MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team will head out on the road for its first true road game Wednesday night as the Jaguars travel to take on No. 1/1 Florida State. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. (CT) at Joanne Graf Field.

Notes

GAME: 9 | AT FLORIDA STATE
Feb. 20, 2018 | 5 p.m. (CT)
Venue: JoAnne Graf Field | Tallahassee, Fla.

GAME INFORMATION
Television: None
Radio: 97.1 The Prowl FM
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: JagNationTV (Audio Only)
(In-Game Updates) Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | RPI: --
Record: 4-4 (0-0 SBC)
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .249 / .408 / .364
Runs Per Game: 5.4
Runs Per Game Allowed: 4.4

Florida State SEMINOLES
NFCA: No. 1 | USA: No. 1 | RPI: --
Record: 11-0 (0-0 ACC)
Head Coach: Lonni Alameda (Oklahoma, '93)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .371 / .656 / .448
Runs Per Game: 7.5
Runs Per Game Allowed: 1.9

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (0-0, 0-0 SBC) comes into Wednesday's road game after posting a 3-1 record over the weekend at the Jaguar Challenge in Mobile, Ala.
– For their play, Kennedy Cronan, Katelyn Gruich and Dayla Gulledge were each selected to the all-tournament team.
– Cronan leads the club with a .407 batting average and also paces the club in slugging percentage (.852), runs (8), doubles (3), home runs (3) and total bases (23). Her seven RBI are also tied with Abby Krzywiecki for the team lead in that category.
– Gullege is hitting .400 entering the week and has walked a team-best six times, while driving in five runs.
– After an outstanding weekend at the plate, Gruich raised her average to .353, while Kamdyn Kvistad is batting .360.
– Coming into the game against FSU, South Alabama has homered in five straight games, recording all seven of their long balls during that stretch.
– Alexis Reid (2-3) and Samantha Yarbrough (1-1) lead the Jags in the circle with a 3.11 earned run average.
– Yarbrough has struck out 21 batters in 18.0 innings of work.

SCOUTING THE SEMINOLES    
– Florida State (11-0, 0-0 ACC) has picked right up where it left off from its 2018 national championship season through its first 11 games of the 2019 campaign.
– FSU enters the midweek contest versus the Jaguars after picking up six wins, including three versus Top 10 competition – No 3. Oklahoma (7-4), No. 6 Tennessee (5-2) and No. 8 LSU (9-1 [6 onn.]) – over the weekend at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational in Clearwater, Fla.
– As a team, the Seminoles have been outstanding at the plate as they are batting .371, scored 82 runs and driven in 73. Of their 108 hits, 40 have gone for extra bases – 16 doubles, 5 triples and 19 home runs.
– Eight FSU players who have started nine games or more are batting over .323 with Zoe Casas (.516) and Cali Harrod (.500) leading the way at the plate.
– Casas has scored nine runs and driven in 11, while she also has two doubles, a triple and two home runs.
– Casas was selected as the Week 2 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week on Tuesday, after finishing the Clearwater Elite Invitational with a .556 (10-for-18) average, seven runs scored, six RBI, two home runs and a .944 slugging percentage.
– Harrod, Sydney Sherrill and Carsyn Gordon have each scored a team high 12 runs, while Sherrill leads the team with a 1.034 slugging percentage, four home runs and 13 RBI.
– Seven players have two or more home runs thi season.
– In the circle, Meghan King paces the Seminole staff with a 5-0 record and a 0.85 earned run average.
– King has gone the distance in four of her five starts and recorded two shutouts. In her 33.0 innings of work, she has sruck out 39 and walked just six. Opponents are batting .167 against the left-handed redshirt-senior.

THE SERIES VS. FLORIDA STATE    
– South Alabama and Florida State have met 10 other times in the all-time series.
– The Jaguars hold a 4-6 record in those meetings and are 1-2 against the Seminoles on their home field.
– The lone road victory in the series by the Jags came during the 2012 season when South Alabama defeated Florida State 3-1.
– Three of the 10 meetings have come in postseason play with all three of those coming at the 2013 NCAA Regional in Mobile.
– Last season, the two teams split a doubleheader in Mobile with South taking the opener, 3-1, and FSU picking up the nightcap, 14-1 in five innings.
– This will be the first meeting in the series in Tallahassee since the 2012 season.
– The two clubs had been scheduled to meet in Tallahassee during the 2017 season, but that game was cancelled due to weather.
– Three of the 10 meetings have come in postseason play.
– The series dates back to the 2009 season.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE SEMINOLES    
Series: 4-6 (H: 3-4 / A: 1-2 / N: 0-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-1 (H: 0-1 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-1 (H: 0-1 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 1-2 (H: 1-2 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/18/09
Last Meeting: 2/21/18
Longest South Alabama Streak: 2 ('10-'12)
Longest Florida State Streak: 3 ('09-'11)
Current Streak: 1 by Florida State
Last 5 – 2-3
Last 10 – 4-6

RECAPPING THE LAST TIME THEY MET    
Feb. 21, 2018 – South Alabama split a doubleheader with No. 7/9 Florida State at Jaguar Field, taking a 3-1 victory over the Seminoles in the opener, while the Seminoles bounced back scoring 14 runs on 13 hits to earn the doubleheader split with a 14-1 win in game two.

GAME 1
– FSU had runners in scoring position in both the first and third innings, but Devin Brown was able to Gordon looking to end the opening inning and then Sherrill to ground out to end the third.
– South capitalized on the missed opportunities by the Seminoles in the bottom half of the third.  USA loaded the bases with no outs on a single (Lyric Cabral), walk (Megan Harris) and a FSU fielding error (MC Nichols) before Kaleigh Todd lined a two-run single back up the middle into center field.
– The Seminoles again threatened in the next half inning placing runners at second and third, but Devin Brown was able to get a ground out to second to end the inning.
– The Jaguars added an insurance run their next time up as Krzywiecki drove a 3-2 pitch from Kylee Hanson over the wall in left center for her first home run of the year.
– In the top of the seventh with one out and the bases loaded, the Seminoles looked as if they were going score a pair of runs, when Jessica Warren's chopper bounced off the top of Savanna Mayo's glove at third, however FSU was only able to push one run across on the play as Kristian Foster was backing Mayo up on the play.  The Jags were able to get Morgan Klaevemann in a run-down for the second out of the inning.  Brown then got Sydney Sherrill looking to end the game.

GAME 2
– FSU used a seven-run second in game two and a four-run third to break open a one-run game and pick up the final game of the doubleheader.
– Warren put the Noles on the board first in the opening inning with a solo shot to right off of Alexis Reid.
– Florida State then broke the game open its next time up as the Seminoles erupted for seven runs on four hits; the big blows coming on a grand slam by Warren, her second home run of the game, and a two-run shot by Carsyn Gordon to left.
– FSU added four more runs in the top of the third to extend its lead to 12-0 as the Seminoles sent 10 batters to the plate for the second straight inning.  Cali Harrod (double) and Gordon (single) both drove in a pair during the inning.
– The Jaguars prevented the shutout with a run in the fourth.  Brittani Reid walked to start the inning and advanced around to third on a ground out and a wild pitch.  With two outs in the inning, the Jag leftfielder came into score on a fielding error by Mackenzie Puckett at first base.
– FSU added two more runs in to top of the fifth to give the final margin (15-1) after a two-run single to right by Dani Morgan.

SOUTH AGAINST THE ACC    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 11-11 (.500) against current Atlantic Coast Conference members.
– The 10 meetings versus Florida State are the most against any ACC member, while USA has also faced Syracuse (4), Georgia Tech (3), Virginia Tech (3), Boston College (1) and Louisville (1).
– Last season, South posted a 1-2 record against the league falling, 5-4, to Louisville in eight innings at the Diamond 9 Citrus I Classic and splitting a doubleheader in Mobile against FSU (3-1 and 1-14 [5 innings]).

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the challenge of facing a program like Florida State: "I obviously have respect for what Coach Alameda and her staff have built at Florida State and that is one of the reasons you want to play these kind of games. Ultimately though I do not want us to focus on Florida State; we have to focus on South Alabama and what we are trying to do. There is always a challenge when you play a team with the exposure that FSU has had to avoid getting caught up in all of that. We need to focus on executing fundamentally, taking care of our jobs, and controlling the things we can control. That part never changes regardless of who your opponent is. I think if you are not looking for ways to challenge your team then you are not doing your job as a coach."
- On the series versus FSU: "We have had some great games against FSU and I think that goes directly to the competitive nature of both programs. We both love to compete and work hard to win games so that mentality is always going to play itself out on the field."

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.

—USA—