 6-2 and 7-2 in the final game of the series.
– Haleigh Lowe was instrumental in helping the Jaguars get the series sweep as she was 7-for-9 (.778) at the plate, while walking once, scoring four runs and stealing a pair of bases.  Lowe reached base in nine of her 10 plate appearances against the Eagles and had three multi-hit games en route to being selected as the Community Coffee Sun Belt Conference Co-Player of the Week.
– Todd was also 6-for-12 in the series and both Todd and Lowe, along with Amanda Minahan were 2-for-2 in stolen base attempts.  As a team, South Alabama was 8-for-8 in that category.
– Brown picked up a pair of complete-game victories for the Jags, including a shutout in the series opener.  In her 14 innings of work against Georgia Southern, Brown struck out 14 and allowed two unearned runs.
– As a team, the Jaguars batted .341 in the series, while the South pitching staff held the Eagles to a .197 average.

JAGUARS IN SUN BELT ROAD OPENING SERIES
– In its 11 previous seasons in the Sun Belt Conference, South Alabama holds a 7-4 mark in the first game of its first league road series and has won six of those 11 conference road series and tied one series.
– This will mark the first time that South Alabama has met Georgia Southern to open road conference play
– Last season, USA was swept 3-0 by Georgia State on the road in its first SBC series.
– South has dropped its last three SBC road openers and last three SBC opening series.

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—