MOBILE, Ala. – Coastal Carolina picked up a 4-3 victory in game one and a 4-2 win in game two of Saturday's doubleheader to pick up the Sun Belt series win over South Alabama at Jaguar Field.
UP NEXT
- South Alabama (12-23, 2-12 SBC) will close out the series on Sunday with a single game against Coastal Carolina. First pitch is set for noon.
Date: 4/6
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)
Game 1 Box Score
Photo Gallery
Game 1
Final Score: Coastal Carolina 4, South Alabama 3
Records: Coastal Carolina (27-10, 7-6 SBC), South Alabama (12-22, 2-11 SBC)
KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- Coastal Carolina's Courtney Dean recorded her 12th home run of the season – a three-run shot over the left center wall – in the top of the fifth inning to put the Chanticleers out in front.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Brittani Reid and Victoria Ortiz were both 2-for-4 at the plate and drove in a run apiece for South Alabama, while B. Reid also scored twice, one of which came on her sixth home run of the season. Both of Ortiz's hits also went for extra bases as she registered her eighth and ninth doubles of the season.
- Freshman pitcher Samantha Yarbrough (2-6) struck out a career-best nine batters and earned her first complete game in the loss.
- Kassidy Smith was 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and a RBI, while Dean had the three-run home run and a walk.
- CCU starting pitcher Kaitlin Beasley-Polko went 6.1 innings in the circle allowing seven hits, three walks and five strike outs in addition to the two runs.
- Ashley Guillette picked up her first save of the season as she recorded the final two outs.
GAME FACTS
- The Jaguars took a one-run lead in the bottom of the second. Holly Stewart and Lyric Cabral singled with one out to get things started and after a fielder's choice put runners at the corners with two away, Beasley-Polko's 1-1 pitch to Megan Harris was high and went to the backstop, allowing Jag pinch runner Caroline Nichols to score from third and give South the 1-0 advantage.
-Tied the game back up at 1-1 the next half inning. Coastal worked back-to-back full-count walks out of the eight- and nine-hole hitters to begin the top of the third and with one out, Smith laced a double to the gap in left center to score pinch runner Michaela McAuley. With runners on second and third and one away, Yarbrough came right back though with a pair of strikeouts, getting Stavi Augur looking to end the inning and get out of the jam.
- South got the run back quickly as B. Reid blasted a 2-1 pitch over the wall in center to put USA back out in front 2-1. The home run was her sixth of the season and the 16th of her career, 14th as a Jaguar.
- South Alabama looked as if it had something going its next time at the plate in its half of the fifth as Kennedy Cronan doubled to left to start the frame and Stewart was hit by a pitch, but Beasley-Polko recorded three-straight outs with the final one coming on a strikeout swinging.
- The Chanticleers took the lead in the fifth with three runs on two hits. Mackenzie Beyer walked to start the inning and with one out, Smith dropped in a single that was just inside the leftf ield line. Dean – the Sun Belt leader in home runs – then drove a 2-1 pitch deep over the wall in left center to put the visitors out in front, 4-2. The home run for Dean was her 12th of the season.
- South had a few different chances to answer back in the bottom half of the fifth with a pair of deep fly balls to the wall. Ortiz doubled to the gap in right center and then attempted to score on Katelyn Gruich's two-out single to left, but the freshman was thrown out at the plate and could not avoid the tag to end the inning.
- The Jaguars tried to mount a seventh-inning comeback. B. Reid singled with one out in the seventh for her second hit of the contest and then came around to score one batter later on Ortiz's double that fell just inside the right field line. Gruich walked to put the go-ahead runner aboard but Guillette was able to get Cronan to fly out to end the game.
NOTES
- The start at second was B. Reid's first as an infielder in a Jaguar uniform.
- Amanda Flynn made her third start of the season in left, sixth overall this spring. It was her first start since March 1 against Bradley.
- The home run by B. Reid in the bottom of the third marked the 31st for the Jaguars this season. Of those 31 home runs, 16 have been solo shots, while six have led off an inning.
- The 14 home runs by B. Reid in a South Alabama uniform rank as eighth-most by an individual in program history. Of her 16 career home runs, six have led off an inning with all six of those coming at South.
- The multi-hit game extended B. Reid's team-leading tally to 11 and was the 23rd of her career. The 23 multi-hit games now rank 19th-most in program history.
- The multi-hit game for Ortiz was her eighth of the season.
- Of the first nine outs recorded by Yarbrough, eight came by strikeout. The nine strikeouts recorded by Yarbrough set a new season/career high for the freshman righty.
Game 2
Final Score: Coastal Carolina 4, South Alabama 2
Records: Coastal Carolina (28-10, 8-6 SBC), South Alabama (12-23, 2-12 SBC)
Game 2 Box Score
KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- After South had taken a one-run lead the previous half inning, Kassidy Smith belted her second home run of the game, this one a two-run shot to give the Chanticleers a one-run advantage in the top of the sixth. CCU added an insurance run its next time up and took the series with the two-run victory.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Cronan and Kvistad (home run) each had a hit and drove in a run for the Jaguars.
- Cabral was 2-for-3 at the plate in the loss and B. Reid walked twice and scored a run.
- Smith was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI, and notched her 10th and 11th home runs of the season.
GAME FACTS
- Coastal jumped out in front in the opening frame as Smith homered (1-0) to straight-away center – her 10th of the season. The Chanticleers threatened to add more in the inning as the next two batters were hit by pitch to put runners at first and second, but A. Reid was able to get a fielder's choice and a ground out to third to end the inning.
- CCU's Guillette (10-4) walked the first two batters to start the Jag third. MC Nichols worked the count full before drawing the free pass and B. Reid then looked at four-straight outside the zone to put runners at first and second. Guillette though rallied back and retired the next three batters recording a strikeout to end the frame.
- The Chants loaded the bases with two away after back-to-back full-count walks and a hit batter, but Jamie Finnical (2-4)was able to get Dean to fly out to left to get out of the jam and keep the deficit at one.
- Kvistad tied the game back up at 1-1 as she led off the bottom of the fourth with her fifth home run of the season, driving Guillette's 3-1 pitch over the leftfield wall.
- After Coastal left a pair on in the top half of the fifth, South took advantage of the missed scoring opportunity with a run in the bottom half to take a 2-1 lead. B. Reid reached on a one-out walk and then moved into scoring position as she stole second. Two batters later, Cronan bounced a single back up the middle to plate B. Reid and give USA the one-run advantage.
- The Chants reclaimed the lead (3-2) right back in the sixth. Beyer walked to begin the inning and then came around to score on Smith's second home run of the day, this one a two-run shot to left center.
- Coastal added an insurance run with an unearned run in their half of the seventh. Abbey Montoya doubled to the gap in left center to begin the inning and the with runners at the corners with one away, the right fielder came in to score when the Jags tried to pick her off at third and the ball came dislodged from Gruich's clove on the tag and squirted away, allowing Montoya to race home and make it 4-2 Chanticleers.
- Cabral singled to center to start the seventh and bring the tying run to the plate for the Jaguars, but Beasley-Polko retired the final three batters and picked up her Sun Belt-leading fourth save of the season.
NOTES
- Saturday marked the first true doubleheader this season for the Jaguars.
- Eight former South Alabama players – Farish Beard (2012-15), Hannah Campbell (2011-14), Kaleigh [Floore] Hudson (2012-15), Kristian Foster (2015-18), Brittany [Fowler] Kessler (2010-13), Kaitlyn [Griffith] Revette (2012-15), Haley Hopkins (2009-12) and Emily Messer (2013-16) were recognized before first pitch as part of the Alumni Weekend festivities.
- South's first four base runners of the contest came via walks issued by Guillette. The home run by Kvistad was the first hit of the game for the Jaguars.
- Kvistad now has 13 home runs for her career – moving her into eight-place at South Alabama – with four of them coming against Coastal Carolina pitching.
- The home run by Kvistad also marked the 32nd of the season for the Jaguars tying the 2019 club with 2018 team for seventh-most in a single season.
- Kvistad's home run was the 17th solo home run of the season for South and the seventh to lead off an inning.
- Cabral's fourth-inning single came after an 11-pitch at-bat. The two-hit performance was her first multi-hit outing this season and the ninth of her Jaguar career.
- The two home runs by Smith mark just the ninth time an opposing player has recorded multiple home runs in the same game against Jaguar pitching. The last to do so was Dean (CCU) last season on April 28, 2018.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On today's games: "We had two close games today that we had chances to win. We have to take advantage of our opportunities and come out playing hard."
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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