LAFAYETTE, La. – Fifth-seeded Troy broke a scoreless tie with an unearned run in the fourth inning  which proved to be the difference as the sixth-seeded University of South Alabama softball team was eliminated with a 1-0 loss at the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championship held at Lamson Park.

UP NEXT
- With the loss, South Alabama's (29-27) season comes to an end.

Date: 5/10
Place: Lamson Park (Lafayette, La.)
Final Score: (5) Troy 1, (6) South Alabama 0
Records: Troy (33-25), South Alabama (29-27)

Box Score (PDF)

SCORING PLAYS
-Inn. 4 — Troy, 1-0 —Taylor Corbett single to left (RBI), Talia Truitt scores (unearned) from third

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-With two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the fourth, South Alabama looked as if it were going to get out of the inning with a chopper back to the circle, but Devin Brown's throw was low and Kamdyn Kvistad was unable to come up with it cleanly, allowing the inning to continue.  The Trojans would break the scoreless tie one batter later on Taylor Corbett's liner to left, scoring the lone run of the game.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Kaleigh Todd closed out her career with two of the Jaguars' three hits for her team-best 19th multi-hit game of the season and the 63rd of her career.
-Megan Harris had the lone other hit for South Alabama and Brittani Reid drew two of South's five walks.
-Brown (18-16) went the distance allowing just the one unearned run on four hits, while striking out five and walking one.
-Peyton Glover (12-9) picked up the win as she also tossed a complete-game shutout.  Glover allowed three hits and walked five, but struck out three Jag batters
-Truitt was 2-for-3 with a run scored, and both Corbett and Carli Kayler recorded hits for Troy with the latter driving in the lone run.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-South Alabama had scoring opportunities in each of the first two innings, placing five runners on base and loading the bases with one out in the first.  For the game, South Alabama left nine runners stranded.
-All three of Glover's strikeouts came to end an inning.  Glover ended the first and second innings with strikeouts to get out of jams after walking four the first two innings.  She also ended the fifth with a strikeout.
-Neither team was retired in order until the top of the sixth when the Jaguars went 1-2-3.
-The 7-8-9 hitters in Troy's line up recorded all four of the Trojans' hits.
-Truitt entered the game after starting Trojan leftfielder Brooke Echols had to leave in the top of the first with a leg injury.
-South Alabama was 1-for-11 with runners on base and 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
-Both of Truitt's hits were bunt singles.
-Neither team had the leadoff batter reach base, nor recorded an extra-base hit.

GAME FACTS
-South Alabama had a chance to break through early loading the bases with one out.  Todd flew out on the first pitch of the game, but the Jaguars loaded the bases after Glover issued three-straight walks to – Kristian Foster, Kvistad and B. Reid.  The Trojan starter though came back with a fly out to left and a strikeout swinging to end the inning.  
-The Jaguars again had a scoring opportunity their next time up, this time placing runners at first and second with two outs after a walk to MC Nichols and a single back up the middle by Todd.  Like the opening frame though, Glover would get out of the jam with a strikeout.
-In the bottom half of the second, the Trojans had a two-out scoring opportunity of their own as Truitt (bunt) and Kayler reached with infield singles, but Brown was able to get Corbett to pop out to short to end the inning.
-Troy broke a scoreless tie with an unearned run in the fourth.  Truitt reached with her second bunt single of the game with two outs.  Brown then looked as if she was going to get out of the inning as she fielded a chopper back from Kayler.  The senior's throw to first was in the dirt and Kvistad couldn't come up with it for the Jags' second error of the game, allowing runners to be at the corners for the Trojans.  Corbett then lined a two-out single to left to plate Truitt and make it 1-0.
-The Jaguars put the tying run on base in the top of the seventh as Todd singled with one out, but Glover got Foster to foul out to left and Kvistad to fly out to center to end the game.

NOTES
-The game versus the Trojans marked the first time this season that Foster had batted in the number two spot of the Jaguar lineup.
-The start was the 50th of the season for Lyric Cabral at catcher.
-The meeting between the two programs was 36th all-time and the second postseason meeting at the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
-The two teams have now each taken a postseason meeting in the all-time series.
-The win by Troy snapped an 11-game win streak in the series by South Alabama.  The Jaguars had outscored the Trojans 58-11 during the win streak and 19-1 in the three meetings during the regular season.  
-The shutout was the first for the Trojans in the series since May 3, 2014, also a 1-0 loss in Mobile.
-The run given up by Brown to Troy was just the fifth the senior has surrendered in her eight previous outings versus the Trojans.
-Todd wraps up her stellar Jaguar career as the program's all-time career leader in hits (231), stolen bases (75), batting average (.374) and multi-hit games (63).  Her 213 games played are tied with two other players for second most in program history and her 166 consecutive starts are fourth on the all-time list.
-Foster, another Jaguar senior playing her final game in a South Alabama uniform, will leave tied as the program's all-time leader in sacrifice flies (12), while ranking in the top 10 in doubles, sacrifice hits and RBI.
-Brown's career also concludes an outstanding career and will leave holding the program marks for career strikeouts (932) and shutouts (31), and her 39 career double-digit strikeout games are also a program standard.  With her complete-game effort versus the Trojans, the Jag senior right-hander also moved into a tie for second place in the category with former South Alabama player Beth Pilgrim.
-Brown also ends her career ranked fourth all-time in the Sun Belt Conference in strikeouts, while ranking in the top 10 of the league career marks in shutouts and complete games (77).
-Brown finishes the season with 231 strikeouts, which ranks as fourth-most for a single-season at South Alabama.  Agains the Trojans, Brown passed Pilgrm's 2010 previous fourth-place mark of 228.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the game: "I thought Devin [Brown] pitched well enough today for us to win; it's a tough loss for her to take.  I thought we were pretty passive at the plate and took a lot of first-pitch strikes.  I thought we were just sitting back too much and weren't really aggressive.  I'm very disappointed with that part of it."
- On the seniors: "I want to thank our seniors for their contributions that they have made to our program, both on the field and off the field.  All three of them have been solid students and all three of them have been solid athletes.  I thank them for what they've done for South Alabama softball and representing the program the right way."

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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