MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama welcomes Appalachian State to Jaguar Field this weekend for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. The series, which begins Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., will be part of the program's Alumni Weekend. Sunday's series finale is set for 12 p.m. and will be part of the Sun Belt Conference and American Cancer Society's Cover Your Bases Initiative.
Game Notes (PDF)
GAMES: 45-47 | VS. APPALACHIAN STATE
Venue: Jaguar Field | Mobile, Ala.
SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: Sat., April 21 | 1 p.m.
Game 2: Sat., April 21 | 3 p.m.
Game 3: Sun., April 22 | 12 p.m.
GAME INFORMATION
Television: None
Radio: 99.5 The Jag FM (Saturday Games)
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: www.USAJaguars.com
Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB
Tickets: General admission tickets can be purchase for $5, while chair back reserved seating is available for $8. Current South Alabama students with proper student ID will be allowed admission into the contest.
PROMOTIONS:
Saturday (DH)
- Jaguar Tank Top giveaway (Students)
Sunday
- "Cover your Bases" campaign with the American Cancer Society.
- Sunscreen giveaway to the first 250 in attendance to help raise awareness for skin cancer.
South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | RPI: 53
Record: 23-21, 8-10 SBC
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .258 / .363 / .336
Runs Per Game: 3.8
Runs Per Game Allowed: 3.4
Appalachian State MOUNTAINEERS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | RPI: 220
Record: 14-27, 2-13 SBC
Head Coach: Shelly Hoerner (Canisius, '96)
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .271 / .387 / .362
Runs Per Game: 4.2
Runs Per Game Allowed: 5.9
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
– South Alabama (23-21, 8-10 SBC) comes into the weekend series after picking up a huge Sun Belt Conference road win, defeating Troy, 7-0 Wednesday night.
– The Jaguars scored in each of their first four runs and Kaleigh Todd and Haleigh Lowe when a combined 6-for-7 at the top of the lineup, scoring four runs with Lowe driving in a career-best five.
– With the three hits, Todd became the program's career hits leader as she now has 216 and recorded her team-leading 15th multi-hit game of the season and the 59th of her career.
– Todd is also tied with Evelyne Pare for South Alabama's career steals mark as she sits at 69 entering the weekend.
– Todd raised her batting average to .388, which is tied for fourth in the Sun Belt. She also has 54 hits – tied for third-most in the conference – while she is ninth in the league in steals (12), runs scored (27) and on-base percentage (.430).
– The Bessemer, Ala., native has been outstanding during SBC play hitting .475 against league competition and the series against Appalachian State with a 20-game reached base safely streak – which is tied with Tara Donaldson for the sixth-longest streak in program history and is the longest streak since Emily Messer's 26-game streak set during the 2016 season.
– Over her last 17 games, Todd is batting .531 (34-for-64), scored 19 runs and recorded 12 multi-hit games, and during her 20-game reached base safely streak, she is hitting .500 with 36 hits and has scored 20 runs.
– Lowe (.292) is hitting just shy of .300 after her three-hit performance in her last outing. Lowe recorded South's fourth inside-the-park home run in the first inning and then finished a double shy of becoming the first player to hit for the cycle.
– Lowe has nine extra-base hits and like Todd, has done a great job of late at the top of the lineup. Over her last 20 games, the senior left fielder is batting .356 with 21 hits and 13 runs scored. She has also driven in 16 and all nine of her extra-base hits have also come during that span.
– B. Reid (.297) leads the team with 16 extra-base hits, while her six home runs lead the club and her seven doubles are second-most. Her 21 RBI are third on the team, one behind Lowe (22).
– The sophomore outfielder is tied for 10th in the Sun Belt in total bases with 68. Prior to the midweek game at Troy, B. Reid had reached base safely the previous 17 games.
– Freshman Kamdyn Kvistad hit her fifth home run of the season against Troy and recorded her 19th RBI. Four of Kvistad's five home runs have been solo shots and four of them have come against Sun Belt competition.
– With the two home runs against the Trojans, South Alabama continued its recent power surge. The multi-home run game was the fifth of the season for the Jags and USA has now homered in 10 of its last 14 contests recording 17 during that stretch. All five of the multi-home run games have also come over that time.
– Kristian Foster is tied for fifth in the Sun Belt in doubles with nine, while she leads the team in RBI with 25.
– Devin Brown (15-11) picked up the complete-game, shutout win over Troy, as she has now won her last three decisions.
– She enters play this weekend with a 1.95 earned run average and 172 strikeouts. She has 19 complete games on the year and holds six shutouts – five solo and one combined.
– Brown recorded her fifth double-digit strikeout game of the season in the series opener against ULM last weekend and extended her program mark to 37.
– She is second in the league in innings pitched (175.2), strikeouts looking (48) and strikeouts. Her strikeout tally is 22nd in the latest NCAA rankings.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
– Appalachian State (14-27, 2-13 SBC) comes into after dropping both games of a midweek doubleheader at UNC-Greensboro on Wednesday. Both games were decided by walk-offs as the Spartans.
– The Mountaineers led game one, 3-1 entering the seventh and had given up just two hits to UNCG, but with two outs in the inning, the Spartans tied the game up on a two-run triple after back-to-back walks and then picked up the win on a RBI single. UNCG took game two in extra innings (4-3) after two straight wild pitches brought the go-ahead run home.
– With the losses, the Mountaineers extended their current losing streak to five, and they have dropped 10 of their last 11 entering the weekend.
– Since winning two of three from ULM in its first conference series of the year, App State has dropped its last 12 league games, including both of its road series – at Louisiana and at UTA.
– Nine of the club's 14 wins this season though have come away from Boone.
– Jenny Dodd has been the leader offensively for App State as she is leads the SBC in walks (32), is second in the conference in slugging percentage (.694) and on-base-percentage (.556), fourth in home runs (8) and tied with South's Todd in batting average at .388.
– Alisha Josey (.298) is tied with ULM's Sydney McKay for ninth in the league in RBI as they have both driven in 28. A. Josey is also ninth in the SBC in slugging percentage at .545. She also has seven home runs on the year.
– Keri White is second on the club with a .330 average, while Heather Josey is hitting .316 in her 26 games played.
– White has 10 stolen bases this season, but Laura Sales leads the team and is tied for sixth in the Sun Belt in that category as she has been successful in 13 of her 14 attempts.
– Kenzie Loganecker has started a team-high 22 games and gone the distances in 10 of those outings. She has a 3.85 ERA and leads the team with 69 strikeouts.
– The sophomore right-hander (121.2) has logged nearly half of the 266.2 innings in the circle for the Mountaineers. Loganecker does have both of Appalachian State's Sun Belt Conference wins.
– As a staff, 20 of the 41 home runs allowed have come against Sun Belt competition, and league foes are batting .351.
THE SERIES VS. APPALACHIAN STATE
– The series opening meeting between South Alabama and Appalachian State will mark the 10th in the all-time series between the two clubs.
– South Alabama has taken all nine of the previous meetings and outscored App State 46-11 in the series.
– Last season, the Jags won 4-0 and 5-3 in 8 inns., in games one and two, before closing out the series with a 5-3 win in the finale.
– The two teams have met just three times at Jaguar Field, all of which came during the 2015 season.
– The Jaguars hold four shutouts in the series and have outscored the Mountaineers 17-3 in the three meetings in Mobile.
INSIDE THE SERIES VS. APPALACHIAN STATE
Series: 9-0 (H: 3-0 / A: 6-0 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 9-0 (H: 3-0 / A: 6-0 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 1-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 1-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 3/21/15
Last Meeting: 4/2/17
Longest South Alabama Streak: 9 ('15-'17)
Longest Appalachian State Streak: --
Current Streak: 9 by South Alabama
Last 5 – 5-0
ALUMNI WEEKEND
– South Alabama will welcome back several former Jaguars to campus during the Appalachian State series (4/21-22). Below are the alumni confirmed to be in attendance.
Kaleigh (Floore) Hudson – 2012-15
Amanda Herron – 2014-15
Brittany (Fowler) Kessler – 2010-13
Emily Messer – 2013-16
COVER YOUR BASES INITIATIVE
– The Sun Belt Conference and the American Cancer Society are teaming up once again, this time for the 2018 Cover Your Bases initiative with the conference's baseball and softball programs, as a part of the Sun Belt Fights Cancer (SunBeltFightsCancer.org) partnership.
– Cover Your Bases is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and baseball/softball teams/organizations, at every level across the country. The purpose is to impact local communities and save lives by educating fans about sun safety, healthy living and prevention.
– At games through the end of the regular season and at the Sun Belt Softball Championship (May 9-12) and Baseball Championship (May 22-27), the conference and its teams will create moments to support the mission of the American Cancer Society and develop impact/fundraising opportunities in their respective communities. Through in-game recognitions, contests and live broadcast mentions, the Sun Belt schools will extend the messages of protection and prevention outlined at Cancer.org/SunSafety.
– On Sunday (April 22), South Alabama will be giving away free sunscreen to the first 250 in attendance and raising awareness for skin cancer.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
-On the mindset of the team heading into the weekend: "We're just in compete mode right now. For us right now, we are just trying to play the best softball that we can. Wednesday night's win at Troy was a great team win and we just have to stay aggressive and keep playing together."
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—
