MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team swept its Sun Belt Conference doubleheader over Appalachian State Saturday afternoon to win its fourth conference series and even its league record.  

The Jaguars took game one (1-0) on a walk-off double by Haleigh Lowe and then picked up a 5-1 victory in game two to clinch the series.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (25-21, 10-10 SBC) will close out the series versus the Mountaineers on Sunday with first pitch now set for 10 a.m. at Jaguar Field.  The original start time was moved up due to expected weather during the early afternoon.  Sunday's series finale will be part of the Sun Belt Conference and American Cancer Society's Cover Your Bases Initiative.

Date: 4/21
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

Game 1
Final Score: South Alabama 1, Appalachian State 0
Records: South Alabama (24-21, 9-10 SBC), Appalachian State (14-28, 2-14 SBC)

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-7 Inn. — USA, 1-0 —Lowe double to left center (RBI), scoring Lyric Cabral from second

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-With two outs and a runner in scoring position, Lowe took a 2-2 pitch from Kenzie Loganecker and lined it to left center dropping just in front Mountaineer left fielder Alisha Josey.  Cabral was able to race around the bases and score without a throw to give South the one-run, walk-off win.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Lowe was a perfect 4-for-4 and drove in the lone run of the contest.
-Cabral was 2-for-3 and scored the game-winning run, while Kaleigh Todd had the other hit for South Alabama.
-Devin Brown (16-11) won her fourth-straight decision, striking out a season high 16 batters, while allowing just two hits and not issuing a walk.
-Keri White and Heather Josey recorded the only two hits for Appalachian State.  
-Loganecker (5-16) pitched well, but took the tough-luck loss as she scattered eight hits and allowed just the one run.  

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Brown registered 13, 0-2 counts to the 24 batters she faced.  The senior also had multiple strikeouts in six of her seven innings of work, with the sixth inning being the only inning that she didn't strikeout two or more batters.  
-Brown struck out the side three times in the contest – the first, third and fourth innings – and went first-pitch strike to 19 App State batters.
-South Alabama left seven runners on in the series opener and left the bases loaded twice.
-Of the 104 pitches thrown by Brown, 85 were for strikes for an 81.7 ball-strike ratio.

GAME FACTS
-App State threatened to get on the board first with a pair on and nobody out in the second inning.  H. Josey singled back up the middle to start the frame and Baylee Morton reached on a Jaguar fielding error when she was attempting to sacrifice the runner over.  Brown though as able to retire the next three Mountaineer batters as she got a pop out on a bunt attempt by Haley Stewart and then the final two with her fourth and fifth strikeouts of the game.
-South loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third after Todd reached on a fielder's choice, Lowe singled to left and Kristian Foster walked on five pitches, but Loganecker was able to get out of the jam as she was able to get Brittani Reid to fly out to center to end the inning.
-The Jags tried to get on the board with two outs in their half of the fifth placing a pair of runners on.  Todd singled to left and then advanced to third on some excellent two-strike hitting by Lowe.  Lowe would also advance on the play with some heads up base running on the throw into the infield.  Loganecker would again get out of it though as White snagged a liner at third off the bat of Foster to end the inning.
-Still scoreless, Cabral led off the bottom of the seventh with a double to left and South looked as if it might leave another runner on as Loganecker retired the next two Jags.  However, Lowe continued her stellar play of late as her liner to the gap in left center fell just in front of Alisha Josey allowing Cabral to score the game-winning run from second.

NOTES
-Former Jaguars Farish Beard (2012-15), Brittany (Fowler) Kessler (2010-13), Kaleigh (Floore) Hudson (2012-15), Emily Messer (2013-16) and current South Alabama assistant coach Hannah Campbell (2011-14) were each recognized during the pregame ceremonies as part of the Alumni weekend festivities.
-The start in the circle was the 100th over Brown's career, making her just the third Jag to accomplish that feat.  Beth Pilgrim (112) and Hannah Campbell (109) are the only other South Alabama pitchers to record 100 or more starts in the circle.
-The strikeout of the side in the top of the first marked the fifth time this season that the senior right-hander has done so and the second time to do so in the opening frame.
-With her first-inning single, Lowe extended her hit streak to four games.
-Cabral snapped a 0-for-23 slump with her third-inning single to left to lead off the inning.  The multi-hit game was the sixth of the season for Cabral and the first since her three-hit performance at McNeese State on March 28.
-Brown struck out the side in the third and fourth innings marking the first time this season that she has done so three in the same game.
-The multi-hit game for Lowe was the 29th of her career moving her into a tie with Katie McGuire and Foster for 13th on the all-time list.
-The game-winning RBI was the second of the season for Lowe and marked her sixth two-out RBI of the year and the 30th of her career.
-The double digit strikeout outing was the sixth of the season for Brown and extended her program mark to 38 for her career.
-With her strikeout of Ally Walker to start the fifth, Brown set a new season high for strikeouts, eclipsing her previous high of 11.
-The four-hit performance by Lowe set a new career best for the senior leftfielder.
-The walk-off win was the fifth of the season for the Jaguars and their third in Sun Belt play.
-The shutout was the second straight for Brown and the sixth of her season and the 31st of her career.  Dating back to her start against ULM (4/15) in the series finale, Brown has not allowed a run in her last 19 innings of work.
-The 16 strikeouts finished just one shy of matching a career high for Brown.

Game 2
Final Score: South Alabama 5, Appalachian State 1
Records: South Alabama (25-21, 10-10 SBC), Appalachian State (14-29, 2-15 SBC)

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-3 Inn. — APP, 1-0 —Jenny Dodd walk (RBI), scoring Wheatley from third
-3 Inn. — USA, 1-1 —Foster single up the middle (RBI), scoring Todd from second
-3 Inn. — USA, 2-1 —B. Reid single up the middle (RBI), scoring Foster from second
-6 Inn. — USA, 4-1 —Lowe double to center (2 RBI), scoring Kamdyn Kvistad from second and MC Nichols from first
-6 Inn. — USA, 5-1 —Foster double to center (RBI), scoring Lowe from second

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-With a runner on and two out in the top of the sixth in a one-run game, the Mountaineers looked like they might even things up as Megan Walker's fly ball looked as if it might get over Nichols head in center, but the Jag sophomore made a nice running catch to end the inning.  South Alabama would go on to add three insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning to stretch its lead out to four.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Foster led all players at the plate as she had three hits in her four at-bats.  The Jag shortstop also drove in – raising her team-leading RBI total to 27 – two and scored once.  She also recorded her 10th double of the season.
-B. Reid was also a perfect 2-for-2 in the win with a RBI and reached base all three of her plate appearances as she drew a walk.
-Avery Wheatley was the lone Mountaineer to finish with double-digit hits as she was 2-for-3.  
-Five other Appalachian State players recorded a hit, while Megan Walker scored the only run for the Mountaineers.
-Jenny Dodd walked three times and had the RBI for App State.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Four of South Alabama's five runs came with two outs.
-South Alabama was 5-for-11 (.455) with two outs and hit .400 with runners on (6-for-15) and runners in scoring position (4-for-10).
-App State was just 2-for-11 (.182) with runners on and 1-for-7 (.143) with runners in scoring position.  The Mountaineers left 10 runners on in game two of the doubleheader.
-Alexis Reid picked up the win moving her to 9-10 on the season.  In her seven innings in the circle, A. Reid allowed seven hits and four walks, but just the one run and two strikeouts.
-Callie Kuykendall (3-6) took the loss as she was credited with all five runs on 10 hits.  She walked three and struck out five in the loss.

GAME FACTS
-South Alabama had a chance to get on the board in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with two outs.  After retiring the first two batters of the game, Kuykendall allowed a single back up the middle by Foster and then walked Katelyn Gruich and B. Reid on eight-straight.  The Jaguars were unable to capitalize though grounding out to third.
-With one out in the top of the third, Appalachian State loaded the bases on three-straight infield singles by Walker, Wheatley and White.  A. Reid was able to get A. Josey to foul out to third, but with the count full to Dodd, the junior's pitch was outside for ball four to walk in Walker and give App its first lead (1-0) of the series.
-South Alabama answered back with a pair of runs on three hits in the bottom half of the inning.  Todd dropped in a single in short center and then stole her program-best 70th base of her career to move into scoring position.  The senior then came home two batters later on Foster's single back up the middle to tie the game up at 1-1.  South Alabama then took the lead back (2-1) on B. Reid's two-out single up the middle, scoring Foster from second.
-App threatened to tie the game back up in its half of the fourth after a leadoff single to Morton, but Maddy Bloom, pinch running for Morton, would be stranded at third as A. Reid got a ground out to second to end the frame.
-The Jaguars threatened to add to their lead in the bottom of the fourth after a pair of one-out singles by Kvistad and Nichols, but Kuykendall retied the next two batters to end the inning and keep runners at first and second.
-After the missed scoring opportunity by the Jaguars, A. Reid ran into some two-out trouble as she allowed a single to A. Josey and a four-pitch walk to Dodd – her second of the game – but the Jag righty was able to get a pop out to Foster at short to end the inning and maintain the one-run lead.
-South Alabama added three insurance runs with two outs in the bottom half of the sixth.  Kvistad (walk) and Nichols (single) reached with one out in the frame.  After a strikeout, Lowe bounced a double back up the middle to bring in Kvistad and Nichols to make it 4-1.  Foster then followed with a double of her own to center, plating Lowe (5-1).
-The Mountaineers loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the plate with two outs after a leadoff single and back-to-back two-out walks, but A. Reid was able to get out of the jam and seal the win when she got Morton swinging to end the game.

NOTES
-The bases-loaded walk to App State's Dodd in the third was her 33rd of the season, the most by any player in the Sun Belt Conference this season.
-Todd extended both her hit streak (7) and reached base safely streak (22) with her leadoff single in the bottom of the third.  On the first pitch to Lowe one batter later, Todd set the school record for steals in a career as she swiped her 70th.
-Two-out RBI for B. Reid was her team-best 13th of the season.
-The two-out RBI (2) from Lowe was her third of the doubleheader and were her seventh and eighth of the season.
-The two-out RBI by Foster in the sixth was her eighth of the season
-Foster's RBI double was also the 27th of her Jag career, moving her into eight=place on the all-time list in that category.
-The multi-hit game was the 30th of Foster's career – 13th on the all-time list – and the multi—RBI game was the 25th, moving her into eighth at South Alabama.
-With her two hits, B. Reid notched her 11th multi-hit game of the season.
-The two losses on Saturday by Appalachian State extended its losing streak to seven games.  App State has now dropped 12 of its last 13 entering the series finale.
-The Mountaineers are also now 0-8 this season in Sun Belt road games and they have also now dropped their last 14 league games.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
-On the wins: "I thought Devin [Brown] had a great game.  She was aggressive in the zone and getting a lot of swing-and-misses.  Anytime you get 16 strikeouts out of your starter, you give yourself a chance to win the game.  I thought we were a little sluggish at the plate.  I think that's something we have to pick up; we have to have better approaches at the plate tomorrow.  It was great to see [Alexis] Lex [Reid] come out and get something going.  I am proud of her she's been working hard."
- On where the team is at right now: "We played great at Troy [on Wednesday night].  I thought we had one of our better games there.  Troy played a good game and we played really well.  That's the way we have to stay locked into."

Devin Brown
-On if she focused on the strikeouts: "I'm just taking it one pitch at a time. I'm not really concerned about the strikeouts."
-On what worked well for her today: "My rise ball and timing were really good today.  I was able to consistently hit my spots."
-On picking up the team today: "When I'm struggling they do their job by scoring a bunch of runs and I try to return the favor when we're hitting the ball right at people and not able to get anything out of it."

Haleigh Lowe
-On her approach as of late: "I'm just going up there competing.  I go after every pitch ready to go when I step in the box."
-On her recent play: "It's my senior year and I've been trying to go out there and make plays and leave it all on the field."
-On where the team is: "I think we're playing excellent right now.  We're playing as a team and you can tell our team chemistry has been there on defense and offense."

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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