Box Score LAKE CHARLES, La. – Trailing by a run entering the inning, the University of South Alabama hit three home runs – two solo and a two-run shot – to rally back and pick up a 9-6 road victory over McNeese State Wednesday evening at Cowgirl Diamond.

Kristian Foster and Lyric Cabral recorded solo shots in the sixth and then after a 30-minute weather delay, Haleigh Lowe blasted a two-run shot over the wall in right to cap off the four-run inning.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (18-14) will close out on its four-game road trip and step back into Sun Belt Conference play with a three-game series at Louisiana in Lafayette, La.  The two clubs will open up the series with a doubleheader on Friday with a pair of games (2 p.m. and 4 p.m.) and then close out the series on Saturday with a single game scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at Lamson Park.  

Date: 3/28
Place: Cowgirl Diamond (Lake Charles, La.)
Final Score: South Alabama 9, McNeese State 6
Records: South Alabama (18-14), McNeese State (22-11)

SCORING PLAYS
-1 Inn. — USA, 1-0 —Brittani Reid single to right (RBI), scoring Kaleigh Todd from third.
-2 Inn. — MCN, 1-1 — Justice McClain walk with the bases loaded (RBI), scoring Hailey Drew from third.
-2 Inn. — MCN, 2-1 —Erika Piancastelli walk with the bases loaded (RBI), scoring Lauren Brown from third
-2 Inn. — MCN, 3-1 —Morgan Catron hit-by-pitch (RBI), scoring Carleigh Chaumont from third
-3 Inn. — USA, 3-2 —B. Reid sacrifice fly to right (RBI), scoring MC Nichols from third
-3 Inn. — USA, 3-3 —Savanna Mayo single down the left field line (RBI), scoring Taylor Stevens (pinch runner) from second
-3 Inn. — USA, 4-3 —Megan Harris single back up the middle (RBI), scoring Mayo
-3 Inn. — MCN, 4-4 —L. Brown infield single (RBI), scoring Drew from third
-4 Inn. — USA, 5-4 —B. Reid double to left (RBI), scoring Todd (unearned)
-4 Inn. — MCN, 5-5 — Piancastelli (unearned) steals third and scores on a throwing error
-5 Inn. — MCN, 6-5 —Catron single through the left side of the infield (RBI), scoring McClain
-6 Inn. — USA, 6-6 —Foster solo home run down the left field line (RBI)
-6 Inn. — USA, 7-6 —Cabral solo home run to left center (RBI)
-6 Inn. — USA, 9-6 —Lowe home run to right (2 RBI), scoring Megan Harris from first

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-Trailing by one run entering the top of the sixth, Foster led off the inning with a solo home run to tie the game and Cabral followed with a home run of her own three batters later to give the Jaguars a one-run lead.  After a 30-minute delay, South added a pair of insurance runs on Lowe's two-run home run.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Todd, Cabral and Harris were each 3-for-4 at the plate, while Todd scored twice and Harris and Cabral each scored once and drove in a run.  Todd also walked and stole her ninth base of the season.
-B. Reid had two hits in her four at-bats and tied a career-high with 3 RBI, while Lowe homered and drove in a pair.  
-Mayo and Foster each had an RBI as well and Nichols was 2-for-4 with a RBI
-Alexis Reid (7-6) won her third-straight decision as she pitched 3.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits and striking out five.
-McClain was the lone Cowgirl to finish with more than a hit as she was 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of walks, a run scored and a RBI.
-Piancastelli had a hit, scored a run, drove in a run and walked three times, while Catron had a hit and 2 RBI in the contest.
-Drew also walked twice, had a hit and scored a pair of runs for McNeese.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Devin Brown issued four walks and hit two batters in the second inning, leading to all three of McNeese's runs in the frame.
-Jaguar pitching held McNeese to just six hits, but issued 11 walks and hit three batters.
-Of South Alabama's nine runs scored, seven came with two outs.
-The two clubs used a total of five pitchers and there were a total of 292 pitches were thrown in the contest.
-Including the hour weather delay, the contest lasted nearly four hours.
-Before the bottom half of the first could get underway, there was a weather stoppage that delayed the game and there was another delay with two outs in the top of the sixth.
-The top of the seventh inning marked the first time that either team was retired in order.
-Five Jaguar batters recorded multiple hits in the win, while the Cowgirls just had one player finish with two hits.
-Amber Cooms (4-2) picked up the loss in relief as she allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits in her three innings in the circle.

GAME FACTS
-With runners at the corners and two out in the top of the first, B. Reid went the opposite direction with Settle's 1-1 pitch as she lined the ball to right to score Todd, who had walked to lead off the game.
-McNeese had an excellent chance to answer back with a run in the bottom half of the first as Justice McClain singled to start the frame and then moved to third after a wild pitch and a ground out, but McClain was caught in a rundown on a double steal attempt and Alexandria Saldivar popped out to short to end the inning and leave Catron (HBP) standing at third.
-The Cowgirls loaded the bases without the benefit of a hit in the second.  Drew was hit by pitch to start the inning and then L. Brown and Chaumont both walked to load the bases.  With two outs in the inning, McClain then fouled off four-straight 3-2 pitches from D. Brown before working a bases-loaded walk to score the first run of the game for the Cowgirls.  Piancastelli was the fourth walk of the inning and Catron was hit by a pitch to make it 3-1 McNeese.
-South Alabama answered back the next half inning with a three-spot of its own to retake the lead.  Nichols (single) and Kamdyn Kvistad (walk) reached to start the inning and were moved into scoring position on Kristian Foster's sacrifice bunt.  B. Reid then drove in her second run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right to plate Nichols (3-2).  Mayo then lined a two-out single down the left field line to bring in Stevens, pinch running for Kvistad from second and tie the game up at 3-3.  Harris then line a single back up the middle off Settle in the circle, scoring Mayo to give USA the one-run advantage.
-Drew doubled to lead off the bottom of the third and Wright put runners at the corners with no outs with a bunt single.  McNeese then tied the game back up at 4-4 on L. Brown's infield single, allowing Drew to come home.  McNeese looked as if it were going to put more runs on the board, but D. Brown recorded back-to-back strikeouts and with runners at second and third, the senior Jag pitcher got McClain to fly out to center to end the inning.
-Todd led off the fourth with a single to shallow left center and looked as if she was going to be out two batters later on Kvistad's fielder's choice, but Cowgirl Taylor Strother dropped the ball, keeping Todd at second.  The senior came home later in the inning came home and scored an unearned run to put USA up 5-4 on B. Reid's double to left.  The RBI was B. Reid's third of the night and second with two outs.
-McNeese tied the game back up at 5-5 with an unearned run in the fourth.  Piancastelli walked to begin the Cowgirl half of the inning and then stole second to move into scoring position.  With one away, Piancastelli stole third – her second stolen base of the inning – and came home on Cabral's throwing error.  D. Brown issued back-to-back two-out walks, but A. Reid entered the circle in relief and struck out L. Brown to get out of the jam.
-The Cowgirls manufactured a run with two outs in the bottom half of the fifth to take a 6-5 advantage.  McClain reached on a bunt single and then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch.  With runners at the corner Catron singled through the left side to score McClain and put McNeese up 6-5.
-Foster quickly tied the game back up as she led off the top of the sixth with her first home run of the season and then with two outs in the frame, Cabral drove a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left center to put South up 7-6.  
-McNeese had the first two batters of the sixth reach via walks, but A. Reid retired the next three batters to keep the Jags out in front.  
-With the top of the order at bat, McClain walked to lead off the seventh, but A. Reid came up with crucial back-to-back strikeouts as she got Piancastelli looking on three-straight pitches and Catron swinging.  Saldivar then grounded out for the final out of the game.

NOTES
-With her 142nd straight start, Todd moved past former Jag Brittany Fowler (2010-13) for sixth all-time on the program's consecutive starts chart.  
-The two clubs have met at least one time in each of the past five seasons.  This is the lone meeting schedule in the series this season.
-The two-out RBI in the first by B. Reid was her team-leading seventh of the season.
-The multi-hit game for Todd was her eighth of the season and the 52nd of her career, moving her into third on the program list in that category.
-Cabral multi-hit game was the fifth of the season for the freshman catcher and the home run was the first of her young career.
-The seven walks for D. Brown were the most since the 2015 NCAA Regional at Auburn and was one shy from matching the most allowed in her career.
-Foster and Cabral's solo home runs marked the eighth and ninth, respectively, of the season for the Jaguars.  Each of the first nine were solo shots, with seven of the nine leading off an inning.  
-Lowe's sixth-inning home run was the first with a runner on this season for South and her first since Feb. 13, 2016 vs. Ball State.
-It was the first time this season, South Alabama has hit multiple home runs in the same game and the first three home run game by the Jags since hitting three against Texas State on April 5, 2014.
-With her RBI, Foster moved into a tie with Stephanie Pilkington 2013-16) for seventh on the South career chart.  She now has 98 for her career.
-South Alabama improved to 8-0 when scoring four or more runs in an inning this season.
-The win on McNeese's home field was the first in three tries for the Jaguars in the series.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the offense picking up the pitching tonight: "I was very proud of our offense tonight.  They've been putting in a lot of hard work and things seem to be coming together for them, and I'm happy to see that.  I thought they competed all night long and continued to apply pressure the whole way through.  It's great to see team wins like this one, when things may not be quiet as sharp in some areas as you would like them to be, or as crisp, but the offense comes in and picks them up.  I was really proud of them and I thought this was one of our best team wins this season.  We were on the road against a good team and things weren't as ideal, but our players still managed to stay in there and fight to get a win against a very good McNeese State team."
- On the sixth inning: "The sixth inning was huge for us.  Like I said earlier, I think things are just starting to click for us offensively; everything we've been working for is starting to come together.  Our players work hard and to start seeing it turnaround for them and head into a positive direction is nice."

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).

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—USA—