GULF SHORES, Ala. – Western Kentucky used a seven-run first inning to grab the early momentum Sunday morning and held on to pick up a 7-3 victory over the University of South Alabama softball team on the final day of the Sand Dollar Classic held at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (1-3) will return home to host the Jaguars Challenge presented by Springhill Suites (Feb. 15-17). The Jags will open up with Lipscomb at 4:15 p.m. and North Dakota at 6:30 p.m.

Date: 2/10
Place: Gulf Shores Sportsplex (Gulf Shores, Ala.)

Final Score: Western Kentucky 7, South Alabama 3
Records: Western Kentucky (4-1), South Alabama (1-3)

Box Score

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- WKU sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs – three earned – in the top of the first to take the early advantage.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Brittani Reid recorded an RBI triple, while true freshman Kennedy Cronan posted her first career home run – a solo shot deep over the left-center fence.
- Amanda Flynn also had a pinch-hit single, while Dayla Gulledge registered the other Jaguar hit.
- Alexis Reid came in relief and was outstanding, tossing five innings of one-hit shut-out ball. A. Reid also had three strikeouts and didn't issue a walk to the Toppers.
- WKU was led in the circle by freshman right-hander Kennedy Sullivan (3-0) who went six innings and allowed three runs on four hits, while striking out nine and walking one.
- At the plate, Jordan Thomas was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.
- Five other Toppers finished the contest with one hit apiece, while four of those batters also scored a run.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- WKU's first four outs of the game came via a strikeout by Sullivan.
- Both of Thomas' hits were registered during the seven-run first inning.
- The two teams only left a combined three runners on base.
- WKU was 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position, including 4-for-6 with runners at third and less than two outs. South Alabama was 0-for-2 in both of those situations.
- Following the first inning, Jaguar pitching faced the minimum over the final six innings of the game.
- A. Reid worked three clean innings and ended up facing the minimum in the third and the sixth due to a WKU runner leaving early and a line out double play.
- From the final out of the second inning until the leadoff batter of the sixth, Sullivan retired 10 straight batters,

GAME FACTS
- Western Kentucky batted around in the opening frame, sending 12 batters to the plate. The Toppers scored seven runs – three –earned on five hits and were aided by a Jaguar error in the inning.
- Thomas got the game started with a double that got down in the right-center gap and rolled to the wall. Two batters later, Shannon Plese brought in the first run of the contest with a RBI single.
- Two batters later in the inning, Rebekah Engelhardt reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Jordan Ridge then plated two more runs for WKU when she laid down a sacrifice bunt, scoring Plese, while a Jaguar throwing error allowed Jordan Vorbrink to score all the way from second.
- The Toppers continued to play small ball as they laid down two more bunts and scored two more times.
- The final runs of the inning for Western came off the bat of Thomas, who recorded her second base hit of the frame, this one a two-run single to center to make it 7-0.
- From that point on, the Jaguar pitching would settle down, as freshman Samantha Yarbrough (1-1) retired the Toppers in order in the top of the second, and A. Reid closed out the game facing the minimum over the final five innings of play.
- Trailing by seven, South Alabama finally got its offense going in the sixth. Flynn got things started with a pinch-hit single to left and then came around to score on the next Jag batter as B. Reid's liner to the gap in right center got down past a diving effort by Vorbrink, allowing B. Reid to race around the bases for a RBI triple.
- B. Reid then came into score when Sullivan's called third strike went to the back stop two batters later.
- With two outs in the frame, Cronan stepped to the plate and drilled a 0-1 Sullivan offering deep over the fence in left center.
- WKU reliever Kelsey Aikey pitched a scoreless seventh, retiring the Jags in order to end the game.

NOTES
- Megan Harris made her first career start in center field for South Alabama against the Toppers.
- It was also the first time since her redshirt freshman year that regular centerfielder MC Nichols did not start for the Jags. Last season, M. Nichols started all 56 games in the middle of the outfield.
- South Alabama senior Dayla Gulledge also made her first career start in the outfield, starting in right.  Gulledge's previous 39 starts had all come as the designated player.
-B. Reid started her first game in the outfield this season in left. B. Reid's three other starts this season had been as the designated player. B. Reid started 13 games a year ago at the position.
- The junior's triple was the second of the season for South Alabama.
- Cronan's home run was not only the first of her Jag career, but the first by a South Alabama player this season.
- Last season, South's first home run didn't come until game nine of the season against Murray State on Feb. 18 at the February Freezer hosted by Mississippi State.
- The meeting was the 27th all-time in the series versus Western Kentucky.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the game: "Obviously it was a rough first inning for us; we're still not there [as a team]. I thought this was one of the worst games that we've played to this point in the season. That's not something you want to see on the last day [of the opening weekend tournament]. You hope that you are taking steps forward. We have to figure out that we have to make quality pitches, make plays on defense, and we have to have quality at bats at the plate. I didn't think we were very good at any of that today. It's one of those things where you have to make a decision as a team whether or not you are going to do something different. If you're going to move forward, you have to do something different, and that's where we're at."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSout_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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