CLEARWATER, Fla. – The University of South Alabama softball team fell 10-0 to seventh-ranked Minnesota in game one of the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic presented by Rawlings, and then dropped a 5-4 decision to Illinois in the nightcap on Saturday at the Eddie C. Moore Complex.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (0-4) will close out tournament play on Sunday when it takes on Notre Dame at 11 a.m. (CT)

Date: 2/8
Place: Eddie C. Moore Complex (Clearwater, Fla.)

Game 1
Final Score: No. 7 Minnesota 10, South Alabama 0
Records: Minnesota (3-1), South Alabama (0-3)

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Shelby Sloan, Kennedy Cronan and Kamdyn Kvistad recorded the three hits for the Jaguars in the loss.
- Minnesota had four players record multi-hit games led by Emily Hansen who was 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and four RBI. MaKenna Partain, Natalie DenHartog and Sydney Strelow also added a pair of hits. DenHartzog also drove in two and scored twice.
- All-American pitcher struck out 13 and allowed just two hits and a walk in her six innings of work.

GAME FACTS
- Minnesota threatened to get on the board first in the top of the third as Partain lined a one-out double to center and later loaded the bases after a pair of walks, but Jenna Hardy was able to get a fly out to left to end the threat.
- In the fourth, Minnesota was able to get on the board as it produced a run with two outs. Three-straight two-out singles loaded the bases and South appeared as if they were going to get out of the inning unscathed as Sloan made an excellent throw home from right, but the Jags were called for obstruction, allowing Kaylen Kruger to score (1-0).
- The Golden Gophers added another run the next time up as Linder singled through the right side of the infield, allowing Hansen to score from second (2-0).
- In the Jag sixth, Sloan laced a two-out single back up the middle to break up the no-hitter. Cronan then singled and South had runners at second and third with two outs. USA looked as if they might get on the scoreboard, but Sloan was called out at the plate when Fiser's pitch went to the backstop.
- Minnesota broke the game open in the top of the seventh as the Golden Gophers sent 15 batters the plate, scoring eight runs on five hits and a Jaguar error.

NOTES
- The meeting was just the second in the series between the two programs.
- With her hit-by-pitch in the first inning, Kaitlyn Gruich reached base safely in her first at-bat for the third-straight game.
- The HBP for Gruich marked the 28th time in her Jaguar career, which is third-most in program history.
- Fiser struck out 13 of the 21 batters she faced.
- Eight of Minnesota's 13 hits came with two outs and produced six RBI.

Game 2
Final Score: Illinois 5, South Alabama 4
Records: Illinois (3-0), South Alabama (0-4)

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- MC Nichols posted her first multi-hit game of the season as she was 2-for-4 at the plate and scored a run.
- Sloan added a hit, a RBI and two runs scored.
- Cronan also had a hit, scored a run and walked twice.
- Kvistad, Gruich and Amanda Flynn each recorded a triple in the contest.
- Bella Loya led the Illini offensively as she was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in and a run scored.
- Avery Steiner also had a pair of hits in her four plate appearances to go along with two runs scored.

GAME FACTS
- Illinois struck first with a run in the opening frame. With runners on second and third after a pair of singles and a wild pitch, Loya posted the Illini's third-straight hit plating a run (1-0).
- South answered quickly with a three spot in the bottom half of the inning. M. Nichols laid down a bunt single and Delaney Rummell's throw from third was wild allowing M. Nichols to advance to third. On the next pitch, Sloan dropped in a base hit in shallow center to plate the Jaguar run (1-1). Sloan then stole second and Cronan walked. Kvistad worked the count full and then lined a ball to the wall in right center allowing the junior to race around for a triple (3-1).
- Steiner reached on a two-base error in the third and after a ground out, she came home on Loya's RBI single for an unearned run. Pinch runner Gabi Robles then stole second, and Shelby Stauffenberg laced a double down the leftfield line scoring Robles to tie the game at 3-3. Danielle Davis followed with a RBI single back up the middle to put the Illini out in front (4-3).
- The Jaguars had a couple of scoring chances in the bottom of the third as Jaguar pinch runner Mackenzie Brasher was thrown out trying to swipe her second base of the night. Gruich recorded a wo-out triple, but was left standing on the bag.
- Illinois added an unearned run in the top of the fifth after Davis reached on a fielding error, allowing Loya to score and make it 5-3.
- USA did manage to get the run back in the bottom half of the fifth as Kvistad plated her third run of the night on a ground out, scoring Sloan (5-4)
- South had another scoring opportunity in the sixth as Flynn tripled with two away. Caroline Nichols then walked to put runners at the corners, but Sydney Sickels entered in relief and got a called third strike to get out of the jam and hold the Jags off the scoreboard.
- Sickels then worked a 1-2-3 seventh to post her second save of the season.

NOTES
- Jaguar starting pitcher Allie Hughen's first four recorded outs came by strikeout.
- The triples were the first of Kvistad and Gruich's careers, while it was Flynn's second.
- The three triples tied a single-game record with the previous time coming on vs. Nicholls State on March 6, 2013.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On today's two games: "I thought we played better today; the scoreboard doesn't show it, but we were right in there with one of the top teams in the country [Minnesota] in the first game until the very end. [Illinois] is a regional tournament team from last season and we were in there with them as well. I thought we should've won that game; we had our opportunities for sure. We definitely took a step forward today. Tomorrow, we have to take another step forward.
"We came down to compete in this tournament for a reason. We knew we were going to face good competition and we knew we were going to be tested. We came down her because we wanted to get better. It's about us figuring these things out and taking steps 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.

—USA—