MOBILE, Ala. – For the second day in a row, freshman pitcher Olivia Lackie struck out a career high 16 batters as she tossed her first career no hitter to help the University of South Alabama team complete the Sun Belt Conference series sweep Sunday afternoon. The Jaguars also used a four-run sixth inning to take home the 4-0 victory over the Mountaineers.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (13-8, 2-0 SBC) will host Southern Mississippi on Wednesday night. First pitch versus the Golden Eagles is set for 6 p.m.

SOUTH ALABAMA vs. APPALACHIAN STATE
Date: 3/14
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

Final Score: South Alabama 4, Appalachian State 0
Records: South Alabama (13-8, 3-0 SBC), Appalachian State (11-8, 0-3 SBC)
Pitchers of Record: WP – Olivia Lackie  LP – Kenzie Longanecker (6-2)

GAME FACTS
- Sidney Russell became the first base runner of the game for either club earning a leadoff walk to start the third after a 13-pitch at-bat in which she fouled off seven two-strike pitches. Lackie didn't allow App State to advance the runner though as she induced a pop out in foul territory on a sac bunt attempt and then struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
- In the bottom half of the inning, Belle Wolfenden worked the count full and earned a one-out walk to become the first Jag baserunner, but like Lackie in the previous half inning, Longanecker was able to retire the next two batters.
- Wolfenden reached for the second time and ended Loganecker's no-hit bid in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out, infield single.
- Caroline Nichols led off the bottom of the sixth with an infield single and then moved into scoring position two batters later on Kamdyn Kvistad's one-out, single to left center. With two away in the inning and runners at the corners, Abby Krzywiecki delivered a RBI single to break the scoreless tie and extend her career-best hit streak to eight games.
- South Alabama tacked on three more runs in the inning to extend its lead to 4-0. Victoria Ortiz singled to center allowing pinch runner Bailey Welch to score as she slid home under the tag. Kassidy Wilcox then brought in two more with a single, scoring Krzywiecki and Ortiz.
- Staked to the four-run lead, Lackie finished off the no-hit bid by striking out two of the final three batters of the game.

NOTES
- The game marked 21st series meeting and the 12th in Mobile. The Jaguars improved to 17-4 in the series and 10-2 in Mobile.
- Lackie's no-hitter was the 18th in program history and the first since Alexis Reid's versus Butler on Feb. 11, 2018.
- With her career-high 16 strikeouts, Lackie has recorded double-digit strikeouts five times this spring. It was third time this season that she has posted 12 or more in a game. The freshman posted a season-high 15 on Saturday in game one of the series against the Mountaineers.
- For the series against the Mountaineers, Lackie allowed just one hit (.023 opp. batting avg.), walked two and struck out 31, while tossing a pair of complete-game, shut outs.
- In the series, Lackie struck out multiple batters in all but the third inning of game one of the season, and struck out the side on four occasions.
- The Walker, La., native, also tied with Devin Brown – who did so during the 2015 season – for most double-digit strike out games by a freshman in program history.
- The SBC series sweep marked the first time South has swept a conference series to open league play since the 2018 season when the Jags took both games of a doubleheader against UTA (3/10). Game three of the series was rained out.
- The last time South swept a three-game conference series on April 1-2, 2017 in Boone. N.C., against Appalachian State.
- The last three-game home SBC sweep also came during the 2017 season against Georgia Southern (4/29-30).
- The win was also head coach Becky Clark's 450th at South Alabama.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On completing the series sweep:
"Anytime you sweep a conference series it is a big win for your program. It is not easy to sweep a team, so I am proud of our effort and compete mentality. This was a great way to start conference play and should give us some confidence going into next weekend."
- On Olivia Lackie's pitching performance today and this weekend:
"Liv had a great weekend and I am incredibly proud of how she opened up conference play. I also thought our entire pitching staff had a great weekend. We need to continue to build on this weekend's performance and look for ways to continue to grow."
- On finally breaking through with the four-run sixth:
"[Kenzie] Longanecker is one of the best pitchers in the conference and we knew we would have to work every pitch to beat her. I thought our hitters were working the entire game. Sometimes you break through early and sometimes it takes a minute, but the big thing is that you break through."

Pitcher Olivia Lackie
- On pitching her first collegiate no-hitter:
"It's exciting. I didn't even realize that I had a no-hitter going until I came off the field at the end of the game and all my teammates started congratulating me. I thought that was awesome."
- On her performance overall this weekend:
"In game one of the series, I feel my rise ball and screw ball were both working really well. In today's game, my curveball started coming around and I was able to use it pretty effectively and freeze App State on the outside half of the plate."
- On opening up Sun Belt play with a series sweep:
"To be able to open up conference play 3-0 is pretty huge. It gives us some great momentum going forward and we can only go up from here."

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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