MOBILE, Ala. – For the second consecutive game, the University of South Alabama softball team entered the bottom of the seventh facing a two=run deficit and for the second straight day the Jaguars rallied back with three runs and defeated Nicholls State 3-2 on Sunday in the final game of the Mardi Gras Invitational held at Jaguar Field.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (8-6) will travel to South Florida to compete in the Diamond 9 Citrus II Classic held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. USA will open up with two games on Friday (vs. Bradley - 12:30 p.m. [CT] and vs. Purdue - 3 p.m. [CT]) and then close out the tournament with two games on Saturday (vs. Savannah State - 11 a.m. [CT] and vs. Bradley - 1:30 p.m. [CT].

Mardi Gras Invitational All-Tournament Team
Bella Loya, Illinois
Annie Fleming, Illinois
Sydney Sickels, Illinois
Carly Thomas, Illinois
Alexis Reid, South Alabama
Kennedy Cronan, South Alabama
Brittani Reid, South Alabama
Bryana Novegil, Stephen F. Austin
Brittany Crawford, Stephen F. Austin
Kali Clements, Nicholls State

Date: 2/24
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

Final Score: South Alabama 3, Nicholls State 2
Records: South Alabama (8-6), Nicholls State (8-8)

Box Score (PDF)

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh with a runner on, Kennedy Cronan blasted her fourth home run of the season over the wall in left on the first pitch she saw to tie the game up. Later in the inning, pinch runner Amanda Flynn slide across home plate on a fielder's choice bang-bang play to give the Jaguars the one-run victory.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Brittani Reid and Cronan both had two hits apiece and scored a run, while the former was also credited with her fourth stolen base of the season and the latter walked  twice and drove in two of South's three runs.
- Taylor Stevens had the game-winning RBI and also threw out a runner trying to steal.
- Alexis Reid (5-3) won her fourth-straight decision only allowing the two runs, one earned, on three hits, while striking out three.

GAME FACTS
- Nicholls picked up an unearned run in the top half of the first without the benefit of a hit and were aided by two Jaguar errors. Samantha Mracich walked on five pitches to start the game and then moved to third on a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Emma Holland was caught in a run-down on a stolen base attempt a couple pitches later and it appeared the Jags were going to get the out, but the ball became dislodged when the tag was applied and rolled away, allowing Mracich to come in from third (0-1).
- The bottom half of the opening frame looked promising as B. Reid lined a single to left and Cronan walked, but Megan Landry (7-3) struck out the next two and got a ground out to second to end the inning for the Colonels.
- Dayla Gulledge was hit by a pitch to start the fourth and moved over to third after Abby Krzywiecki's second sacrifice bunt of the contest and a ground out, but was able to get a fly out to center to end the inning and keep the Jags off the scoreboard.
- Nicholls extended its lead in the top of the fifth with some two-out run production. Melise Gossen bounced a single back up the middle and then came around to score one batter later when Maegan Ellis lined a 2-1 pitch to the left center gap plating Gossen and putting the visitors up 2-0.
- In the bottom of the fifth, Megan Harris reached on an infield single to start things off and B. Reid looked as if she had tied the contest up when she lifted a high fly ball to right center, but it was held up by a strong wind blowing in and caught just shy of the wall. Cronan then reached for the third time in as many plate appearances with a full-count walk to put runners at first and second, but Landry was able to get a fly out to center and a pop out on the infield to end the threat.
- Like Saturday night, the Jags trailed by two entering their final at-bat. B. Reid ignited the rally with a single back up the middle. Cronan then stepped to the plate and drilled the first pitch she saw from Landry deep over the wall in left (2-2).
- South kept the comeback going and with one out, Katelyn Gruich doubled to left center and the Jaguars loaded the bases after back-to-back walks by Gulledge and Abby Krzywiecki. Stevens then bounced a chopper to Amanda Gianelloni at short whose throw home was not in time allowing Flynn – pinch running for Gruich – to score and cap off the walk-off win.

NOTES
- The meeting was the 18th in the all-time series between the two clubs, and USA is now 13-5 in the series.
- The win on Sunday extended South's series win-streak to 11 games.
- It was also the 10th meeting in the series in Mobile (USA leads 8-2).
- The Jaguars have now faced an opponent from the Southland Conference 57 times and are 46-11 (.807) in those contests.
- The game versus Nicholls also marked the third game this weekend against the league as USA had defeated fellow SLC member Stephen F. Austin twice.
- The 18 meetings versus the Colonels are the most against any current Southland Conference member.
- With its 4-1 showing over the weekend at the Mardi Gras Invitational, the Jaguars now hold a 26-8 record at the event.
- With her seventh-inning double, Gruich extended her reached-base safely streak to 10 games, which ties a career best for the junior.
- Kvistad had her nine-game reached base safely streak come to an end against Nicholls.
- Stevens threw out her fourth runner this season attempting to steal and the third of the Mardi Gras Invitational when she gunned down Kali Clement in the top of the fourth.
- A. Reid recorded nine ground-ball outs in the win and her final strikeout of the afternoon came on pitch 100.
- South Alabama left nine runners on base, while the Colonels only stranded two.
- The Jaguars had the leadoff batter reach in five of its seven innings and left at least one runner on base each of the first six inning, including two stranded in the first, fifth and sixth innings.
- Prior to Cronan's two-run home run to tie things up, the Jaguars have been 0-for-14 on the afternoon with runners on base.
- With the home run, South Alabama has now homered in nine of its last 11 games and of the 12 Jaguar home runs during that stretch, seven different players have recorded one.
- Of South's 12 home runs this season, eight have been multi-RBI producers, including five two-run shots.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On getting it done late and what it says about this team: "I obviously love our grit and our fight; that's huge on your home field, that's huge anywhere, but especially on your home field. If I'm being completely honest, I would've loved to have seen us made an adjustment at the plate earlier. I think we have to be careful about falling in love with running it to the very end and then using the big fly, but I'll 100 percent take it.
"I think we're moving in the right direction, moving in a positive direction. I don't think we're there yet and I still think there's room for growth for our players, but I think they are beginning to see what they are capable of and who they can be. As a coach, that's the part that puts a smile on your face. You see the light bulb starting to click and them starting to understand what they are capable of."
- On Kennedy Cronan: "She had great at-bats the whole time today. She's a great hitter and we knew that coming into the season. We put her in the two-hole to let her battle and have great at-bats up there, and that has really worked out well for us. She's come up in a lot of really tight situations. Her composure and just her overall compete mentality in those situations is impressive for any player, especially a freshman. She's just a ball player, just a gamer. You can tell when she gets those [big] hits that she is so pumped for her team. I never really see her getting into her head, she's just up there competing every pitch. When she gets something she can drive, she puts good wood on it. I'm super proud of her."

Freshman shortstop Kennedy Cronan
- On the two-run, seventh-inning home run: "I just knew I needed a hit [in that spot]."
- On winning in their final at-bat like Saturday night: "We play as a team and we're just having fun right now. We're out there competing."
- On knowing that the team is capable of late-inning comebacks: "With our lineup, we always have a chance. You can never count us out."

Senior catcher Taylor Stevens
- On winning back-to-back games the way they have: "Winning like that is really huge for us. The past few seasons, we've struggled in those situations. For us to be able to come together as a unit and fight for each other is really huge. It's so wonderful to see us come together like that."
- On having the comebacks this early in the season: "To build that confidence early is nice. We didn't come out as strong as we wanted to the first weekend of the season, and we used that as a learning experience. To be able to come back and learn what it feels like to fight is awesome. Now that we have that feeling inside us, we know that we can take ourselves seriously and feel that we are capable of taking on anyone who comes at us. That's huge for us as we head into conference play in two weeks. If we start out down in games, we know that we have the ability to come back."

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—