MOBILE, Ala. – Coming off its first true road-game victory, the University of South Alabama returns home this weekend to take on ninth-ranked Louisiana for its second-straight home Sun Belt Conference series at Jaguar Field. Game one of the series is set for Fri., at 6 p.m., while games two and three are scheduled for Sat. (3 p.m.) and Sun. (12 p.m.).

GAMES: 27-29 | VS. LOUISIANA
Venue: Jaguar Field | Mobile, Ala.

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: March 22, 2019 | 6 p.m.
Game 2: March 23, 2019 | 3 p.m.
Game 3: March 24, 2019 | 1 p.m.

Series Notes

GAME DAY INFORMATION
Television: None
Radio: None
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: www.USAJaguars.com
(In-Game Updates) Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | RPI: 105
Record: 11-15 (1-5 SBC)
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .277 / .440 / .374

Louisiana RAGIN' CAJUNS
NFCA: 9 | USA: 9 | SA: 12 | RPI: 18
Record: 23-4 (6-0 CUSA)
Head Coach: Gerry Glasco (Illinois, '80)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .345 / .588 / .431

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (11-15, 1-5 SBC) enters its third conference weekend after picking up its first true road victory Tuesday night, defeating Southern Mississippi, 4-0 in Hattiesburg.
– Katelyn Gruich led off the Jags' half of the fourth with her third home run of the season. USA then added two runs in the fifth and an insurance run in the top of the seventh before Alexis Reid completed the shutout.
– Offensively, Brittani Reid paces the club at the plate with a .423 batting average, a .679 slugging percentage and a .531 on-base percentage. The junior outfielder leads the team with 33 hits, 13 of which have gone for extra bases. Her nine doubles lead the Sun Belt.
– B. Reid ranks among Sun Belt leaders in on-base percentage (third), batting average (fourth), walks (17 – T-fourth), hits (33 – sixth), slugging percentage (seventh),
– B. Reid has nine multi-hit games this season and 21 for her Jaguar career.
– Against Southern Miss, B. Reid extended her reached base safely streak to 19 games with a 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.
– Kamdyn Kvistad is second on the Jag roster with a .369 average and hits (30). Kvistad has four home runs, three doubles and has scored 13 runs.
– Freshman outfielder Victoria Ortiz (.311) has been on a tear over her last 14 games, including a 2-for-3 performance at the plate against the Golden Eagles.
– Since recording a pinch-hit home run versus Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 23, Ortiz has batted .389, scored eight runs, recoded seven extra-base hits and driven in six.
– Kennedy Cronan (.278) leads the team with 16 runs driven in, while Kvistad and Abby Krzywiecki (.303) have 15 RBI each. The trio also have five multi-RBI games each this spring.
– Senior RHP A. Reid leads the South pitching staff with eight wins and a 3.06 earned run average. She has gone the distance in 13 of her 16 starts this season, and recorded her third shutout of the season against USM on Tuesday.

SCOUTING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS    
– Louisiana (23-4, 6-0 SBC) comes into the weekend series after falling 6-5 in 11 innings at home to McNeese State on Wednesday night, snapping an eight-game win streak by the Ragin' Cajuns.
– The Cowgirls scored an unearned run in the top of the 11th to take the lead and Louisiana's Alyssa Dalton was thrown out at the plate attempting to tag up on a fly out to left to end the game.
– Despite the loss, Louisiana has been perfect thus far in Sun Belt play, sweeping each of its first two league series – at Texas State and against Troy last weekend. All three of the games versus the Trojans were run-rule decisions.
– The Ragin' Cajuns boast the top offense and pitching staff in the league, while also ranking among the top 10 nationally in both categories – batting average (fifth) and earned run average (eighth) – as of March 19.
– As a team, Louisiana has recorded 89 extra-base hits – doubles (48), triples (5) and home runs (36) – has also stolen 99 bases this spring.
– All 10 of the regular starters in the Louisiana lineup are hitting over .300 coming into the series with four at .365 or better.
– Julie Rawls leads the team and second in the SBC with a .458 average. Rawls has scored 26 runs and driven in 31, while 14 of her 30 hits have gone for extra bases – doubles (6) and home runs (8).
– Rawls leads the conference in slugging percentage (.968), RBI and home runs, while ranking second in on-base percentage (.571), runs scored and in the top 10 in several other categories.
– Rawls and Summer Ellyson were named the Community Coffee Sun Belt Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday.
– Rawls had four consecutive multiple-hit games, drove in 10 runs and went 11-for-15 (.733) at the plate, while Ellyson collected five victories, including each one in a Sun Belt series for the second straight weekend, surrendering only two runs and striking out 43 batters over 28-2/3 innings.
– Ellyson was honored for the second straight week and third time overall this season, and her performance last week was also recognized by the National Fastpitch Association as one of the top performances nationally last week.
– Along with Rawls, Bailey Curry (.403), Lexie Comeaux (.373) and Rainia O'Neal (.365) have been outstanding at the plate. O'Neal has seven home runs and Comeaux has six.
– All four of those players along with Dalton have driven in 20 or more runs, while Kara Gremillion and Sarah Hudek have 19 RBI apiece.
– In the circle, Ellyson has handled a majority of the work recording 122.0 of the club's 171.1 innings pitched.
– Ellyson (17-4) holds a 1.26 earned run average, 10 complete games, seven total shutouts and has struck out 137 batters while limiting the opposition to a .164 batting average.

THE SERIES VS. LOUISIANA    
– South Alabama and Louisiana have met 42 previous times in the all-time series.
– UL holds a 31-11 advantage in the all-time series and has won 11 of the 17 series meetings in Mobile.
– Five meetings in the series have gone into extra innings, while six decisions have been by run-rule.
– The Ragin' Cajuns have won the last six meetings in the series and the last four Sun Belt Conference series versus the Jaguars.
– During the program's previous 12 seasons, South has won two SBC series versus the Ragin' Cajuns (2013 and 2009).  The two clubs also tied the first conference series during the 2007 season with each picking up a win.
– Louisiana has won nine straight coming into the weekend.
– The two teams have met eight times in the postseason with three of those meetings coming during the championship game of the Sun Belt tournament (2012, '14 and '15).

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE RAGIN' CAJUNS    
Series: 11-31 (H: 6-11 / A: 2-18 / N: 3-2)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 7-27 (H: 6-11 / A: 1-16 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 4-4 (H: 0-0 / A: 1-2 / N: 3-2)
Extra-Inning Games: 2-3 (H: 0-1 / A: 1-2 / N: 1-0)
Run-Rule Games: 1-5 (H: 1-1 / A: 0-4 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 4/15/07
Last Meeting: 3/31/18
Longest South Alabama Streak: 3 ('12-'13)
Longest Louisiana Streak: 11 ('09-'12)
Current Streak: 9 by Louisiana
Last 5 – 0-5
Last 10 – 1-9

RECAPPING LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS    
March 30-31, 2018 – No. 20 Louisiana swept last season's Sun Belt series versus South Alabama at Lamson Park. The Ragin' Cajuns took the opener (7-1) and then won game two, 5-4 in eight innings, before closing out the series with a 3-2 win in the finale.
– Louisiana broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the fifth and then added four runs in the sixth in game one of the series. Only one of the four runs scored in the sixth were earned.
– In game two, South looked as if it were going to even the series after Brittani Reid homered in the eighth inning – her second of the series – to put the Jaguars up by a run, but Alissa Dalton tied the game up with a RBI double to left center.
– Dalton then scored the game-winning run when she came home after being caught in a rundown attempting to score on Chaumont's fielder's choice when the ball came dislodged from Jag third baseman Savanna Mayo's glove on the tag play.
– Louisiana scored single runs in each of the first three innings to take a 3-0 lead. South then attempted to rally back with two runs in the top of the sixth on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly.
– The Jaguars placed the tying run on with one out in the seventh, but Ellyson was able get a fielder's choice and a pop out to third to end the contest.
– South Alabama second baseman Kaleigh Todd became just the fourth Jaguar to eclipse the 200-hit mark for her career in the contest.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On what she saw out of her club in the win at Southern Miss and how they can build off that performance: "I thought overall Lex [Alexis Reid] pitched a great game against Southern Miss. When their offense tried to make a run at it she dug in and made pitches. She had a few walks that she needs to clean up, but overall she was able to dig in when she really needed to. Our defense backed her up and helped eliminate their chances as well. At the plate, we had more quality at-bats than we have been having and we strung them together. I also went into the game with the goal of getting the bench as involved as possible so we were able to get contributions from our entire roster as well. We have to continue to build on all of these areas. We have to continue to play fundamental, team softball."
- On the opportunity to face a top 10 opponent at home and what South needs to do in order to be successful: "If you respect every opponent equally then you can take the same approach to every game. We respect ULL just like we respect every other team we have played this year. I try not to make one team more important than another because at the end of the day it comes down to us taking care of our business and executing in all areas. The goal is to do that at a high level every time regardless of who you are playing. We look forward to hosting ULL and my expectations for our team will be the same as always – make quality pitches, play fundamental defense, have quality at-bats and compete every pitch."

Following the USM midweek, you face another tough task when you host Louisiana the preseason favorite and a top 10 team. Just talk to me about the opportunity to face a top 10 program at home and what you guys need to do in order to be successful this coming weekend.

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—