NEW ORLEANS – For the third time this spring, University of South Alabama softball's Olivia Lackie was selected as the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday as announced by the league office.
With the league honor, Lackie has now been selected as the top SBC pitcher three of the first five weeks of the season. The honor also marks the 45th time in program history that South has had a player earn a weekly honor from the Sun Belt and the 26th time the program has had a player selected as the conference pitcher of the week.
The last time a Jaguar earned player of the week honors three or more times in a season came during the 2017 season when Devin Brown was selected as the league's pitcher of the week on three occasions.
With Lackie's selection, South Alabama has had either a player or a pitcher earn the league weekly honor in four of the five weeks of the season, as Belle Wolfenden was named the player of the week following the opening weekend of the season.
Lackie, the reigning Wilson/NFCA and Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week, picked up right where she left off last week as she guided South Alabama to a conference sweep of Appalachian State over the weekend. In her three outings this past week, she recorded a pair of shutouts, and struck out 33 batters, while issuing just three walks and seven hits. The only runs given up by the freshman came on a home run at Ole Miss on Wednesday.
In game one of the series versus the Mountaineers matched up against Kenzie Loganecker, Lackie tossed a complete game, one-hitter and struck out a then season-high 15 batters. The 15-strikeout performance was the first by a Jag since game one of a doubleheader with App State on April 21, 2018 when Devin Brown struck out 16 Mountaineers. Lackie had multi-strike out innings in all but the third and struck out the side in the second and fourth innings of the contest.
On Sunday in the series finale matched up with Loganecker again, Lackie was even better as she tossed her first collegiate no-hitter and struck out a career high 16 batters. The no-hitter was the 18th in Jaguar history and the first since Alexis Reid's versus Butler on Feb. 11, 2018. It was also the eighth by a Jag pitcher at Jaguar Field.
With her career-high 16 strikeouts, Lackie has now recorded double-digit strikeouts five times this spring. It was third time this season that she has posted 12 or more in a game. Lackie also tied with Brown – who did so during the 2015 season – for most double-digit strike out games by a freshman in program history.
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. Lackie struck out multiple batters in all but the third inning of game one of the series, and struck out the side on four occasions.
Lackie currently holds a 9-3 record on the season with a 1.84 ERA – seventh-best in the conference – to go along with a team-best four shut outs. The freshman ranks second in the Sun Belt in strikeouts with 117 and is holding opponents to a .153 batting average. The Walker, La., native leads the Sun Belt in shutouts and opponent batting average.
Lackie and South Alabama will hosts Southern Mississippi on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Jaguar Field, before traveling to take on Coastal Carolina in a three-game SBC series this weekend.
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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