MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama softball head coach Becky Clark reached a significant coaching milestone Sunday afternoon as the Jag skipper recorded her 600th career victory with South's 6-1 victory over Northwestern State on the final day of the South Alabama Invitational held at Jaguar Field.

The Jaguars broke open a 1-1 tie with a five-run fourth inning. Kennedy Cronan was 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBI, while Meredith Keel also drove in two, and Bailey Welch reached base all three of her plate appearances with a hit and a pair of walks.

Olivia Lackie (5-2) earned her third victory of the weekend as she tossed four innings of scoreless relief, retiring 12 of the 14 batters she faced, while adding six more strikeouts to her season total (58).

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (7-5) will travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to compete in its fourth and final tournament of the spring. The Jaguars will open up the Easton T-Town Showdown on Fri., March 5 with a doubleheader Northern Iowa. First pitch versus of game one versus the Panthers is set for 11 a.m. at Rhoads Stadium

SOUTH ALABAMA INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Olivia Lackie (South Alabama)
Kennedy Cronan (South Alabama)
Kamdyn Kvistad (South Alabama)
Bailey Welch (South Alabama)
Laurin Krings (Missouri)
Alex Honnold (Missouri)
Brooke Wilmes (Missouri)
Cayla Kessingerv(Missouri)
Kim Wert (Missouri)
Jocelynn De La Cruz (Middle Tennessee)
Amaya Harris (Middle Tennessee)
Amber Storer (Southern Illinois-Edwardsville)
Ava Bieneman (Southern Illinois-Edwardsville)
Elise Vincent?? (Northwestern State)

Date: 2/28
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

SOUTH ALABAMA vs. NORTHWESTERN STATE
Final Score: South Alabama 6, Northwestern State 1
Records: South Alabama (7-5), Northwestern State (5-2)
Pitchers of Record: W – Olivia Lackie (4-2)  L – Kenzie Seeley (0-1)

GAME FACTS
- Northwestern State put runners at the corners with one out in the top of the third after Kaitlyn St. Claire dropped in a single in shallow right. Vincent then plated the first run of the game with a RBI ground out to short to score Kacee Mertens, who pinch ran for Alexis Perry (single).
- In her first at-bat of the season, Breanna Barlow led off the Jag third with a solid single to left. Welch followed with a free pass to put runners at first and second. The pair were then moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Keel and Mackenzie Brasher was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After a pitching change, Cronan greeted Lady Demon reliever Jensen Howell with a single to center to plate Barlow (1-1) and tie the game.
- The Jaguars batted around in their half of the fourth, sending 11 batters to the plate, scoring five runs on two hits, four walks Northwestern State error.
- Belle Wolfenden reached on a Demon fielding error and Amanda Flynn and Barlow both walked to start the bottom of the fourth and load the bases for the second straight inning. Welch then drew her second free pass of the game – the third straight issued by NSU pitching – to score Wolfenden (unearned) and put South up, 2-1. Keel then drove in two more runs (4-1) as she dropped in a double just inside fair territory along the left field line.
- The Jags loaded the bases for the third time in the game and second time in the inning on Emma Kropp's pinch-hit walk, and Cronan blooped in a single in center to score the fourth run of the inning for South and extend the lead to 5-1. Kvistad added a sac fly to center one batter later, plating another run (6-1).
- After issuing a walk to start the fifth, Lackie retired the final nine batters of the game to seal the five-run win.

NOTES
- The victory over Northwestern State marked the 600th career victory for South Alabama head coach Becky Clark.
- The meeting was the fifth of the series versus the Lady Demons and the first since the 2010 season. With the win, USA has now won four of those five series meetings.
- South had the leadoff runner reach safely in four of its six innings.
- Five of the Jaguars six hits came with a runner on third and less than two outs.
- With her fourth-inning double, Keel has now recorded at least one hit nine of South's 11 games this spring.
- The all-tournament selections marked the second straight for both Lackie and Kvistad.
- The start as designated player marked the first of the season for Breanna Barlow.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the team's performance this weekend:
"I thought the weekend was very successful for us. We're not there yet, but we are taking steps forward in the things that we're working on and emphasizing. We're trying to cut down on the walks and have quality at-bats and string those together. Our players are trying to do what we're asking them to do, and I feel that we're doing those things for the most part. To me, this game was a good example of us executing those things. This game was won because we had good pitching, and because we had quality at-bats and were able to string those quality at-bats together. We were able to put pressure on their pitcher and we didn't give them a soft spot in the lineup to go to."
- On what it means to reach this milestone:
"There are a lot of people who have gone into all those wins and I'm very grateful and thankful to all those people. I hope everyone gets a chance to do something that they love for a living, and do it with people they care about. To be able to do it at such an amazing place like South with all the great support means a lot. If you're able to win 600 games in your career, it means that you've had a lot of good players. I've been fortunate to coach a lot of really good players and coach with some really good coaches. I thank God for the opportunity that he gives me every day to lead this program.

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—