HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Senior right-hander Alexis Reid tossed seven scoreless innings Tuesday night to lead South Alabama to a 4-0 midweek road victory over Southern Miss at the USM Softball Complex. A. Reid allowed just four hits and struck out four en route to picking up her third shutout of the season.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (11-15) will now host its second home Sun Belt Conference series of the season as the Jaguars welcome Louisiana to Jaguar Field for a three-game series, beginning on Fri., (March 22) at 6 p.m. Games two and three will be Sat. (March 23) and Sun. (March 24) at 3 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

Date: 3/19
Place: USM Softball Complex (Hattiesburg, Miss.)

Final Score: South Alabama 4, Southern Mississippi 0
Records: South Alabama (11-15), Southern Mississippi (15-13)

Box Score

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- With the game scoreless, Southern Miss loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third, but A. Reid was able to get USM first baseman Sarah Van Schaik to fly out to right to end the inning and get out of the jam. South answered back with a run the next half inning to take control.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Victoria Ortiz posted her third multi-hit effort of the season as she was 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, a walk, a run scored and a RBI.
- Katelyn Gruich also had a solo home run – her third of the season – while Lyric Cabral recorded a double.
- Kamdyn Kvistad (10) and Megan Harris (6) extended their hit streaks, while Brittani Reid extended the on-base streak to 19 games.
- A. Reid (8-9) went the distance to post her 13th complete game of the season allowing the four hits, three walks and four strikeouts.
- Alyssa Davis and Madison Rayner had doubles for Southern Miss.

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama had a scoring opportunity in its half of the second as Kennedy Cronan walked with two outs after a nine-pitch at-bat and Savanna Mayo put runners at the corners as she reached on a USM fielding error, but USM starting pitcher Bailie Springfield (5-1) was able to get a fly out to right to end the inning.
- The Jaguars again placed a pair of runners on their next time up as B. Reid and Ortiz both worked one-out walks. Ortiz trailed 0-2 in the count, but the freshman right fielder worked the count back full before drawing the free pass. Davis made an outstanding defensive play one batter later though as she fielded a grounder, tagged third and then threw across the diamond for the double play to end the inning.
- The Golden Eagles loaded the bases in the bottom of the third after a one-out single from Jamie Powell and a pair of two-out walks to Chase Nelson and Destini Brown, but A. Reid was able to get a fly out to right to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
- South broke the scoreless tie as Gruich – a Biloxi, Miss., native – blasted a 1-1 pitch from Springfield deep over the wall in left to put the Jags up 1-0.
- The Jaguars extended their lead the next time up with a pair of runs. Cabral led off the fifth with a double to the gap in left center as she lined a 1-1 pitch off Springfield. South then got a run one batter later when Davis' throw on Harris' sacrifice bunt attempt when into right, allowing pinch runner Jordyn Calderon to score from second (2-0). The third run of the game for the Jaguars came later in the inning when Ortiz dropped in a double just inside the left field line scoring Harris (unearned) from third to make it 3-0.
- USM had another chance to get on the board in the bottom half of the fifth as Nelson moved around to third with two outs, but A. Reid was able to get Brown to ground out to second to end the inning.
- The Jags added an insurance run in the top of the seventh as they loaded the bases with one out after a leadoff single by Ortiz and a pair of walks to Gruich and pinch hitter Holly Stewart. Cronan then plated Oritz with a RBI ground out to second.
- USM was able to get a leadoff single in the bottom half of the seventh, but Cronan made and outstanding defensive play deep in the hole to gun down Nelson at first to end the game.

NOTES
- The meeting marked the 21st in the all-time series between the two clubs and the 158th meeting versus a current Conference USA opponent. It was also the 10th series meeting in Hattiesburg.
- With the win, South Alabama improved to 15-5-1 in the series and 5-4-1 on the Golden Eagles home field.
- The shutout was the eight by either team in the series and the fifth by the Jaguars.
- The meeting was the first of two this season as the two clubs are also scheduled to face each other in Mobile on April 3.- Cabral made her season debut at catcher Tuesday night. The sophomore started 50 games a season ago behind the plate.
- Cabral's start at the position marked the third straight game USA has had a different catcher behind the plate.
- B. Reid extended her career-best reached base safely streak to 19 games with her third-inning walk. The 19-game on-base safely streak is tied with four other players for eighth-longest streak and marks the sixth time in program history a South Alabama player has accomplished the feat.
- With her fifth-inning single, Kvistad moved both her current hit streak and reached base safely streaks to a career high 10 games.
- Harris extended her career-high six-game hit streak with her infield single in the sixth inning.
- The fourth-inning home run by Gruich was the 24th of the season for the Jaguars and marked the 17th game this season that South has hit at least one home run.
- The home run was Gurich's third of the season and the eighth of her Jaguar career, and the first to lead off an inning by the junior third baseman.
- It also marked the fifth leadoff and 12th solo recorded by the Jaguars this spring.
- MC Nichols' stolen base in the fifth inning was the first by the Jags since March 2 against Bradley snapping a streak of seven-straight games without a steal.
- The shutout was the 13th of A. Reid's career and the 55th complete-game effort by the Jag senior.
- The shutout was the fourth of the season and the first since an 8-0 five-inning victory over Hofstra back on Feb. 23. It was also the first seven-inning shutout of the season for South as the previous three has all been run-rule decisions.
- The win over Southern Miss also marked the first true road victory of the season for South Alabama.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the win: "Tonight was a great team win for us. I love the fact that I was able to get a lot of people in the game and that we got the contributions from the bench the way we did. I thought Lex [Alexis Reid] had a great night tonight. She was able to hit spots and mixed up pitches well. I also felt that tonight was some of the better defense that we've played this season. We always say that if you pitch and play defense, you're going to give yourself a chance [to win]. We also had some quality at-bats. "It was good to see Lyric [Cabral] back. She got the fifth inning started with a good at-bat, and her teammates were able to feed off of that and score some runs. Overall, tonight was a great night. We played a clean game and a team game. Those are the two things I've been looking for us to do, so I'm proud of them for that."

Sr., P, Alexis Reid
- On getting the win and what it means for this team: "It's exciting. It was a good midweek game for us against a quality opponent. [Southern Miss] has been playing well this year, and I think tonight's game was what we really needed to get us going as we head into a series this weekend against another great opponent [Louisiana]"
- On her performance in the circle: "The biggest thing that I tried working on was getting ahead. Last season [against USM] I struggled getting ahead in the count, and tonight I just focused on making my pitches and letting my defense work. They've been reminding me this week [in practice] that they've got my back, so I was excited to get them balls tonight."

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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