MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama will jump into Sun Belt Conference play this weekend as the Jaguars travel to Arlington, Texas to take on UTA at Allan Saxe Field in their league opening series. Game one of the series will get underway on Friday at 5 p.m. with game two and three of the series set for Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon.

The 2019 season will mark a noticeable change in league play as the Sun Belt is going to a three-day format rather than the previous format of a doubleheader and a single game over two days.

Series Notes

GAMES: 20-22 | AT UTA
Venue: Allan Saxe Field | Arlington, Texas

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: March 8, 2019 | 5 p.m.
Game 2: March 9, 2019 | 1 p.m.
Game 3: March 10, 2019 | 12 p.m.

GAME 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: --
Record: 9-10 (0-0 SBC)
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .263 / .430 / .377
Runs Per Game: 4.9
Runs Per Game Allowed: 4.5

UTA MAVERICKS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | RPI: --
Record: 10-10 (0-0 SBC)
Head Coach: Peejay Brun (Hawai'i, '94)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .292 / .383 / .369
Runs Per Game: 5.0
Runs Per Game Allowed: 3.7

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (9-10, 0-0 SBC) enters its first conference weekend after falling 5-2 at No. 4 Alabama on Tuesday night.
– Brittani Reid tied the game up in the fifth as she led off the inning with her second home run of the season, but the Crimson Tide answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning and added an insurance run in the sixth.
– With B. Reid's home run against the Crimson Tide, South has recorded at least one home run in 13 of its last 16 games.
– All 18 of South's home runs have come during this stretch. Six players have two or more home runs this season led by freshman shortstop Kennedy Cronan's five, which are tied with five other players in the league for third most in the conference.
– B. Reid comes into the UTA series having reached base safely in each of her last 12 contests, including a career-best eight game hit streak.
– She leads the club and is ranked sixth in the Sun Belt with a .426 batting average. The junior outfielder has scored 19 runs – tied for second in the Sun Belt – and has 36 total bases.
– Of her 23 hits, eight have gone for extra bases. She is also 5-for-5 in her stolen base attempts.
– B. Reid also paces the Jags with seven multi-hit games this season.
– Kamdyn Kvistad's .350 batting average is second on the roster, as well as her three home runs. Kvistad also has five multi-hit outings this season and has driven in 11.
– Abby Krzywiecki (.349) is tied with Cronan (.317) for the team lead in RBI (15) and multi-RBI games (5).
– Krzywiecki extended her reached base safely streak to 10 Tuesday night with a first-inning single.
– In the circle, the Jaguars are led by senior RHP Alexis Reid (6-6) who holds a 2.61 earned run average. She leads the team with nine complete games and has two shutouts in her 75.0 innings in the circle.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS    
– UTA (10-10, 0-0 SBC) comes into the weekend after falling 1-0 at Texas A&M on Wednesday night in a pitcher's duel that was decided by a manufactured run in the Aggies' half of the fourth inning.
– Offensively, the Mavericks are led by junior shortstop Whitney Walton who not only leads the club, but also the conference in batting average (.468), hits (29), doubles (6) and walks (15).
– Walton has also scored 19 runs this season which are tied with fellow teammate Krista Rude (.391) and four other SBC players for second entering the first SBC weekend of the season.
– Walton also ranks among the league leaders in on-base percentage (second – .577) and total bases (fifth – 40).
– Walton was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on Tuesday after batting .647 in five games. Walton hit safely in all five games and crossed the plate five times, including twice in her 4-for-5 effort in a 12-7 win over North Texas at the Texas Tech Invitational.
– Laura Curry is hitting .371 and has two triples on the year.
– Brittany Wyllie is hitting above .300 coming in at a .306 clip and Reagan Wright (.288) leads the team and is tied for fifth in the Sun Belt with 17 runs driven in.
– In the circle, Randy Phillips (5-5) holds a 2.69 ERA and has gone the distance five times, including the tough-luck loss to A&M on Wednesday where she allowed just five hits in her six innings of work. She has been a part of both UTA shutouts this season.
– As a staff, UTA pitching has given up 17 home runs this season.

THE SERIES VS. UTA    
– South Alabama and UTA have met 16 previous times in the all-time series.
– The Jaguars are 13-3 overall in the series and 4-2 at Alan Saxe Field.
– South swept the Mavericks on their home field during the 2015 season, but UTA took two of three the last time the two clubs met in Arlington during the 2017 season.
– The last three games and five of the last seven in the series have been decided by one run.
– South holds five shutouts in the series, while the Jags have yet to be held scoreless in any of the 16 series meetings.
– The two teams first met on March 22, 2014 with South Alabama winning a pair of run-rule decisions.
– The Jaguars won the first nine meetings in the series, but hold a slim 4-3 advantage in the last seven series contests.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE MAVERICKS    
Series: 13-3 (H: 8-0 / A: 4-2 / N: 1-1)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 12-3 (H: 8-0 / A: 3-0 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 1-1 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 1-1)
Extra-Inning Games: 1-1 (H: 1-0 / A: 0-1 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 2-0 (H: 2-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 3/22/14
Last Meeting: 3/10/18
Longest South Alabama Streak: 9 ('14-'16)
Longest UTA Streak: 2 ('17)
Current Streak: 2 by USA
Last 5 – 4-1
Last 10 – 7-3

RECAPPING LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS    
March 10, 2018 – South Alabama opened up Sun Belt Conference play with a doubleheader sweep of UT Arlington with a pair of walk-off wins at Jaguar Field.  
– Abby Krzywiecki delivered a seventh-inning pinch-hit RBI single in the opener to give South the 1-0 victory, and freshman catcher Kamdyn Kvistad blasted her first career home run in the second game to give USA a 3-2 win.
– Game three of the series was cancelled due to weather.

SUN BELT OPENING SERIES
– In its 12 previous seasons in the Sun Belt Conference, South Alabama holds a 5-7 record in its league openers.
– Last season, USA swept a doubleheader versus UTA on a pair of walk-offs. Game three of the series was cancelled due to weather.
– Along with last season's SBC opener, the Jaguars and the Mavericks also opened up conference play in Mobile in 2014 with South also sweeping that series (3-0).
– Prior to sinning the series versus UTA last season in Mobile, South had dropped its last three SBC openers and last three SBC opening series.

SUN BELT ROAD OPENING SERIES
– In its 12 previous seasons in the Sun Belt Conference, South Alabama holds a 7-5 mark in the first game of its first league road series and has won six SBC opening road series and tied one series.
– This will mark the first time that South Alabama has met UTA to open road conference play
– Last season, USA lost two of three at Georgia Southern by in its first SBC road series.
– South has dropped its last four SBC road openers and last three SBC opening series.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On opening Sun Belt Conference play and the challenge of the first league series being on the road: "Personally I know I am looking forward to starting conference play. And, again, I think it is good we open up on the road and have to work through the challenges of playing on someone else's home field. This opening series will be a good match up for us. Arlington has played some tough teams in the preseason and is well prepared going into conference play. I look forward to a great series."
- On what South has learned during Sun Belt play that will help them in league play: "My goal is that we learn to prepare and compete consistently every day. I think we have seen that when we focus on the right things we are a very good team. We have to be consistent with our overall mental approach and understand that every pitch counts. So far we have had some pretty big highs and some lows as well. I hope we are learning how to even that out and be a more consistent team."

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—