MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team will take on its second top 5 program of the season Tuesday evening when the Jaguars take on No. 5 Alabama. First pitch versus the Crimson Tide is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Paul Rhoads Stadium.

GAME: 19 | AT ALABAMA
Venue: Paul Rhoads Stadium | Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Game Notes

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: March 5, 2019 | 5 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION
Television: None
Radio: 99.5 The Jag FM
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: SEC Network+
(In-Game Updates) Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | RPI: --
Record: 9-9 (0-0 SBC)
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .268 / .437 / .383
Runs Per Game: 5.1
Runs Per Game Allowed: 4.4

Alabama CRIMSON TIDE
NFCA: 5 | USA: 6 | SA: 6 | RPI: --
Record: 20-0 (0-0 SEC)
Head Coach: Patrick Murphy (Northern Iowa, '88)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .302 / .510 / .409
Runs Per Game: 6.6
Runs Per Game Allowed: 1.6

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (9-9, 0-0 SBC) enters the midweek game against the Crimson Tide after dropping three of four over the weekend at the Diamond 9 Citrus II Classic.
– Coming into Tuesday's game, South has hit at least one home run in 12 of its last 15 contests, including a season-high-tying three on Saturday against Savannah State.
– All 17 of South's home runs have come during that stretch.
– In that contest, Kamdyn Kvistad became just the fourth player in program history to record multi games of two or more home runs in her career.
– In South's two games on Saturday, the sophomore third baseman went a combined 7-for-8 at the plate and raised her average to .351, which ranks second on the club.
– Kvistad also ranks second on the team in home runs (3) and hits (20), and third on the team in runs scored (10) and RBI (11).
– Brittani Reid leads the club offensively with a .431 batting average, runs scored (17), hits (22), extra-base hits (7) and doubles. B. Reid has also been successful in all five of her stolen base attempts.
– Abby Krzywiecki (.341) and Kennedy Cronan (.339) have also been outstanding at the plate this season. The duo is also tied for the team lead in RBI with 15, while Cronan has four doubles and a team-best five home runs.
– Alexis Reid paces the team in the circle with a 2.33 earned run average. She is 6-5 on the season and has gone the distance in eight of her 10 starts, including two shutouts in 69.0 innings of work.
– A. Reid pitched all 15 innings of the Jags' two games on Saturday.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE    
– Alabama (20-0, 0-0 SEC) comes into Tuesday night's contest undefeated on the season. The Tide went 4-0 over the weekend defeating Southern Miss twice (3-2 and 3-1), Saint Francis (3-1) and Michigan State (2-1).
– UA was supposed to have played the Spartans a second time at the Easton Crimson Classic, but Sunday's games were cancelled due to inclement weather.
– As a team, Alabama is hitting .302 and averaging 6.6 runs per game. The Tide also has 54 extra-base hits – 27 doubles, 5 triples and 22 home runs – to go along with 118 RBI.
– Alabama has also been successful in 48 of its 51 stolen base attempts and is led in that category by Elissa Brown (.340) who is 16-of-17, and KB Sides (.333) who is a perfect 12-for-12 in her attempts.
– Freshman infielder Skylar Wallace leads the team with a .381 batting average. Wallace has scored 12 runs and has three doubles and three home runs.
– Sophomore outfielder Kaylee Tow is second on the club with a .367 average. Of Tow's 18 hits on the season, 10 have gone for extra bases, including a team-best eight doubles. Tow has also driven in 18.
– Bailey Hemphill (.339) leads the Tide in home runs (7) and RBI (26) and has a .786 slugging percentage.
– As a staff, the Crimson Tide holds a 1.59 ERA and has struck out 130, while walking just 28. Bama has also allowed just 32 runs this season, 29 earned. Opponents are batting .183.
– Montana Fouts is 8-0 this season and holds a 0.53 ERA. She has three shutouts this season and in her 53.0 innings of work, she has struck out 70, walked just four and allowed just four earned runs.
– Junior right hander Sarah Cornell (7-0) also holds an ERA under 1.00 as she enters play with a 0.97 ERA.
– Cornell has three shutouts as well, two solo and one combined, and has struck out 23 in 29.0 innings.

THE SERIES VS. ALABAMA    
– South Alabama and Alabama have met 14 previous times in the all-time series.
– UA holds a 14-0 record in the all-time series.
– The Crimson Tide and the Jaguars have met 10 times in Tuscaloosa with seven of those meetings coming during the regular season and three during the 2012 NCAA Regional.
– Each of the last six meetings in the series have been decided by three runs or less with two of those one-run decisions.
– The only season the two clubs haven't met was South Alabama's very first season (2007).

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE CRIMSON TIDE    
Series: 0-14 (H: 0-3 / A: 0-10 / N: 0-1)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-1 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-1 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-3 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-3 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/8/08
Last Meeting: 2/8/18
Longest South Alabama Streak: --
Longest Alabama Streak: 14 ('08-'18)
Current Streak: 14 by Alabama
Last 5 – 0-5
Last 10 – 0-10

RECAPPING THE LAST TIME THEY MET    
Feb. 8, 2018 – Before a sell-out crowd of 1,152 in its season opener, South Alabama had its chances against No. 10/11 Alabama, but missed opportunities proved costly as the Jaguars dropped a 1-0 decision at Jaguar Field.
– Alabama's Alexis Osorio earned the complete-game victory scattering three hits and striking out eight.
– South Alabama's Alexis Reid recorded 2.1 innings of scoreless relief allowing just one hit and striking out one.
– With one out and the bases loaded in the top of the third, Gabby Callaway's RBI ground out to first plated Sydney Booker for the game's lone run.
– South Alabama got the leadoff batter aboard in the third, fourth and fifth innings, eventually placing two runners on base in each of those instances – two of those times with one out – but the Jags were unable to come up with the timely hit.

SOUTH AGAINST THE SEC    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 12-40 (.231) against current Southeastern Conference members.
–The game against the Crimson Tide will mark the 53rd in program history versus a SEC opponent, but the only one scheduled during the 2018 regular season.
– Of the eight teams from the SEC, Alabama and Florida are the lone two teams from the league that South Alabama has yet to pick up a win against as the Jaguars hold at least one victory over the other six schools that they have faced.
– The 14 meetings against Alabama are the most against any SEC member, while USA has also faced LSU 12 times and MSU 9.
– South Alabama has faced at least one SEC team in each of its previous 12 seasons of play since the program began in 2007.
– Last season, USA was 0-7 against the league facing Alabama, Mississippi State, Tennessee, South Carolina and LSU.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On facing another top 5 program on the road and the benefit it will have for the team as they prepare to begin Sun Belt play this weekend: "I think it is great timing for us to play a tough team on the road. We struggled this past weekend and honestly we need to continue to be tested until we figure out how to meet those challenges. Alabama is off to a solid start and is playing with confidence right now; I think this test will be good for us. We need to face quality competition and continue to work through the challenges that quality competition presents."

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—