MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama senior pitcher Devin Brown tossed a two-hitter as the Jaguars picked up the season sweep over Southern Mississippi Tuesday night with a 7-1 victory over Jaguar Field.  South also took advantage of four Golden Eagle errors and blasted out a pair of home runs en route to picking up the six-run win.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (19-17, 5-6 SBC) will head back out on the road for a three-game Sun Belt series at Texas State.  The two clubs will open up the series with a doubleheader on Saturday with a pair of games (1 p.m. and 3 p.m.) and then close out the series on Sunday with a single game scheduled to start at 12 p.m. at Bobcat Softball Stadium.  

Photo Gallery

Date: 4/3
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala)
Final Score: South Alabama 7, Southern Mississippi 1
Records: South Alabama (19-17), Southern Mississippi (14-26)

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-1 Inn. — USA, 1-0 —Kristian Foster double to left center (RBI), scoring Kaleigh Todd (unearned) from second
-1 Inn. — USA, 2-0 —Kamdyn Kvistad single through the left side (RBI), scoring Foster from third
-1 Inn. — USA, 3-0 —Savanna Mayo sacrifice fly to left (RBI), scoring Brittani Reid (unearned) from third
-3 Inn. — USA, 4-0 —Hannah Smith solo home run to left center (RBI)
-4 Inn. — USA, 7-0 —Kvistad home run to left center (3 RBI), scoring Haleigh Lowe from second and B. Reid from first.
-5 Inn. — USM, 7-1 —Rebekah Dilavore sacrifice fly to left (RBI), scoring Alyssa Davis from third

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-Devin Brown (12-9) retired the Golden Eagles in order in the top half of the first and the Jaguars put three runs on three hits and a pair of Southern Miss errors in the bottom half of the inning to grab control early.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Todd and Kvistad each recorded 2-for-4 performances at the plate in the win.  Todd had a pair of singles and scored a run, while Kvistad drove in a season-high four runs, three coming on her fourth home run of the season.
-Foster reached base twice with a double and a walk, and drove in a run and scored a run, while B. Reid also walked and singled, scoring twice.  
-Smith recorded her first home run of her Jag career.  Mayo also walked and drove in a run for the Jaguars.
-Brown pitched her 14th complete game of the season and in her seven innings of work, Brown allowed just three Southern Miss baserunners on the night – two hits and a hit-by-pitch.  Brown also struck out four and didn't issue a walk.
-Karley Nichols had the lone two hits for the Golden Eagles as she reached base all three of her plate appearances.  Nichols was 2-for-2 and was hit-by-pitch.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-The Jaguars loaded bases three times in the first two innings.
-Brown pitched first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 24 batters that she faced and got up 0-2 to seven Golden Eagle batters.
-USM starting pitcher Kim Crowson (6-8) went just an inning-plus allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits.  Reagan Watkins pitched five innings of relief for USM, allowing four runs on three hits, five walks and five strikeouts.
-South Alabama had the leadoff batter reach in four of its six innings.
-The Jaguar hit a pair of home runs in the win.

GAME FACTS
-After a quick 1-2-3 inning by Brown in the top half of the opening frame, South Alabama batted around and scored three runs on three hits and two costly Golden Eagle errors in the bottom half of the frame to take a 3-0 lead.
Todd reached base to start the inning on a fielding error by USM first baseman Nichols.  Todd was initially ruled out on the play, but after a conference, K. Nichols was ruled to have juggled the ball.  Two batters later, Foster lined a double to gap in left center to plate the first run of the inning (Todd, unearned).  B. Reid then followed with a single to center and Kvistad brought Foster home with a single through the left side of the infield making it 2-0 Jaguars.  Lyric Cabral reached on a Southern Miss error, and South then scored its third run of the inning on Mayo's sacrifice fly to left which brought in Foster (unearned) from third.
-Jags had a chance to extend their lead in the second as they loaded the bases for the third time in the contest on a pair of hits and another Golden Eagle error, but USM's Watkins entered the circle in relief and retired three straight batters.
-With one out in the bottom of the third, H. Smith drove a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left center for her first home run of the season, giving the Jaguars a 4-0 advantage.
-South Alabama used the long ball its next time at the plate to extend its lead to 7-0.  Lowe walked to start the inning and then with one out, B. Reid also walked to put a pair of runners on.  Kvistad then worked the count full and blasted a three-run shot high off the scoreboard in left center.
-USM broke through with a run in its half of the fifth.  Davis was hit by a 0-2 pitch from Brown and Nichols then reached on an infield single.  After moving to third later in the inning, the Golden Eagle third baseman came home on Dilavore's sacrifice fly to left (7-1).
-After allowing the run in the fifth, Brown finished strong, retiring the side the final two innings.

NOTES
-The starts tonight by Todd (second) and Foster (shortstop) marks the 138th consecutive game the duo has started at their respective positions up the middle together for South Alabama.
-The RBI-double in the first for Foster was her team-leading eighth and her 20th run driven in of the season, also a team best.  The RBI was also the 100th of Foster's career, making her just the
-With her single in the second, Todd extended her hit streak (10) and reached-base-safely streak (12), both season highs. The multi-hit game by Todd also tied B. Reid's season mark of 10, while it was also the 54th of her career.  She has now had multi-hit games in seven of her last nine outings.
-The third-inning home run for Smith was the first of the freshman's career.
-Kvistad's three-run home run was her fourth of the season, tying her with B. Reid for top honors, and the 14th of the year for the Jags.  It was also the second multi-run home run of the season for the Jaguars.
-Of South Alabama's 14 home runs this season, 12 have been solo shots.  South Alabama has also had seven home runs in its last five games dating back to the McNeese State game (3/28).
-The two home runs by South Alabama marked just the second time this season the Jaguars have recorded multiple home runs in a game this season (McNeese State).
-With the win, Brown moved into a tie with Farish Beard (2012-15) for second place at South Alabama in that category as she now has 63 for her career.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- Opening statement: "Kaleigh (Todd) got us started at the top of the order and everybody else jumped on board.  I thought we squared a lot of balls up.  I would've liked to have seen us make a little more of an adjustment to the lefty.  I thought there were some places where we were over swinging out of the zone.  That is something we need to get cleared up before we go into this weekend.  I thought we gave away some strikes, but other than that I thought we were incredibly solid."
- On Devin Brown's strong outing: "We came back in yesterday and talked through some things and had a good bullpen.  I thought she got back tonight to being Devin.  She just needed to get back out there and get back to the basics.  I thought she gave us a great game tonight and the defense played really well behind her too."

Hannah Smith
- On hitting the first home run of her career: "It's really exciting.  I've been pressing to get hits and putting a lot of pressure on myself.  Today, I was relaxed and finally got a pitch over the plate that I could hit and drive."
- On if she knew it was gone: "I thought I miss hit it and it would be a pop out to left field."
- On getting the early lead off their mistakes: "It's super important.  It's something that we've been working on.  Having already played [Southern Mississippi] this season, we knew how they were capable of playing.  We prepared for them to come out well, but they didn't.  It was good to take advantage of their mistakes."

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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