MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team will head out on the road for the final time during the regular season as they travel to Coastal Carolina for their Sun Belt Conference road series of the season. The two clubs are scheduled to open the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at the CCU Softball Stadium. The series finale is set for Sunday.
Game Notes (PDF)
GAMES: 49-51 | AT COASTAL CAROLINA
Venue: CCU Softball Stadium | Conway, S.C.
SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: Sat., April 28 | 12 p.m. (CT)
Game 2: Sat., April 28 | 2 p.m. (CT)
Game 3: Sun., April 28 | 11 a.m. (CT)
GAME INFORMATION
Television: None
Radio: 99.5 The Jag FM
Audio Stream: www.USAJaguars.com (Sunday game only)
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: www.USAJaguars.com (Sunday game only)
Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB
South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | RPI: 54
Record: 25-23, 10-11 SBC
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP) – .255 / .357 / .333
Runs Per Game: 3.6
Runs Per Game Allowed: 3.3
Coastal Carolina CHANTICLEERS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | RPI: 126
Record: 22-26, 5-15 SBC
Head Coach: Kelley Green (Northwestern, '96)
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP) – .240 / .454 / .346
Runs Per Game: 4.2
Runs Per Game Allowed: 4.1
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
– South Alabama (25-23, 10-11 SBC) comes into its final Sun Belt Conference road series of the season after falling 4-0 at No. 13/14 LSU on Tuesday night.
– The Tigers recorded four extra-base hits and scored all four of their runs in the sixth inning and Carley Hoover pitched her third career no-hitter in the contest.
– South has won its last two conference series taking two of three from both ULM and Appalachian State.
– Despite having her 23-game reached base safely and six-game hit streaks come to an end, Kaleigh Todd continues to rank as one of the top offensive players not only for the Jaguars but in the Sun Belt.
– Entering play this weekend, Todd leads the team with a .375 batting average, which is sixth in the Sun Belt. She also has 57 hits – tied for third-most in the conference – while she is tied for seventh in the league in steals (13) and tied for 10th in runs scored (28), to go along with her .417 on-base percentage.
– Todd is batting .444 against Sun Belt competition and over her last 21 games, Todd is batting .487 (37-for-76), scored 20 runs and recorded 12 of her team-high 15 multi-hit games during that stretch.
– Fellow senior Haleigh Lowe has been one of the hottest hitters in the Sun Belt lately. She was named the conference player of the week on Tuesday after hitting .583 in the three-game series versus the Mountaineers and going 3-for-4 at the plate in a 7-0 win at Troy.
– The senior leftfielder had her seven-game hit streak ended on Tuesday, but prior to that game Lowe had had at least one hit in eight of her last nine.
– Lowe ranks second on the club as she has a .314 batting average and is third on the team with 10 multi-hit games and leads the team with eight multi-RBI games.
– Over her last 10 games, Lowe has hit .444 (16-for-36) with seven extra-base hits and a team-high 11 RBI. She has had multiple hits in five of those contests.
– Lowe is tied with Kristian Foster for second in extra-base hits with 12. The Prattville, Ala., native has six doubles, three triples and home runs. Lowe is also two RBI behind Foster (29) as she has 27 on the year.
– Foster leads the team and is tied for fifth in the league in doubles with 10.
– Brittani Reid (.290) has also had a nice first season in a Jag uniform as she is hitting just under .300 and leads the team in total bases (70), home runs (6) and extra-base hits (16). She is second on the Jaguar roster in runs scored (22), hits (40) and doubles (8).
– Devin Brown (16-13) enters the series with a 1.94 earned run average and 200 strikeouts. Against LSU, Brown became just the fifth Sun Belt pitcher to reach the 900-strikeout mark for their career.
– Brown has 21 complete games on the year and has tossed seven shutouts – six solo and one combined. She also has six double-digit strikeout games this season and a program-best 38 for her career.
– She is second in the league in innings pitched (194.2), strikeouts looking (57) and strikeouts. Her strikeout tally is 17th in the latest NCAA rankings.
SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS
– Coastal Carolina (22-26, 5-15 SBC) comes into the weekend conference series after dropping its two league games last week at Georgia State (4-2 and 6-3). Game three of the SBC series versus the Panthers was canceled due to rain.
– The Chanticleers lead the Sun Belt in home runs (62) and slugging percentage (.454) and are fourth nationally in home runs per game (1.29) and top 50 in slugging percentage.
– Coastal also ranks second in the league in walks (148) and hit by pitch (44).
– The Chants have 51 doubles and six triples and 119 extra-base hits entering the weekend series. Seven players on the Coastal Carolina roster have 10 or more total extra-base hits on the year.
– CCU's offense is spurred on by the duo of Courtney Dean (.339) and Kassidy Smith (.264). Dean is second in home runs (11), slugging percentage (.677) and triples (3), while she is fourth in total bases with 84 as she has 42 hits, 17 of which for extra bases.
– Dean's 34 runs driven in are fifth-most in the Sun Belt.
– Smith is third in the conference and 35th in the NCAA in walks with 32. She has also been hit by a pitch nine times (T-fourth).
– Like Dean, Smith ranks in the top 10 of the league in slugging percentage (.537). Of her 32 hits, 16 have gone for extra bases. Smith is tied for second on the team with Alexis Alvino in home runs (8).
– Alvino and Smith rank first and second, respectively, in runs scored at 26 and 25.
– Freshman pitcher Kaitlin Beasley-Polko leads the team in the circle as she has 13 complete games, five shutouts and 126 strikeouts.
– Both Beasley-Polko and Ashley Guillette have won 11 games.
THE SERIES VS. COASTAL CAROLINA
– The meeting between South Alabama and Coastal Carolina in the series opener will mark the sixth in the all-time series between the two clubs.
– South Alabama holds a 4-1 advantage in the series coming into the weekend series.
– The two teams have only met in Sun Belt Conference play one season with the Jaguars taking two of three from the Chanticleers in Mobile last season, which was CCU's first in the league.
– This weekend's series meeting will mark the first between the two clubs in Conway, S.C.
– Prior to last season's three meetings, the two teams had only et two other times with those to games coming during the 2009 season in Gainesville, Fla., at the Florida Lipton Invitational.
INSIDE THE SERIES VS. COASTAL CAROLINA
Series: 4-1 (H: 2-1 / A: 0-0 / N: 2-0)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 2-1 (H: 2-1 / A:0-0 / 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: 2-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 2-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/15/09
Last Meeting: 3/19/17
Longest South Alabama Streak: 3 ('09-'17)
Longest Coastal Carolina Streak: 1 ('17)
Current Streak: 1 by South Alabama
Last 5 – 4-1
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the weekend series: "This will be our first time playing at Coastal [Carolina]. Right now, it's important to focus on us doing what we are capable of doing. We have a lot more in us than we showed Tuesday night at LSU, so this weekend is an opportunity for us to find that extra gear that we have. We need to play aggressive, together and intelligently."
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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