TROY, Ala. – Kaylee Hussey lined bases-loaded single back up the middle in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Troy a 5-4 victory Friday evening at the Troy Softball Complex.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (18-30, 7-19 SBC) will close out the series with Troy on Saturday with first pitch set for 2 p.m. versus the Trojans. The Jaguars will have to win to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Date: 5/3
Place: Troy Softball Complex (Troy, Ala.)

Final Score: Troy 5, South Alabama 4 (10 inn.)
Records: Troy (36-18, 18-8 SBC), South Alabama (18-30, 7-19 SBC)

Box Score

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
- With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10th, Hussey lined a single back up the middle to plate the game-winning, walk-off run for the Trojans.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Katelyn Gruich was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and scored a run. Both of her hits were for extra bases as she had a double and a home run.
- Victoria Ortiz also recorded her 17th double of the season.
- Dayla Gulledge gave the Jaguars a one-run advantage as with a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the top of the seventh – her fourth home run of the spring and the ninth of her Jaguar career.
- Troy freshman Leanna Johnson (25-7) pitched all 10 innings striking out 13, while walking just one.
- Katie Webb and Hussey each had three hits apiece and drove in a run. Webb was also walked three times.
- Madeline Porter was by a Jaguar pitch twice and scored a run.
- Katie Lively drove in two Trojans as well and registered a double.

GAME FACTS
- The Trojan threatened to get on the board in the bottom of the first loading the bases with one out, but after a pop out on the infield, Samantha Yarbrough was able to get out of the jam as Kennedy Cronan's throw to Savanna Mayo at second just beat out Bailey Taylor for the out on the fielder's choice to keep the game scoreless.
- Troy's Johnson retired the first eight batters she faced in the Jaguar lineup, recording five strikeouts during that stretch, but Megan Harris snapped that streak with a two-out walk and Brittani Reid then followed with a single back up the middle. Harris was thrown out trying to advance to third on B. Reid's single to end the inning.
- The Trojans jumped out in front with an unearned run in their half of the third. Porter was hit by a pitch for the second time in as many plate appearances with one out in the inning and then moved to third when she stole second and advanced on a Jaguar throwing error. The Trojan third baseman came home one batter later on Webb's single to center – her second hit of the contest. With two outs and a runner on, Ortiz prevented any further damage when the freshman outfielder made her second diving catch of the game in shallow right to end the inning.
- After making the inning-ending grab Ortiz led off the top of the fourth with a double to left and then with two outs in the frame, Gruich put the Jaguars out in front with her ninth home run of the season as she homered on the first pitch she saw from Johnson (2-1).
- Troy answered back in the bottom half of the inning with a run to tie the game up at 2-2. Stephanie Synder was hit by a pitch to start the frame and then came around to score on a hit-and-run double to left off the bat of Lively. The Trojans threatened to do more damage placing runners at the corners, but Yarbrough was able to get a pop up on the infield to end the frame.
- The Trojans got a run to retake the lead on no hits in the fifth. Webb walked and Taylor was hit by a pitch – the 21st time this season which leads the Sun Belt – to start the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded after an intentional base-on-balls was issued to Lively, Webb came in to score on a passed ball giving the Trojans the 3-2 lead.
- Troy reloaded the bases later in the inning after the third walk of the inning, but Yarbrough was able to get pinch-hitter Kelly Horne swinging for one of her seven strikeouts.
- Gruich double to the gap in left center with two-strikes to lead off the top of the seventh. With two outs, Gulledge – playing just down the road from her hometown of Dothan, Ala. – gave the Jaguars the lead with a pinch-hit two-run homer over the left-center field wall (4-3), scoring Caroline Nichols who was pinch running for Gruich.
- Hussey led off the bottom of the seventh with a double down the line in left and then moved to third on Snyder's sacrifice but. Hussey tied the game up at 4-4 one batter later on Lively's sacrifice fly to foul ground in left.
- The two clubs would both leave runners aboard each half inning in the extra frames until Troy was able to break through with a run in the 10th. With two aboard and one away in the inning, the Trojans were able to load the bases on a fielder's choice when Alexis Reid (10-17) attempted to get the lead runner at third, but her throw was late. Hussey then lined a single back up the middle to plate the game-winning run.

NOTES
- Friday night's meeting marks the 38th in the all-time series and the 18th on Troy's home field.
- The loss snapped a six-game win streak in the series by the Jaguars on the Trojan's home field.
- Friday's game marked game two of the season series, but was the first game since the two clubs faced each other in Mobile on April 10.
- B. Reid extended her on-base streak to 11 games with her 1-for-5 performance at the plate.
- The 17 doubles by Ortiz tie B. Reid's single-season mark at South and extended the Mobile, Ala., native's hit streak to nine – a career best.
- The home run by Gruich was the 51st of the spring by South Alabama – the second-highest tally now in a season and just seven away from the all-time mark at South.
- The nine home runs by Gruich are tied with former Jags Meghan Collins and Haley Hopkins for second-most by a junior in a season and are tied with three other players for sixth-most overall in a season by a Jaguar.
- The home run also extended Gruich's reached-base safely streak to 11 games, tying both a season and career mark.
- Gruich's home run also marked the ninth first-pitch home run by South Alabama this season and the fourth such by the Biloxi, Miss., native.
- Kvistad also extended her on-base streak to 12 games with her single to start the ninth.
- Troy registered five sacrifice bunts in the contest and had five batters hit by a pitch.
- Each of the last four games in the series have been decided by a run.
- The extra-inning game was the second of the season for South as the Jags are now 0-2 in those contests.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the game and tomorrow: "This was a hard-fought game by both teams tonight. We had some places in the game where we had some huge moments and some places where we had some let downs. The biggest thing for us is going to be for us to put this game behind us and come back in here tomorrow in attack mode, and have a compete-type mentality. "

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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