MOBILE, Ala. – After being on the road for 10-straight games, the University of South Alabama softball team returns home this weekend to host Texas State in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. Game one of the series is set for 6 p.m. on Friday at Jaguar Field, while games two and three are scheduled for Saturday (3 p.m.) and Sunday (12 p.m.).

GAMES: 23-25 | VS. TEXAS STATE
Venue: Jaguar Field | Mobile, Ala.

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: March 15, 2019 | 6 p.m.
Game 2: March 16, 2019 | 3 p.m.
Game 3: March 17, 2019 | 1 p.m.

Series Notes

GAME INFORMATION
Television: None
Radio: 99.5 The Jag FM (Game 2 of the series on Sat.)
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: www.USAJaguars.com
(In-Game Updates) Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB

South Alabama JAGUARS
Record: 9-13 (0-3 SBC)
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .268 / .376 / .377
Runs Per Game: 4.8
Runs Per Game Allowed: 5.0

Texas State BOBCATS
Record: 9-14 (0-3 SBC)
Head Coach: Ricci Woodard (New Mexico State, '91)
Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .263 / .440 / .371
Runs Per Game: 4.7
Runs Per Game Allowed: 4.6

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (9-13, 0-3 SBC) enters the weekend after being swept at UT Arlington over the weekend.
– The Mavericks took the series opener (10-9) with a dramatic come-from-behind win and then won games two and three, 7-2 and 8-1, respectively.
– The Jaguars have played much better at home this season as they have won seven of nine at Jaguar Field this year.
– South's power numbers have been up this season as it has hit 23 in 22 games thus far this season. Coming into Friday night's contest, USA has recorded at least one home run in 16 of its last 19 outings, and all 23 of the Jags' home runs have come during that stretch.
– Eight Jaguar players have two or more home runs this season led by freshman shortstop Kennedy Cronan's six, which are tied with tw0 other players in the league for third most in the conference.
– B. Reid comes into the Texas State series having reached base safely in each of her last 15 contests, including a career-best 11-game hit streak.
– She leads the club and is ranked fourth in the Sun Belt with a .453 batting average. The junior outfielder has scored 21 runs – tied for fourth in the Sun Belt – and has 47 total bases.
– Of her 29 hits, 11 have gone for extra bases with three home runs and a team-best seven doubles. Her seven doubles are tied with Georgia Southern's Hannah Farrell for most in the conference.
– B. Reid also paces the Jags with eight multi-hit games this season.
– The Kansas City, Mo., native got off to an outstanding start in Sun Belt play as she went 6-for-10 (.600) with two walks, two runs scored, two doubles and a home run in the series against the Mavericks.
– Kamdyn Kvistad's .366 batting average is second on the roster, as well as her four home runs. Kvistad also has six multi-hit outings this season and has driven in 13.
– Cronan (.304) comes into the series for the team lead in RBI (16) and her five multi-RBI games are tied with Abby Krzywiecki who has driven in 15 runs this season.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS    
– Texas State (9-14, 0-3 SBC) comes into this weekend's conference series like the Jags still in search of its first Sun Belt win.
– The Bobcats opened up league play last weekend by falling in all three games at home versus No. 10 Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns took game one (6-1) of the series on Friday night. ULL then closed out the series with a 5-3 win on Saturday and a 7-4 victory in the finale on Sunday.
– Texas State – the defending regular season and conference tournament champions – went 43-16 and 21-4 in the Sun Belt last season, and was picked second in the preseason SBC poll.
– Christina McDowell has been one of the top hitters in the Sun Belt this season. The junior outfielder ranks second in the league in batting (.465), hits (33) she is fifth in stolen bases as she is 9-for-9 in her attempts.
– McDowell is tied for second on the Bobcat roster in home runs, while her four doubles are tied for most on the team. She has also driven in 12 runs.
– Against the Ragin' Cajuns last weekend, McDowell was 5-for-8 (.625) at the plate with a home run and three RBI.
– Junior catcher Haleigh Davis and junior infielder Hailey MacKay preseason all-conference
– Davis is hitting just under .300 as she enters the weekend series with a .298 average and like McDowell she has four doubles to go along with her 11 RBI.
– MacKay is hitting .279 with three home runs and her 17 RBI are tied with Tara Oltmann for most on the Bobcat roster.
– ArieAnn Bell has a team-best five home runs on the year, which are tied with five other players for sixth most in the SBC.
– As a staff, Texas State's pitching staff holds a 4.68 earned run average and opponents are batting .295.
– Dallah Barrera has a team-high 55 strikeouts this season, which are fifth-most in the league.

THE SERIES VS. TEXAS STATE    
– South Alabama and Texas State have met 13 previous times in the all-time series.
– The Jaguars won the first meeting between the two clubs, defeating Texas State, 8-0 in San Marcos, but since the Bobcats have won 12-straight in the all-time series coming into the weekend, including sweeping last season's three games in San Marcos, Texas.
– The two teams have met just four times on the Jaguars' home field, with Texas State taking all four of those meetings.
– The Bobcats have shutout South six times in the series and have outscored the Jags 14-0 in the four contests in Mobile.
– The longest game in program history occurred in game one of last season's series in San Marcos as Texas State defeated the Jaguars 1-0 in 13 innings.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE BOBCATS    
Series: 1-12 (H: 0-4 / A: 1-8 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 1-11 (H: 0-3 / A: 1-8 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 0-1 (H: 0-1 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-1 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-1 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 4/5/14
Last Meeting: 4/8/17
Longest South Alabama Streak: 1 ('14)
Longest Texas State Streak: 12 ('14-'18)
Current Streak: 12 by Texas State
Last 5 – 0-5
Last 10 – 0-10

RECAPPING LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS    
April 7-8, 2018 – Texas State swept the season series versus South Alabama last season and extended its series win streak to 12.
– The Bobcats outlasted the Jags and won 1-0 in 13 innings – the longest game in South Alabama history.
– Texas State then picked up a pair of three-run victories over South in the final two games, defeating USA 4-1 and 9-6.
– In the series finale, Texas State trailed by three entering the sixth, but used a seven-run inning to rally back and defeat the Jags at Bobcat Softball Stadium.

SUN BELT HOME OPENERS / SERIES    
– In its 12 previous seasons in the Sun Belt Conference, South Alabama holds a 9-3 record in its league home openers.
– South Alabama has won nine of the 12 home conference-opening series.
– Last season, the Jags took the first two games of a doubleheader against UTA (1-0) and (4-3), both walk off wins. Game three of the series was cancelled due to weather.
– With the two wins over UTA last season, USA has won seven of its last eight SBC home openers and home-opening series.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On Texas State: "Texas State historically is a very solid program in the Sun Belt. [Texas State Head] Coach [Ricci] Woodard and her staff do a great job there. Texas State is always athletic, always well-coached and we always know when we play them that we are going to have a dog fight on our hands. We need to be ready to play when we face them this weekend on our home field."
- On what the team needs to do to be successful this weekend: "We need to continue to pound the strike zone and throw strikes. I think that it's huge when you are able to control and manage the strike zone. When you are able to do that, your ability to control the other team's line up is better. We have to continue to get better at that part of it. Defensively, we need to make plays behind our pitchers and do that on a consistent basis. We have places in there where we make great plays, and we have places where we have breakdowns. I feel like we have a ton of offense and a lot of power in our lineup. We just need to become more consistent and I feel that comes from our approach. We don't need to get caught up on other elements of the game. If you don't do well defensively, you don't need to bring it to your at-bat. We need to have professional, quality at-bats every time we go to the plate."

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.

—USA—