CONWAY, S.C. – Kamdyn Kvistad became the first player in University of South Alabama softball history to hit three home runs in the same game as the Jaguars earned a Sun Belt Conference doubleheader split at Coastal Carolina on Saturday at the CCU Softball Stadium.  The Jaguars hit four home runs and won game two 10-4 after dropping the opener (3-2) on a walk-off home run in extra innings.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (26-24, 11-12 SBC) will close out the series versus Coastal Carolina on Sunday with first pitch set for 11 a.m. (CT) at the CCU Softball Stadium.

Date: 4/28
Place: CCU Softball Stadium (Conway, S.C.)

Game 1
Final Score: Coastal Carolina 3, South Alabama 2 (9 innings)
Records: Coastal Carolina (23-26, 6-15 SBC), South Alabama (25-24, 10-12 SBC)

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-1 Inn. — CCU, 1-0 —Kassidy Smith solo home run to left center (RBI)
-3 Inn. — USA, 1-1 —Hannah Smith solo home run to left center (RBI)
-9 Inn. — USA, 2-1 —Kamdyn Kvistad single to left (RBI), scoring Brittani Reid from third
-9 Inn. — CCU, 2-2 —Courtney Dean solo home run to center (RBI)
-9 Inn. — CCU, 3-2 —Timi Tooley solo home run to left center (RBI)

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-With the game tied 2-2 and two outs in the ninth inning, CCU's Tooley drove a 0-1 pitch just over the wall in left center for her fifth home run of the season, giving the Chanticleers the walk-off win.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Kristian Foster, B. Reid (triple), Kvistad and H. Smith (home run) had the four hits for the Jaguars, while Kaleigh Todd walked twice.
-K. Smith, Dean and Tooley all homered for the Chanticleers.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Guillette (12-13) struck out five of the first six Jaguar batters that she faced and finished with 10 in the contest, while allowing just two runs on four hits in nine innings of work.
-Devin Brown (16-14) took the loss, allowing three runs on 8.2 innings of work.  Brown struck out 11 and walked just one.
-Both pitchers combined to record 19, 0-2 counts – Guillette (11) and Brown (8).
-Eight of Guillette's 11, 0-2 counts came in the first four innings.
-Todd's ground out to third to lead off the sixth was the first ground out of the game for either team.
-Four of the five runs scored in the game came on solo home runs.

GAME FACTS
-The Chanticleers wasted little time getting on the board as K. Smith drove a 1-2 pitch over the left centerfield wall to lead off the bottom of the first for her ninth home run of the season.
-After being retired in order in each of the first two innings, H. Smith led off the third with her third home run of the season to tie the game back up at 1-1.  The Jag third baseman fell down 0-2 in the count, but worked it back full before delivering the solo shot.  
-Coastal nearly retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth.  With two on and two out, Natalie David lifted a ball to deep left, but Lowe made the play just in front of the wall to end the inning.
-Both clubs had a chance to get something going in the first extra innings.  With one out in the top of the eighth, Todd walked for the second time in the game and moved into scoring position with her 14th stolen base of the season.  South was unable to do anything else though as Guillette recorded her ninth strikeout of the game to end the frame.
-The Chants would put a runner on with one out in their half of the eighth as Smith was hit by a pitch on 1-2 pitch from Brown, but the Jag senior retired then retired the next two to end the inning.
-B. Reid led off the Jags' half of the ninth with her third triple of the season as she laced a ball down the leftfield line.  Two batters later, the sophomore right fielder came into scored on Kvistad's single to left.  Kvistad fell behind 0-2 in the count to Guillette and fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches before delivering the clutch RBI hit.
-Coastal answered back quickly the next half inning.  Dean tied the game up when she homered to center on the second pitch of the inning.  With two outs, Tooley delivered the game winner as she homered to left center for the 3-2 win.

NOTES
-This was the first-ever meeting in the series on the Chanticleers' home field.
-H. Smith's leadoff home run was South Alabama's ninth to start an inning and the 18th solo home run.
-In the bottom of the fourth, Brown tied former Louisiana pitcher Jordan Wallace (905) for fourth all-time in Sun Belt history in career strikeouts as she got Dean swinging to begin the inning.  Brown then moved into fourth as she got Alexis Alvino swinging to end the inning for her 906th career strikeout.
-With her three strikeouts looking, Brown now has 59 on the season, tying former Jag Hannah Campbell for third-most in a single season.
-The double-digit strikeout outing was the seventh of the season and the 39th of her career.
-The extra-inning game was the fifth of the season for South (1-4) and the 51st in program history.  It was also the 27th Sun Belt game to go extra innings.

Game 2
Final Score: South Alabama 10, Coastal Carolina 4
Records: South Alabama (26-24, 11-12 SBC), Coastal Carolina (23-27, 6-16 SBC)

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-2 Inn. — USA, 1-0 —Kvistad solo home run to left center (RBI)
-2 Inn. — CCU, 1-1 —Dean solo home run to left (RBI)
-3 Inn. — CCU, 2-1 —Stavi Augur sacrifice fly to center (RBI), scoring Angela Buccilli from third
-4 Inn. — USA, 2-2 —Kvistad solo home run to left center (RBI)
-4 Inn. — USA, 4-2 —Lowe reaches on a fielder's choice (RBI), scoring Amanda Flynn (pinch runner) from third; MC Nichols scores on a throwing error by Buccilli
-4 Inn. — USA, 5-2 —B. Reid infield single (RBI), scoring Lowe from third (unearned)
-5 Inn. — USA, 6-2 —Lyric Cabral solo home run to center (RBI)
-6 Inn. — USA, 7-2 —B. Reid single to left (RBI), scoring Todd from second
-6 Inn. — USA, 8-2 —Dayla Gulledge sacrifice fly to center (RBI), scoring Foster from third
-6 Inn. — USA, 10-2 —Kvistad home run to center (2 RBI), scoring B. Reid from second
-6 Inn. — USA, 10-4 —Dean home run to left center (2 RB), scoring Mellen from first

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-Kvistad capped off a four-run sixth for South Alabama and became the first South Alabama player in program history to record three home runs in the same game with her two-run home run to center to put the Jags up 10-2.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-All three of Kvistad's hits in game two were home runs.  The freshman designated player also tied a career high with 4 RBI.  
-Todd was 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored, while B. Reid was 3-for-4 with two runs driven in and a run scored.
-Cabral had two hits in her three at-bats and also walked once, to go along with her second home run of the season.
-Tooley and Dean each had a pair of hits, while the latter drove in three and hit a pair of home runs.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Jag starter Alexis Reid (10-10) went the distance and allowed the four runs on six hits.
-Coastal Carolina starter Kaitlyn Beasley-Polko (11-13) went 0-2 to each of the first four batters she faced.  
-B. Reid's at-bat in the sixth went 15 pitches.  During the at-bat, B. Reid fouled off nine two-strike pitches.
-South Alabama scored at least one run in four of its seven innings and wasn't retired in order until the top of the seventh.

GAME FACTS
-South Alabama had an excellent scoring opportunity in the top of the first as Todd doubled to lead off the game and then moved to third with one out, but she was left standing there after Natalie David's diving grab in left to end the inning.
-With one out in the second, Kvistad gave the Jags their first lead (1-0) of the series with a monster home run deep over the wall in left center.
-Coastal answered back in the bottom half of the inning as Dean led off the frame with her 13th home run of the season and her second of the doubleheader, to tie the game back up at 1-1.
-South tried to get something going with two outs in the third after back-to-back hits by Foster and B. Reid, but Beasley-Polko got Katelyn Gruich looking to end the inning.
-After the missed opportunity by South in the top half of the inning, Coastal took the lead without the benefit of a hit. The Chants put two aboard after back-to-back one-out walks by Bucilli and K. Smith.  The two runners advanced up a base on a wild pitch by A. Reid and then Bucilli came into score on Augur's sacrifice fly to center (3-2).
-The Jaguars sent nine batters to the plate in their half of the fourth and scored four runs to retake the lead (5-2).  Kvistad tied the game up 2-2 as she hit her team-leading seventh home run of the season.  The blast by the Jag freshman came after fouling off several 2-2 pitches by Beasley-Polko.  Cabral and Nichols then walked and South loaded the bases on Todd's infield hit.  With the bags full, Lowe bounced a ball to Buccilli, who went to second for the force, but her throw was off the mark and went into shallow left field, allowing two runs to score.  With runners at the corners and two away, B. Reid
-The Jaguars added some insurance with two outs in the fifth as Cabral recorded her second home run of the season to dead centerfield (6-2).
-Tooley led off the bottom of the fifth with an infield single and looked as if she was going to be left there, but a Jaguar error kept the inning alive.  However, South would get a force at second one batter later to end the frame.
-South Alabama posted its second four-run inning of the game in the sixth.  Todd recorded her third hit of the contest with a single back up the middle to start the sixth.  She then moved into scoring position with her 15th stolen base.  Foster then walked on four straight and after a B. Reid drove in her second run of the game as she lined a single to left to score Todd (7-2).  With runners at second and third, Gulledge delivered a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to center to score Foster.  Kvistad then hit her third home run of the contest, this one a two-run shot to center to increase the Jag advantage to 10-2.
-Coastal Carolina cut the deficit to six (10-4) on Dean's two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning.  The home run was Dean's third of the doubleheader and second of the game.

NOTES
-With her start at second, Todd made her 160th consecutive start for South Alabama, tying her for fourth all-time with Stephanie Pilkington (2013-16) in program history.
-Of South Alabama's 28 home runs this season, 21 have been solo shots.
-Kvistad tied B. Reid for the team home run lead with her second-inning home run and then hit her seventh in the fourth.  Six of her seven home runs this season have come in Sun Belt play.
-The fourth-inning home run by Kvistad to start the fourth was the 10th lead-off home run of the season for South Alabama.
-The two-home run game was the first of Kvistad's young career and the second by a Jag this season (Katelyn Gruich – vs. Southern on April 11).  There have now been 15, two-run home run games in program history done by 10 different players.
-South Alabama is now 10-0 in games in which it scores at least four runs in an inning.
-It was also the first time this season that South has had multiple big run innings in the same game.
-The multi-hit game for Todd was her team-best 16 games and was the 60th of her career.
-Cabral recorded her seventh career multi-hit game with her two hits.
-The multi-hit game was the 12th of the season for B. Reid and the multi-RBI game was her fifth.
-The three hits by Kvistad marked the eighth multi-hit game of the season for her and the four RBI tied a career high and was her fourth career multi-RBI game.
-The four home runs were a season-high for the Jaguars and the most since hitting four at ULM (4/23/17) last season.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On bouncing back in game two: "After game one, we had a talk because I felt that we were pressing too hard and trying to do too much.  We were letting frustration take over when we weren't getting results at the plate.  We wanted to clear that and reset things.  In game two we came out with better energy and had fun playing ball."
- On the power today and Kamdyn Kvistad at the plate today: "I tried to put a lot of my power kids in the lineup playing on this field.  Speed is always good to have in your lineup, but we were on a field where you could drive some balls out.  I had a talk with Kam[dyn Kvistad] after last weekend and gave her the LSU game off to kind of let her reset, because she was really pressing and trying to do too much  She had a great day today."

Kamdyn Kvistad
- On her play today: "I was really excited to play the way I did today.  I feel that I'm finally starting to swing the bat well.  I was just looking for good pitches to hit today and put a good part of the bat on the ball."
- On what's she's been working on: "I've just tried to get back to the basics and not over-swing.  I've worked on using my legs to swing and not just my arms.  I don't want to try to do too much and just play the way I'm capable of playing.  When I do the little stuff well, things work out well for me."
- On the bounce back win: "Our team has so much potential and I'm excited to see where we go from here."

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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