GAMES 1-5 | NFCA LEADOFF CLASSIC
Feb. 7-9, 2020 | Clearwater, Fla. | Eddie C. Moore Complex

Gm 1 - Fri. - vs. Texas State (Field 1) - 11 a.m. (CT)
Gm 2 - Fri. - vs. Missouri (Field 4) - 4 p.m. (CT)
Gm 3 - Sat. - vs. Minnesota (Field 2) - 2 p.m. (CT)
Gm 4 - Sat. - vs. Illinois (Field 4) - 4:30 (CT)
Gm 5 - Sun. - vs. Notre Dame (Field 3) - 11 a.m. (CT)

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA:  -- | D1S: --
Record: 0-0, 0-0 SBC
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .291 / .473 / .375

Texas State BOBCATS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA:  -- | D1S: --
Record: 0-0, 0-0 SBC
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .261 / .374 / .376

Missouri TIGERS
NFCA: RV | USA: RV | SBA:  -- | D1S: 25
Record: 0-0, 0-0 SEC
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .284 / .469 / .370

Minnesota GOLDEN GOPHERS
NFCA: 8 | USA: 7 | SBA:  6 | D1S: 7
Record: 0-0, 0-0 Big Ten
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .284 / .496 / .397

Illinois ILLINI
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA:  -- | D1S: --
Record: 0-0, 0-0 Big Ten
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .311 / .504 / .388

Notre Dame FIGHTING IRISH
NFCA: RV | USA: RV | SBA:  -- | D1S: --
Record: 0-0, 0-0 ACC
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP) - .330 / .490 / .412

MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: None
Audio Broadcast: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stream: www.USAJaguars.com
(In-Game Updates) Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (0-0) enters 2020 looking to rebound from a disappointing season where the Jags finished with 18 wins. USA was picked to finish eighth in the preseason SBC poll.
– Last season, the Jaguars posted one of their best offensive seasons as the recorded 53 home runs, which was the second-most in a single season. South also hit .291 as a team, which ranked third in the conference.
– Leading the way offensively for the Jag returners is Kennedy Cronan who earned third-team NFCA all-South Region honors last season after batting .324.
– Her 48 hits were third most on the Jaguar roster with 20 of those going for extra bases. She had 11 home runs which were tied for fourth-most in the Sun Belt and also tied Haley Fagan's freshman program mark. Cronan also had nine doubles, scored 31 runs, drove in a team-high 38 and carded 90 total bases. The 38 RBI rank among the program's top 10 for a season, while her .608 slugging percentage was third highest and ranked seventh in the SBC.
– Kamdyn Kvistad ranked third on the team with a .325 batting average, while her 49 hits were second-most on the club. She recorded 14 extra-base hits, including six doubles and eight home runs, while also tallying 79 total bases. The junior scored 20 runs and drove in 28 and had a .523 slugging percentage.
– Katelyn Gruich scored 25 runs and drove in 25 runs a year ago, while 14 of her 36 hits went for extra bases – five doubles and nine home runs.  She reached base safely without a hit 28 times as she walked 17 times and was hit by pitch 11 times, which was tied for third-most in the Sun Belt.
– There will be a ton of new faces in the circle for South this season as Jamie Finnical is the lone returnee for the Jaguars.
– Newcomers Kelsie Rivers, Allie Hughen, Lexi Hutchins and Jenna Hardy will also vie for time in the circle.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS    
– Texas State (0-0) enters the 2020 season after being picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt Conference preseason coaches' poll,
– Senior infielders Hailey MacKay and Tara Oltmann were also named to the league's preseason all-conference team.
– Oltman was selected to the 2019 second-team all-SBC squad and ranked fourth in the league in RBI (41) and seventh in doubles (11). During conference-only games, she was fourth in RBI (22) and sixth in doubles (7) and was the ninth toughest to strikeout in the league (16.8 K avg.). Oltmann stole 16 bases, which ranked eighth in the conference.
– MacKay – a preseason all-conference honoree for the second year in a row – as named third-team all-NFCA Central Region and first-team all-Sun Belt Conference in 2018. Last season, MacKay started all 54 games at third base and was second on the team in batting average (.288) and ranked 13th in the Sun Belt with 26 walks.

THE SERIES VS. TEXAS STATE    
– South Alabama and Texas State have met 16 previous times in the all-time series with the Bobcats holding a 14-2 series advantage.
– The Bobcats won two of three at Jaguar Field last spring. The first two games of the series were decided by three runs or less with Texas State taking game three 12-2 in five innings.
– This meeting marks the first time the two programs have met in a non-conference setup.
– The Jaguars won the first meeting between the two clubs, defeating the Bobcats 8-0 in San Marcos, but the Bobcats won the next 13 meetings until South's 3-1 win in game two of the series last season.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE BOBCATS    
Series: 2-14 (H: 1-6 / A: 1-8 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 2-13 (H: 1-5 / A: 1-8 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 0-1 (H: 0-1 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-1 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-1 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-1 (H: 0-1 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 4/5/14
Last Meeting: 3/17/19
Longest South Alabama Streak: 1 ('14)
Longest Texas State Streak: 13 ('14-'19)
Current Streak: 1 by Texas State
Last 5 – 1-4
Last 10 – 1-9

SCOUTING THE TIGERS    
– Missouri (0-0) enters the season ranked 25th in the DI Softball preseason top 25 and receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches and ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason polls.
– The Tigers recorded 35 wins a year ago and advanced to the championship game of the Los Angeles Regional forcing a winner-take-all game before falling to eventual national champion UCLA.
– Missouri will open up 2020 versus Notre Dame before taking on the Jaguars.
– Brooke Wilmes was named to the preseason all-SEC team in a vote of the league's coaches. Wilmes led the team in batting average (.357), hits (67), doubles (17) and runs scored (43) – earning her first-team all-SEC honors and second-team all-Southeast Region honors from the NFCA at the end of the 2019 season.
– Wilmes was one of the toughest batters to strike out nationally, averaging 26.9 at bats between strikeouts – good for 18th in the country.
– She also successfully made the transition to the outfield in her first season playing the position, recoding a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000.

THE SERIES VS. MISSOURI    
– This weekend's meeting between South Alabama and Missouri will mark the first in the all-time series.

SOUTH AGAINST THE SEC    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 12-41 (.226) against current Southeastern Conference members.
–The game against the Tigers will mark the 54th in program history versus a SEC opponent. USA will also face LSU in Baton Rouge later this spring (March 10).
– Of the nine teams South has faced from the SEC, Alabama and Florida are the lone two teams from the league that the Jags have yet to pick up a win against as they hold at least one victory over the other seven schools that they have faced.
– The 15 meetings against Alabama are the most against any SEC member, while USA has also faced LSU 12 times and MSU 9.
– South Alabama has faced at least one SEC team in each of its previous 13 seasons of play since the program began in 2007.

SCOUTING THE MINNESOTA    
– Minnesota (0-0) enters the 2020 season ranked top-10 in all four of the major preseason polls. The Golden Gophers are No. 8 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, while Softball America has them at No. 6 in its second year with a preseason poll. D1Softball pegged Minnesota at No. 7 in its first year.
– This is the sixth straight season the Gophers have started the season in the Top 25, and last year, Minnesota ended the year No. 8 in both major polls, the highest to end a season in program history, after finishing 46-14 and advancing to the College World Series.
– RHP pitcher Amber Fiser was named to the USA Softball Top-50 Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List earlier this preseason after being recognized as a Top-25 Finalist for the Collegiate Player of the Year award a year ago. She was also a Honda Cup Award finalist, an NFCA All-American and was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2019 after matching a conference record with six Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors in one season.
– Over her career, Fiser has also been selected as a three-time NFCA Division I Pitcher of the Week honoree and a nine-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Week winner. She has a career ERA of 1.50 and is already fifth in program history with 72 career wins and fifth in strikeouts with 666.
– In addition to Fiser, three other Gophers were recently named to the Softball America 2020 College Top-100 list – Natalie DenHartog, Hope Brandner and MaKenna Partain.
– DenHartog (No. 40) hit .373, with 17 doubles, two triples and 17 home runs with a team leading 64 RBI and a .780 slugging percentage as a freshman. She earned first-team all-region and first-team all-Big Ten honors and was an NFCA Top 3 Freshman of the Year finalist in 2019.
– Brandner, No. 46 on the list, led team with 19 home runs, which is the third highest mark in program single season history, after transferring from Oregon State. She earned first-team all-Big Ten honors, second-team all-region honors and was named to the Big Ten all-tournament team.
– Partain landed at spot No. 57 on the list after leading the Gophers in batting average (.383), runs (66), hits (72), triples (4) and on base percentage (.484) in 2019. Her 66 runs set a Minnesota single season record. She also set a Minnesota and Big Ten record with five runs scored in a game at Maryland. She was named first-team all-Big Ten and second-team all-region last season.

THE SERIES VS. GOLDEN GOPHERS    
– South Alabama and Minnesota have met one other time in the all-time series.
– The Golden Gophers took that meeting, defeating the Jags 13-3 at the Diamond 9 Citrus I Classic in Kissimmee, Fla., during the 2018 season.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE GOLDEN GOPHERS    
Series: 0-1 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-1)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/23/18
Last Meeting: 2/23/18
Longest South Alabama Streak: --
Longest Minnesota Streak: 1 ('18)
Current Streak: 1 by Minnesota

SCOUTING THE ILLINI    
– Illinois (0-0) returns 13 members from the 2019 squad that went 33-25 and advanced to the program's third NCAA Regional in the last four seasons, while also welcoming in eight newcomers.
– Among the group of newcomers is Addy Jarvis who was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year as well as to the all-Horizon League second team and all-freshman teams at Youngstown State. Jarvis made 33 appearances, started 23 games, while posting a 12-11 record with a 2.58 ERA in 170.2 innings pitched.
– Jarvis totaled 16 complete games and two saves and set a school record with 218 strikeouts during the 2019 season. She also recorded nine double-digit strikeout outings, including setting a school record with 16 strikeouts against Northern Kentucky.
– Offensively, sophomore catcher Bella Loya leads the list or returnees as she started all 58 games and batted .366, and earned first-team all-Big Ten honors as well as Third-Team All-America accolades from Softball America.
– She paced the Illini in RBI (48), home runs and walks (27)during the 2019 campaign, while also ranking in the top four on the team in slugging percentage (.645), runs (28), hits (63), doubles (12) and total bases (111).

THE SERIES VS. ILLINOIS    
– The meeting between South Alabama and Illinois will mark the fifth in the all-time series between the two clubs, with the Jaguars holding a 3-1 advantage in the series.
– The Jaguars and the Illini faced each last season in Mobile at the Mardi Gras Classic with IU picking up an 11-2 victory.
– After the first two meetings in the series were decided by three runs or less, the last two have been decided by seven and nine runs, respectively.
– South holds a narrow 22-19 scoring advantage in the series.
– Three of the four meetings in the series have come on a neutral field.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE ILLINI    
Series: 3-1 (H: 0-1 / A: 0-0 / N: 3-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 1-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 1-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 3/8/14
Last Meeting: 2/22/19
Longest South Alabama Streak: 3 ('14-'18)
Longest Illinois Streak: 1 ('19)
Current Streak: 1 by Illinois

SOUTH AGAINST THE BIG 10    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 7-5 (.583) against current Big 10 Conference members.
– The Jaguars went 0-2 versus the league last season falling 11-2 to then-No. 18 Illinois lat the Mardi Gra Invitational in Mobile, Ala., and 6-5 versus Purdue at the Diamond 9 Citrus II Classic in Kissimmee, Fla.

SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH    
– Notre Dame (0-0) enters 2020 after being selected to finish third in the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll. The Irish ended last season with a 37-18 record and return 14 players from a year ago and made an apperance in the NCAA Regional.
– Notre Dame is also receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA Coaches and ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason polls.
– Senior infielder Katie Marino and sophomore pitcher Payton Tidd were also named to the preseason All-ACC team earlier this spring.
– Marino was named second-team all-ACC and first-team NFCA all-Mid-Atlantic region in 2019, and earned ACC Co-Player of the Week honors on March 5. In 2019, she boasted a .344 batting average, scored 63 runs and recorded 43 RBI.
– Tidd was named first-team all-ACC as a freshman, as well as receiving ACC all-freshman team and all-tournament team honors in her rookie season.
– Entering NCAA Regional play a year ago, Tidd ranked second in the ACC with 25 victories, which also ranked third in the nation among freshmen pitchers.
– Last season, Tidd boasted a 25-10 record, pitching 182.1 innings and a 2.34 ERA. Batters racked up just a .224 average against her, and she tallied 157 strikeouts. I

THE SERIES VS. NOTRE DAME    
– This weekend's meeting between South Alabama and Notre Dame will mark the first in the all-time series.

SOUTH AGAINST THE ACC    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 11-12 (.478) against current Atlantic Coast Conference members.
– The 11 meetings versus Florida State are the most against any ACC member, while USA has also faced Syracuse (4), Georgia Tech (3), Virginia Tech (3), Boston College (1) and Louisville (1).
– Last season, South fell to Florida State, 4-1 to the then top-ranked Seminoles in Tallahassee.

SOUTH IN SEASON OPENERS     
– South Alabama holds a 7-6 mark all-time in its 13 season openers.
– Last season, USA fell 4-0 to Missouri State during the opening game of the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala.
– Despite the loss South has won four of its last seven season openers.
– In those 13 previous season openers, the Jaguars have scored a total of 63 runs (4.85 per game), while allowing 31 (2.39 per game) runs to the opposition for a +32 run differential.
– USA has recorded three shutouts in its season openers, while being shutout three times.
– The meeting versus Texas State marks the first time since the 2013 season that the Jaguars have opened the season outside the state of Alabama and the first time in Florida.

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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