MOBILE, Ala. – After playing its last two weekends on the road, South Alabama returned home and opened up its final homestand with an 8-4 victory over McNeese State Wednesday night at Jaguar Field in its final non-conference midweek contest of the regular season.

Four Jaguars recorded multiple hits led by Kamdyn Kvistad's 3-for-3 performance at the plate.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (16-28, 5-17 SBC) will play its final Sun Belt Conference home series as the Jaguars welcome Georgia Southern to Mobile for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. South will open the series versus the Eagles on Friday, (April 26) with first pitch set for 6 p.m. at Jaguar Field. Game two is set for Saturday (April 27) with game three scheduled for Sunday (April 28). Game two of the series is set to begin at 3 p.m. with the series finale scheduled for a 12 p.m. start. South's five seniors will be honored prior to Sunday's contest.

Date: 4/24
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

Final Score: South Alabama 8, McNeese State 4
Records: South Alabama (16-28), McNeese State (24-26)

Box Score
Photo Gallery

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- After McNeese had led off the top of the fifth with back-to-back singles and brought the go-ahead run to the plate with no outs, Alexis Reid was able to get three-straight ground-ball outs to work out of the jam and preserve the South Alabama lead.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Kvistad was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and two runs driven in.
- Brittani Reid (2-for-3), Victoria Ortiz (2-for-4) and Megan Harris (2-for-3) also had multi-hit outings in the win.
- B. Reid had a double and a walk, scored a run and drove in two, while Ortiz recorded a double as well, scored twice and drove in a run.
- Harris also scored two times for South and Abby Krzywiecki homered.
- Samantha Yarbrough picked up her fourth win of the season, tossing five innings.
- Alexis Reid registered her first career save as she went two innings, scattered three hits and struck out two without issuing a walk.
- Kaylee Lopez and Aubree Turbeville were both 2-for-4 at the plate for McNeese, with Lopez also driving in a run.
- Demi Boudreaux drove in a pair and scored a run to go along with her one hit.
- Justyce McClain who entered the game hitting over .400 was held to one hit, a bunt single to start the game.

GAME FACTS
- McClain laid down a bunt single on the second pitch of the game and came around to score when the Jaguars throw was high and rolled all the way to the wall in right, allowing McClain to come around and score. Cori McCrary then walked on four straight, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before coming in on Boudreaux's sacrifice fly to center, giving McNeese the early 2-0 advantage.
- South got a run back in the bottom half of the opening frame. Reid led off the top of the first with a single back up the middle and then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch two batters later. After getting down in the count 0-2, Kennedy Cronan worked it back full and then singled back up the middle to plate B. Reid and cut the deficit in half (2-1). USA threatened to do more damage as Kvistad was hit by a pitch to place a pair on for the Jaguars, but McNeese starter Amber Coons was able to retire the final two batters.
- In the second, South took its first lead with a pair of runs on two hits, a walk and a Cowgirl error. Lyric Cabral led things off with a walk and was pinch ran for by Caroline Nichols. Two batters later, Harris recorded a bunt single and on the play, McCrary's throw was off the mark, allowing both runners to move into scoring position at second and third. B. Reid drove in the pair and put the Jags up, 3-2 as she lined her second hit in as many at-bats Sun Belt-leading 15th double of the season to left.
- After retiring nine straight batters, Yarbrough ran into some two-out trouble in the fourth. The freshman issued a pair of two-out walks, but Yarbrough was able to get Sara Geier to pop out to Cronan to end the threat and maintain the one-run advantage for South.
-  Toni Perrin reached on a bang-bang play at first with a bunt single to start the fifth and after moving around to third on a pair of ground outs, the Cowgirl center fielder came into score on Boudreaux's RBI double to the gap in left center (3-3). One batter later, Lopez worked the count full and then put McNeese back out in front as she lined a double off the wall in center, bringing in Boudreaux to make it 4-3.
- Ortiz lined a double to center – her 15th of the spring – on the first pitch in the bottom half of the fifth and Cronan walked on five pitches to set the table for Kvistad. The sophomore then bounced a double down the leftfield line that was just fair, scoring Ortiz from second and tying the game at 4-4. South retook the lead one batter later as Cronan scored when Katelyn Gruich reached on a fielder's choice after McCrary's throw was up the first base line, allowing Cronan to come home. Krzywiecki extended the Jaguar lead as she drove a 2-2 pitch over the wall in center for her fourth home run of the season.
- McNeese brought the go-ahead run to the plate with nobody out in the sixth as Kristan Deitz and Tayler Strother led off the frame with back-to-back singles to left, but Jag reliever A. Reid was able to get three-straight ground outs, including the lead runner at third on a fielder's choice force play at third to get out of the jam and preserve the two-run Jaguar lead.
- South Alabama added some insurances runs the next half inning with a three spot. Harris recorded her second hit of the night with a bunt single and then moved up a base when B. Reid was walked. With a runner in scoring position, Ortiz – the reigning Community Coffee Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week – lined a single to center, scoring Harris from second and giving the Jaguars a 7-4 advantage.  After Cronan walked, the second issued by Cowgirl pitching in the inning, Kvistad lined a RBI single down the line in left, plating Ortiz (8-4).
- McNeese put a pair on in the seventh and brought the tying run to the plate, but A. Reid was able to get Deitz to ground out to short to end the game and record the save.

NOTES
- The meeting was just the ninth in the all-time series between the two programs and the fourth in the series in Mobile. South Alabama is now 6-3 in the series and have won three of the last four.
- The game versus McNeese marked the final non-conference contest of the season for the Jaguars.
- The 15 doubles by B. Reid are now tied with three other players – Chloe Rathburn, Amanda Herron and Tara Donaldson – for the most in a single season, and the most stand-alone mark by a junior in program history.
- The multi-hit game was the 16th of the season for B. Reid and the 28th of her Jaguar career. The 16 multi-hit games are tied with four other former Jags for ninth-most in a single season at USA.
- With her leadoff single to start the first, B. Reid extended her hit streak to seven games, while Cronan now has a five-game hit streak.
- The hit by pitch for Kvistad moved her reached base safely streak to eight and the three-hit night also moved her into a tie with Rathburn for 20th-place in career multi-hit games as she now has 22 for her career.
- With their two RBI apiece, both B. Reid and Kvistad now have 13 multi-RBI outings in their career, tying them for 18th all-time at South Alabama with Emily Messer.
- The leadoff double by Ortiz not only tied the single-season mark matched by B. Reid earlier in the game, but also established a new freshman mark as she passed former Jaguar Blair Johnson's previous mark of 14 set during the 2012 season.
- With Krzywiecki's two-out home run in the fifth, South has now homered in each of its last five contest, and 11 of its last 13. Over that 13-game stretch, USA has recorded 21 home runs.
- The home run by Krzywiecki was the 49th of the season, the 25th solo, 19th of the month and the 14th with two outs this spring.
- The multi-hit game by Harris marked the 19th of her career.
- The 11-hit performance by South Alabama against McNeese marked the fifth straight game and the sixth time in the club's last seven games in which the Jaguars have achieved double-figure hits. The lone game during that same stretch in which USA didn't reach at least 10 hits was an eight-hit performance in game two of the Sun Belt road series at Georgia State.
- Krzywiecki's home run also extended South Alabama's consecutive games with at least one home run to five. The streak of five straight games with a home run by the Jaguars marks the second such streak this season and is tied for the fifth-longest streak in program history.
- Gruich did see her streak of four straight games with a home run come to an end against the Cowgirls as she was held hitless in her three at-bats.
- The save by A. Reid was the third of the season by the Jaguars and the first by someone other than Yarbrough.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the game: "I thought we had a lot of grit tonight. There were a couple of places where we got down and fought back. It was good to see our offense continuing hitting like we've been doing lately; they were able to put together some great at-bats and really strung together great at-bats. You just have to keep working and grinding until you get the big hit. We kept doing that tonight, and I thought that was the difference. Sam [Yarbrough] and Alexis [Reid] had great outings on the mound. They both worked out of some jams, and the defense helped them in some spots. Overall, I thought it was a good win for us."
- On how getting the win as they head into the weekend series against Georgia Southern: "To have a win going into this weekend is huge for us. We just have to keep it rolling."

So., DP, Kamdyn Kvistad
- On getting the win and continuing to fight: "We have a great group of girls out here. No matter what the score is, we are always grinding it out and trying to get runs on the board for our pitchers and for each other as a team. It's just great to be back on our home field and come out here and get the win."
- On using the momentum of the win heading into the series against Georgia Southern: "It's a big weekend for us. We have to work hard and win some games. This kind of gives some confidence, a little boost, and like I said there's nothing like a home crowd so we're excited for it."
- On her performance at the plate: "I just wanted to play loose and get some swings in. It's always fun with midweeks. There's not a whole lot of pressure on you, and that's what I did. I felt loose, went out swinging, and it worked out in my favor."

Fr., OF, Victoria Ortiz
- On her performance at the plate: "The first two at-bats I wasn't really happy with my approach. I decided in my third at-bat I was going to attack their pitcher, and make sure I was going to execute better."
- On the production throughout the lineup: "A bunch of my teammates have said, and we know, that we can come back any time. Obviously, we got the lead in this game, but we never count ourselves out with this lineup. We know we can trust each other, one through nine."

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).

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