LAFAYETTE, La. – The University of South Alabama softball team dropped a Sun Belt Conference doubleheader Saturday at No. 21/20 Louisiana at Lamson Park.  The Ragin' Cajuns took the opener (7-1) and then won game two, 5-4 in eight innings.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (18-16, 5-5 SBC) will close out the Sun Belt series on Saturday.  First pitch versus the Ragin' Cajuns is set for 1 p.m. at Lamson Park.

Date: 3/30
Place: Lamson Park (Lafayette, La.)

Game 1
Final Score: No. 21/20 Louisiana 7, South Alabama 1
Records: Louisiana (21-7, 8-2 SBC), South Alabama 18-15, 5-4 SBC)

Box Score (PDF)(PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-1 Inn. — LA, 1-0 —Beth Ashley single to left (RBI), scoring Brittany Rodriguez from third
-4 Inn. — USA, 1-1 — Brittani Reid solo home run to left (RBI)
-5 Inn. — LA, 3-1 —Kortney Gremillion home run to right center (2 RBI), scoring Casidy Chaumont from second
-6 Inn. — LA, 4-1 —Lexie Comeaux double to center (RBI), scoring Alyssa Dalton from second
-6 Inn. — LA, 5-1 —Ashley (unearned) scores on a South Alabama throwing error
-6 Inn. — LA, 7-1 —Kellie Martinez single back up the middle (2 RBI), scoring Jolie Readeaux (pinch runner) (unearned) from third and Kortney Gremillion (unearned) from second.

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- Louisiana scored four runs (one earned) on three hits and one Jaguar error to break open a two-run game.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Kaleigh Todd was 2-for3 for South Alabama at the plate, while Foster, B. Reid and Savanna Mayo had the three other hits for the Jaguars.
-Kortney Gremillion had a home run, drove in two runs and scored twice for Louisiana.
-Martinez also drove in a pair of runs, while five other players in the Ragin' Cajun lineup scored a run.
-Comeaux and Ashley also had a RBI each.
-Summer Ellyson (10-4) allowed just one Jaguar run on five hits and struck out nine, while walking just one in seven innings of work.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Eight of the nine starters for Louisiana combined to record all eight hits for the Cajuns.
-The first inning was the lone inning in which South Alabama had multiple runners reach base.
-Devin Brown (11-9) took the loss allowing seven runs (four earned) on eight hits, to go along with three strikeouts and three walks.

GAME FACTS
-Todd singled to lead game off and Foster walked with one out after a 10-pitch at-bat, but Ellyson got the Jags to ground into a 5-3 double play to end the inning.
-UL took the early lead (1-0) on a two-out single by Ashley that dropped just fair inside the left field line, scoring Rodriguez.  Rodriguez walked on five pitches to lead off the frame and then moved to third on a stolen base and a Jaguar error.
-B. Reid tied the game up (1-1) in the top of the fourth as she drove an offering from Ellyson over the wall in left with two outs for her third home run of the season.
-Chaumont doubled to the gap in right center to lead off the bottom of the fifth and Kortney Gremillion recorded her second home run of the season to put the Ragin' Cajuns up 3-1 with a two-run shot over the wall in right center.
-The big inning for Louisiana came in the Cajuns' half of the sixth as they scored four runs (one earned) on four hits and a South Alabama error.  Dalton lined a single to center and Ashley then walked to start the bottom of the sixth, and with a pair on Comeaux doubled off the base of the wall in center to bring in Dalton and make it 4-1.  With the bases loaded, the Jags looked as if they may get out of the inning only allowing the one run, but Foster's throw to first in an attempt to turn a double play was off the mark scoring Ashley from third and allowing the inning to keep going.  Martinez then singled back up the middle to bring in two more runs and make it 7-1.
-Mayo attempted to ignite a seventh-inning rally as she doubled to right with two outs, but Ellyson recorded a strikeout looking, her ninth of the contest, to clinch the win in the opener for the Ragin' Cajuns.

NOTES
-With her lead-off single in the top of the first, Todd extended her reached-base-safely streak to a season-best nine games.
-Todd also extended her multi-hit streak to six games with her two-out infield single in the third inning.  She has nine multiple hit games on the year and 53 for her career.
-B. Reid's two-out, fourth-inning home run was her ninth two-out RBI of the season.
-South Alabama has now homered in three-straight games dating back to the series finale against Georgia State (3/25).
-The Jaguars are now 0-6 in games when allowing an opponent to score four or more runs in a single inning.

Game 2
Final Score: No. 21/20 Louisiana 5, South Alabama 4 (8 inns.)
Records: Louisiana (22-7, 9-2 SBC), South Alabama 18-16, 5-5 SBC

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-5 Inn. — USA, 1-0 —Todd double to left center (RBI), scoring Amanda Flynn (pinch runner) from second
-5 Inn. — USA, 3-0 —Lowe single up the middle (2 RBI), scoring MC Nichols from third and Todd from second
-6 Inn. — LA, 3-3 —Ashley home run to left (3 RBI), scoring Kara Gremillion from second and Dalton from first
-8 Inn. — USA, 4-3 —B. Reid solo home run to left center (RBI)
-8 Inn. — LA, 4-4 —Dalton double to left center (RBI), scoring Kara Gremillion from first
-8 Inn. — LA, 5-4 —Dalton (unearned) scores on a South Alabama fielding error

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-After being caught in a rundown attempting to come home on Chaumont's fielder's choice, Dalton was able to score the game-winning run when the ball came dislodged from Mayo's glove on the tag play.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Lowe was 3-for-4, including a triple, with two RBI, while B. Red was 2-for-4 with her second home run of the doubleheader and fourth of the season.
-Todd had the only other hit (double) for South Alabama and scored a run, while Nichols and Flynn also scored once.
-Dalton was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while she also had the game-tying double in the eighth.
-Ashley hit a three-run home run, and Kortney Gremillion had a pair of hits.  Kara Gremillion walked twice and scored twice.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Alexis Reid took the loss for South Alabama and dropped to 7-7 on the season.  She allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits in 7.1 innings of work.  She struck out two and walked three.
-Louisiana used three pitchers in the contest.
-Ellyson (11-4), who started game one of the doubleheader, entered in relief to start the seventh and allowed one run on one hit, and struck out three batters in two innings of work.
-Carrie Boswell allowed just a hit and a walk in her inning of relief.
-Casey Dixon started the game and went five innings, allowing three runs on four hits, while walking three and striking out six.

GAME FACTS
-South attempted to get on the board first in the opening frame as Lowe tripled with one and Kvistad walked on four straight two batters later to put runners at the corner, but Dixon got a strikeout swinging to end the threat.
-The Jaguars finally broke open a scoreless game with three runs in the top of the fifth.  After cruising through much of the game, Dixon walked Abby Krzywiecki and Nichols to put runners at first and second for the Jaguars.  Todd then delivered a clutch hit as she double to the gap in left center to bring home Flynn, who was pinch running for Krzywiecki.  Lowe then lined a single back up the middle to plate Nichols and Todd to make it 3-0.
-The Jags put a pair on in the sixth, but Dixon re-enters the circle and was able to get back-to-back strikeouts swinging to end the inning.
-The missed opportunity would be costly as Louisiana tied the game back up on Ashley's three-run home run – her second of the season – in the bottom of the sixth.  Kara Gremillion walked to lead the inning off and Dalton then singled to center to set the table for Ashley.  
-In extra innings, B. Reid led the frame off with her second home run of the day as she drove the ball over the wall in left center.  
-In the bottom half of the inning, Kara Gremillion again walked to start the frame and came around to score on Dalton's double to the gap in left center.  The Jaguars had a plate at the plate, but Kara Gremillion was ruled to have just gotten in under South Alabama catcher Lyric Cabral's tag at home.  Ashley was then intentionally walked and after a foul out to B. Reid in right, A. Reid was able to get Chaumont to hit a chopper back to Mayo at third.  Dalton broke home to early and got caught in a rundown and South looked as if it was going to get the second out of the inning, but the ball became dislodged from Mayo's tag attempt and Dalton was able to touch home plate safely for the walk-off game-winning run.

NOTES
-With her start at second in game two of the doubleheader, Todd tied Christin Crocker (2009-12) for fifth as she made her 144th consecutive start.  It was also the 191st start of her career tying Amanda Minahan (2014-17) for 10th all-time in the category.
-With B. Reid's eighth-inning home run, the sophomore became the first Jag this season to homer in back-to-back games.  It also extended South's streak to four-straight games with a home run, which is the first time South has hit home runs in four or more straight games since hitting five in the final two games of the road UTA series last season and the three-game series at ULM.
-B. Reid also recorded her team-high 10th multi-hit game of the season.
-The multi-hit game for Lowe was the 25th of her career moving her into a tie for 17th with former Jag Kaitlyn Griffith on the program's all-time list.
-The extra inning game was South's third of the season and the 49th in program history.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On doubleheader: "It was a tough way to lose [the second] game.  I thought in the first game, we were a little too passive and sat back too much.  We talked about that in between the two games and said, 'If you want to beat a good team like Louisiana, you have to be willing to go for it.  We went for it in game two and it didn't work out in our favor.  There were some places in the game where we need to clean some things up, have some better at-bats.  There were also some walks that we didn't need to have, but at the same time they're going to make some mistakes and we're going to make mistakes; that's part of the game.  We just have to come back tomorrow ready to compete."

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—