DECATUR, Ga. – After falling 5-2 in the first game of its doubleheader, South Alabama bounced back and recorded a season-high four home runs en route to taking the series finale 14-6 to pick up its first Sun Belt Conference win of the season.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (14-26, 4-15 SBC) will now head to ULM for a three-game series set to begin Thursday at 6 p.m. at the ULM Softball Complex.

Date: 4/13
Place: Robert E. Heck Softball Complex (Decatur, Ga.)

Game 1
Final Score: Georgia State 5, South Alabama 2
Records: Georgia State (6-36, 4-13 SBC), South Alabama (13-26, 3-15 SBC)

Box Score

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- With the game tied 2-2 in the fourth, Caitlin Ray lined a double off the top of the wall in center to score a pair of go-ahead runs.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- MC Nichols was 2-for-2 at the plate and scored a run. Kennedy Cronan plated a run for the Jaguars with a sacrifice fly.
- Brittani Reid also had a pair of hits in the contest and drove in a run.
- After only lasting an inning-and-a-third on Friday, GSU starter Emily Soles (3-12) went the distance and picked up her fourth win of the season scattering eight Jaguar hits.
- Ray was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks and two RBI, and recorded 10 put outs at first for Georgia State.
- Arden Jobe was 1-for-2 with a walk, a run scored and two RBI, while Baylee Sexton walked three times and scored twice.

GAME FACTS
- Georgia State took the early lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Jess Neadow singled with one out and Sexton walked with two outs to put a pair on. Jobe then followed with a two-run single to left center to give GSU the 2-0 lead.
- South tied things back up in the top of the third with a pair of runs. Megan Harris and M. Nichols singled to start the inning and B. Reid brought home the first run of the game for South with a RBI single to left (2-1).
-The Jaguars had the first two batters reach their next time up as Katelyn Gruich and Abby Krzywiecki singled, but Soles was able to leave the runners stranded in scoring position as she retired the next three batters.
- The Panthers took advantage of a pair of two-out walks to retake the lead in the fourth. Sexton and Jobe both worked the count full before drawing the free pass to put a pair on for Ray who lined a 1-2 pitch to straight-away center for her 12th double of the season scoring the pair to give Georgia State the 4-2 advantage.
- GSU loaded the bases with two outs its next time up after a pair of walks and a hit batter, but Jamie Finnical was able to get out of the jam as Jobe grounded out to first to end the inning.
- The Panthers extended their lead to 5-2 with an unearned run in the sixth. With two outs in the inning and a runner at second, pinch hitter Kaylnn Hicks lined single back up the middle that deflected off Finnical's glove and on the play, Gruich's throw was off the mark, allowing Morgan to score.

NOTES
- The meeting was the 20th in the all-time series.
- The start at second marked just the second of the season for B. Reid.
- Cronan had her nine-game reached base safely streak ended as she went hitless in her two at-bats.
- All five of Georgia State's runs came with two outs in the inning.
- The two-hit performance was the first multi-hit game of the season for M. Nichols and the 17th of her career.
- Coming into the game, M. Nichols had had just two hits this season.
- The multi-hit out was the second of the series for B. Reid and her 13th of the season. The junior outfielder now has 24 multi-hit games for her career.
 
Game 2
Final Score: South Alabama 14, Georgia State 6
Records: South Alabama 14-26, 4-15 SBC), Georgia State (6-37, 4-4 SBC)

Box Score

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- Tied 2-2, Abby Krzywiecki gave the Jaguars the lead for good as the junior posted her first career grand slam in the top of the third inning.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Victoria Ortiz was 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and a home run, while Gruich also had a home run and went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and two runs scored.
- Megan Harris was a perfect 3-for-3 with a walk and scored a run.
- Kvistad had a pair of hits in her three at-bats with all three of here RBI coming on her sixth home run of the spring.
- Krzywiecki drove in a career-high four runs with the grand slam.
- Georgia State's Ray, Mosel, Gabby Benson and Oliva Davis had two hits apiece with the latter driving in two.

GAME FACTS
- The Jaguars went out in front with a run in the top of the first. With a runner at second and two away in the inning Gruich plated a run with a bloop double in shallow left field scoring Ortiz from second.
- Georgia State answered right back in the bottom half of the opening frame with a pair of runs. Mosel lined a two-out double to right center to score Morgan who had walked earlier inning for the first run. South looked as if it were going to be out of the inning one batter later but a Jag error extended the inning and allowed Mosel to score all the way from second for an unearned run.
- South erupted for six runs on three hits and two Panther errors in the visitor's half of the third
Ortiz tied the contest up when she blasted a 2-2 pitch over the wall in right for her third home run of the spring. Cronan then reached on an error and Kvistad and Gruich walked to load the bases with no outs for South. Krzywiecki then put the Jaguars out in front with her first career grand slam on second pitch she saw from GSU reliever Savannah Freeman. Cabral reached on an error and two batters later, came home on Holly Stewart's pinch-hit sacrifice fly to center to score Cabral from third and make it 7-2.
- Georgia State put runners at second and third with one away in the bottom of the third after a single and a two-base error on a pop out, but Alexis Reid (10-14) held the Panthers off the scoreboard as she fielded a hot shot back up the middle and looked the runner back to third for the second out. The senior righty then got Jobe swinging to end the inning.
- The Panthers again put runners at second and third in the fourth and narrowed the deficit to 7-3 when Olivia Davis came into score when Morgan reached on a Jaguar error.
- Gruich though got the run right back as she led off the top of the fifth with her second home run of the series and fifth of the season to make it 8-3.
- Georgia State cut into the Jags' lead with three runs on two hits in the fifth. Benson led off the inning with a single and Hicks drew a free pass to put a pair on. Sexton walked to load the bases with one out and Davis then plated two (8-5) with a base hit that deflected off Gruich's glove. The third run of the inning came on a sacrifice fly to center to make it 8-6.
- South got a run back in the sixth when Cronan scored on Gruich's RBI single to center (9-6).
- The Panthers brought the tying run to the plate a couple of times in the bottom half of the sixth, but with runners at second and third, A. Reid was able to get a called third strike on a full count to get out of the jam.
- The Jags capitalized the next half inning. Harris and M. Nichols singled to start the inning. B. Reid then followed with a RBI single of her own back up the middle to score Harris and extend South's advantage to 10-6. Ortiz then worked the count full and loaded the bases with a walk. USA stretched its lead to 11-6 on a sacrifice fly to left by Cronan. Kvistad then posted South's fourth home run of the game with a three-run shot to center – her sixth of the season – to stretch the Jag lead to 14-6.

NOTES
- South Alabama improves to 14-8 in the all-time series after taking two out of three on the weekend.
- The 14 runs tied a season high for South, while the 17 hits were a new season mark.
- With the four home runs in game two of the doubleheader are the most in a single game this season. South Alabama now has 39 this season which is fifth-most in a season in program history.
- Of USA's 39 home runs, 20 have been solo shots with nine leading off an inning. Both Ortiz (third) and Gruich's (fifth) led off an inning with a home run for South in the series finale.
- The grand slam by Krzywiecki was the first recorded by a Jaguar since April 23, 2017 when Gruich did so at ULM. It is the 17th four-bagger in program history.
- The South Alabama has recorded a six-run inning and a five-run inning in the same game in two of its last three.
- The six-run third marked the sixth time South has put up six or more runs in an inning and the 10th game with a five-run inning.
- Georgia State turned three double plays in the contest, including a pair of 5-3 double plays.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On game two of Saturday's doubleheader: "I was proud of Lex for fighting through things today in game two. She gutted it out and got us a ton of ground balls. There were some places where we had some defensive hiccups and she just kept fighting through it. It was nice to get the big hits at the end to kind of put it away in the seventh."
- On getting the first Sun Belt series win of the season: "This is the first step for us as we move forward the rest of the season. We need to build off this series win and keep pushing forward."

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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