GAME 44 | VS. APPALACHIAN STATE
May 12, 2021 | 12:30 p.m.

2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship
Troy Softball Complex | Troy, Ala.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Television: --
Radio Broadcast (97.1 FM): www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
ESPN+ Broadcast: www.USAJaguars.com
(In-Game Updates) Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB

(4) South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA:  -- | D1S: --
RPI: 46
Record: 26-17, 13-9 SBC
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .267 / .404 / .340
Team ERA: 2.51

(5) Appalachian State MOUNTAINEERS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA:  -- | D1S: --
RPI: 103
Record: 26-17, 8-12 SBC
Head Coach: Shelly Hoerner (Canisius, '96)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .270 / .396 / .356
Team ERA: 3.15

SCOUTING THE JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (26-17, 13-9 SBC) enters the postseason after splitting two games with No. 3 seed Troy over the weekend.
– The Trojans picked up a 1-0 victory in game one, while South held off a later Troy rally to take game two, 7-6.
– On Monday, Olivia Lackie and Meredith Keel each earned first-team all-Sun Belt honors, while Mackenzie Brasher and Abby Krzywiecki received second-team honors.
– Keel leads the team with a .387 batting average, which ranks fourth in the league, while her 45 hits rank just outside the top 10 among SBC batters.
– She also has seven sacrifice hits, which are tied for fifth, and is 5-for-6 in her stolen base attempts. Her 14 multi-hit games top the club, six coming against Sun Belt competition.
– Her seven doubles rank third on the club, and she is one of six Jaguars to record a triple this spring. She has scored 18 runs and driven in eight.
– The Ashville, Ohio, native was even better in Sun Belt play as she holds a .429 batting average – which is the highest by a South Alabama player in league play. She had at least one hit in 16 of her 22 conference games.
– Mackenzie Brasher holds a .365 batting average and 12 multi-hit games, both categories ranking just behind Keel.
– Brasher has 42 hits and has been successful in seven of her nine stolen base attempts, while her 23 runs scored are the most by a South Alabama player.
– In conference play, Brasher has raised her average and is hitting .383 as in her 22 Sun Belt games. Of her 42 hits, 23 have come against league competition to go along with 14 runs scored.
– Krzywiecki ended the regular season ranked third on the club with a .297 batting average to go along with four doubles, seven home runs and 26 RBI, which leads the team. Her .571 slugging percentage was second-highest on the Jaguar roster.
– Kamdyn Kvistad leads the team in extra-base hits (17), home runs (9) and holds a team-best .600 slugging percentage, which is 10th-best in the conference.
– Her nine home runs are tied with six other players for third-most in the league. The Lake City, Fla., native has also driven in 24 runs.
– The senior enters the postseason with 27 career homers and 98 career RBI. She sits one home run shy of tying former Jags Christin Crocker (2009-12) and Kaitlyn Griffith (2012-15) for the program mark in the category, while she is tied for ninth in career RBI.
– Junior infielder Kennedy Cronan has driven in 25 runs, and is tied for eighth in the conference in doubles with 12. As a team, South Alabama is tied for fourth in the conference in doubles (56).
– Cronan and Krzywiecki have recorded eight multi-RBI games this season, while Kvistad has seven.
– Lackie continues to pace the club as she is 16-9 with three saves this spring. In her 158.1 innings of work, Lackie holds a 1.99 earned run average with 213 strikeouts.
– She has tossed 14 complete games, including five shutouts, while holding opponents to a .185 batting average.
– Heading into the postseason, ranks second in strikeouts, innings pitched and opposing batting average, third in ERA, strikeouts looking (53) and saves, and fourth in wins.
– The Walker, La., native is 16th nationally in strikeouts.
– Lackie has been named the Sun Belt's Pitcher of the Week four times this season, as well as numerous national recognitions throughout the year.
– Allie Hughen is fifth in the league in both ERA (2.09) and opponent batting average (.209).

THE SERIES VS. APPALACHIAN STATE    
– South Alabama and Appalachian State have met 21 previous times in the all-time series.
– The meeting at this season's conference tournament marks the first postseason marks the first time the two teams have met at the conference tourney.
– The Jaguars won the first 11 meetings in the series, the Mountaineers then took three of four, but South has won five of the last six meetings, including sweeping App State in Mobile earlier this spring, its first Sun Belt series since 2018, defeating App; 1-0, 7-4 and 4-0.
– Freshman pitcher Olivia Lackie (9-3) tossed a pair of shutouts in the series with the Mountaineers and recorded her first career no-hitter in the finale.
– For the series, Lackie allowed just one hit (.023 opp. batting avg.), walked two and struck out 31. She struck out multiple batters in all but the third inning of game one of the series, and struck out the side on four occasions.
– In addition to the two shutouts, Lackie also set new season highs in strikeouts in back-to-back outings with 15 and 16, respectively.
– Overall, South Alabama holds a 106-51 scoring advantage in the series.
– The 20 runs put up by App State in the 2020 series marked the most runs scored by them in a three-game series against USA.
– Prior to the 2019 series, App State had scored a total of 14 runs in the first 12 meetings versus the Jaguars.
– South holds seven shutouts in the series.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE MOUNTAINEERS    
Series: 17-4 (H: 10-2 / A: 7-2 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 17-4 (H: 10-2 / A: 8-1 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 1-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 1-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 1-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 1-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 3/21/15
Last Meeting: 3/14/21
Longest South Alabama Streak: 11 ('15-'18)
Longest Appalachian State Streak: 2 ('18-'19)
Current Streak: 3 by South Alabama
Last 5 – 4-1
Last 10 – 6-4

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—