MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team scored four runs over its last two innings, and held on to pick up a 7-6 victory over Troy Saturday afternoon at Jaguar Field and send out its four seniors with a win in their final home game.

Senior catcher Kamdyn Kvistad drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk in the fifth and senior first baseman Abby Krzywiecki laid down a squeeze bunt in the sixth to score another run.

Freshman pitcher Olivia Lackie tossed three innings of relief and picked up her 16th win of the season as she struck out six.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (26-17, 13-9 SBC) will compete at the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship hosted by Troy and held at the Troy Softball Complex, May 11-15. Tournament seeding and game times will be released later Saturday evening.

SOUTH ALABAMA vs. TROY
Date: 5/8
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

Final Score: South Alabama 7, Troy 6
Records: South Alabama (26-17, 13-9 SBC), Troy (34-13, 17-6 SBC)
Pitchers of Record: WP – Olivia Lackie (16-9)  LP – Leanna Johnson (19-7)
Home Runs: Troy: Ashlan Ard (3), Katie Lively (7)

GAME FACTS
- Mackenzie Brasher dropped in a single in shallow right with one out in the bottom of the first, and Victoria Ortiz had a single fall just fair inside the left field foul line to put a pair on for the Jags. Two batters later, Abby Allen worked a walk to load the bases with two away. Brasher then came home for South's first run of the game and the series on a wild pitch from Johnson to make 1-0 in favor of South Alabama.
- In the top of the third, Troy strung together three-straight two-out hits to tie the game back up at 1-1. Jade Sinness and Katie Webb both reached out went the opposite way with a pair of two-strike hits. Kelly Horne then singled through the left side of the infield when a ball went off Meredith Keel's glove in the hole and deflected into shallow left center, allowing Sinness to score from second.
- Keel extended her hit streak to six games after she led off the bottom half of the third with a single to center. Brasher then followed with her second hit in as many at-bats. Three batters later, Allen walked for the second time in as many plate appearances to load the bases with two outs in the inning. Keel and Brasher then came home and scored a pair of unearned runs to make it 3-1 in favor of South Alabama after a wild pitch and an errant throw when Troy's catcher was trying to get Keel at home.
- Lively was hit by a pitch to start the fourth for the Trojans and with two outs, Ard drove a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left to tie the game back up at 3-3.
- South Alabama took a two-run lead in the bottom of the fifth without the benefit of a hit, all coming after two were out in the inning. Krzywiecki was hit by a pitch to get the rally started and Johnson looked as if she had gotten out of the inning as Allen grounded out to short, but an illegal pitch was called on the full count to Allen allowing the freshman to walk. New Trojan pitcher Libby Baker threw a wild pitch, which moved both runners into scoring position for the Jaguars. Kennedy Cronan then drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases for the third time for South. Kvistad worked a bases-loaded walk to plate the go-ahead run (4-3), and Belle Wolfenen walked in another run to extend South's advantage to 5-3.
- With one out in the sixth, Anslee Finch reached and moved around to second on a pair of Jaguar errors. Ard walked two batters later to put runners at first and second with two outs, but Lackie was able to strike out Logan Calhoun – her fifth in relief.  
- South added two big insurance runs in its half of the sixth. Keel led off the next half inning with her second hit of the day – this one a soft liner to center – and Brasher laid down a bunt single. The two runners were moved up a base and Keel came into score and increase the Jaguar lead to three (6-3) when Krzywiecki's squeeze bunt was miss-played. South added another insurance run on Allen's RBI single to center to make it 7-3.
- The runs the previous half inning would prove big as Troy had three cross the plate in the final inning of play. Webb lined a one-out double to left center and Baker's bloop single in right scored the first run of the inning to make it 7-4. Lively then drove a two-run home run over the wall in center to cut the Jag lead to one (7-6). Lackie didn't allow anything else as she was able to get Finch out swinging and seal the win.

NOTES
- Prior to Saturday's contest, South Alabama recognized its four seniors: Jordyn Calderon (Jackson, N.J.), Amanda Flynn (Plantation, Fla.), Krzywiecki (Brighton, Mich.) and Kvistad (Lacke, City, Fla.).
- With her third-inning single, Keel extended her hit streak to six games and the two-hit performance was her team-best 14th of the spring and the 26th of her career.
- The three-hits by Brasher tied a career-high in the category and was her 12th multi-hit game this season and the 17th of her Jaguar career.
- Keel and Brasher also accounted for five of South's seven runs scored at the top of the lineup.
- Allen was perfect in all four of her plate appearances. The freshman designated player had a RBI-single and walked three times, while also scoring a run.
- Lackie struck out the side in her first inning of work – the fifth – marking the 18th time this season that she has done so. She also had a pair of strikeouts in the in the sixth and in her 158.1 innings of work, she has recorded two or more in an inning in 71 of her innings (44.9%).
- With her 16th win of the season, Lackie has now tied former Jag Kalen McGill (2015) for second on the all-time freshmen's list in the category.
- South's first five runs all came with the bases loaded and six of the Jaguars' seven walks came in two-out situations.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On getting the win on Senior Day:
"Today was a great day to celebrate our seniors and all of their academic and athletic achievements. It's always great to get a W on senior day. We needed that win and momentum going into the Tournament."

Catcher Kamdyn Kvistad
- On her bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning that gave South the lead for good:
"Sometimes a walk is just as good as a base hit. I know I had to be clutch for my team in that situation, so I was just being patient and trying to find a good pitch to hit. I didn't get one to hit, but I'll take a walk any day of the week, especially in a situation like that."
- On carrying the momentum of this win into the tournament:
"It's always good to get a win on Jaguar Field, especially on Senior Day. This is some of these girls' last game on this field and it was really important to get a win. Having momentum is always good too. Everyone is in high spirits and we're having fun, we just need to keep winning ball games."

First baseman Abby Krzywiecki
- On getting the rally started in the fifth inning:
"Nothing was easy today. There was a lot of emotion on Senior Day and I was trying to work through my process and get on base for my team to get something going, especially a rally. With our hard work and determination, we were able to gut this one out and pick up the win against Troy."

- On carrying the momentum of this win into next week's conference tournament:
"The conference tournament is a big thing for us. We know what we have to do and what it takes to get there, and we're in a good place now mentally after getting today's win. I feel like we're ready."

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—