GAMES 6-9 | THE SPRING GAMES
Feb. 18-20, 2022 | Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex | Leesbrg, Fla.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18
South Alabama vs. Missouri * (Field 1)
10 a.m. (CT) | FloSoftball

South Alabama* vs. Ohio State (Field 4)
12:30 p.m. (CT) | FloSoftball

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19
South Alabama* vs. Butler (Field 1)
10 a.m. (CT) | FloSoftball

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20
South Alabama vs. *Liberty (Field 4)
8 a.m. (CT) | FloSoftball

* Designated HOME team

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA: -- | D1S: --
Record: 1-4
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .232 / .352 / .263
Team ERA: 4.29

Missouri TIGERS
NFCA: 17 | USA: 17 | SA: 17 | DI:  14
Record: 4-2
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP): .265 / .358 / .348
Team ERA: 1.88

Ohio State BUCKEYES 
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI:  --
Record: 3-0
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP): .337 / .522 / .408
Team ERA: 2.33

Butler BULLDOGS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI:  --
Record: 4-2
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP): .295 / .387 / .374
Team ERA: 2.12 

Liberty FLAMES 
NFCA: RV | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI:  --
Record: 0-5
Team Slash (AVG / SLG / OBP): .138 / .221 / .177
Team ERA: 5.03

A SOUTH ALABAMA WIN VS. MIZZOU WOULD...    
– End a four-game skid in 2022 for the Jags.
– Be the program's 469th win and head coach Becky Clark's 625th career coaching victory.

SOUTH ALABAMA JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (1-4) enters the weekend tournament event after falling 4-3 at No. 5 Florida State on Wednesday night.
– The Jags cut the deficit to one with two outs in the seventh on freshman pinch hitter Stephanie Gonzalez's two-run home run to center, but were unable to tie the game up and send it to extra innings.
– The loss marked the fourth straight for South since taking the season opener over Central Arkansas (7-4) at the Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge.
– Caroline Nichols continues to lead the club at the plate as she is batting .500 with six hits in her 12 at bats.
– With her sixth-inning single against FSU, Nichols extended her hit streak to seven games, which dates back to last season. 
– She has had at least one hit in eight of her last nine outings and is the only Jag to have a hit in all five games this spring.
- Nichols stole her third base of the year and the 16th of her career. She is now 16-for-19 in her Jaguar career in the category.
– The Jag outfielder has also reached base safely in 10 straight.
– Both Gonzalez and Kennedy Cronan have driven in a team-best three runs.

APPROACHING JAG MILESTONES    
– Kamdyn Kvistad is 1 home run shy of becoming South Alabama's career home run leader. She is currently tied with former Jags Christin Crocker (2009-12) and Kaitlyn Griffith (2012015).
– Kvistad is 2 extra-base hits away from moving into seventh on the career top 10 list.
– Kvistad is 6 RBI away from moving into a three-way tie for sixth place at South.
– Kvistad is 10 multi-RBI games away from becoming the program's all-time leader in the category.
– Kennedy Cronan is 2 extra-base hits away from moving into the top 10 in the category at South.
– Cronan is 12 multi-RBI games away from moving into first place in the category.
– Olivia Lackie is 1 win away from earning her 20th career win.

SOUTH ALABAMA AT THE SPRING GAMES    
– South Alabama has only participated at THE Spring Games one previous time (2020), which was held in Madiera Beach, Fla.
– The Jags posted a 2-3 record at the tournament, falling to Seton Hall (7-9), Middle Tennessee (0-3) and Miami [Ohio], while defeating Iowa (3-2) and Florida Atlantic (3-2).

THE SERIES VS. MISSOURI    
– South Alabama and Missouri have met two previous times in the all-time series with both of those meetings coming each of the last two seasons.
– Last season, the Tigers earned an 8-3 victory on day one of the South Alabama Invitational at Jaguar Field.
– The first series meeting came at the 2020 NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic where Mizzou picked up a 7-5 victory.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE TIGERS    
Series: 0-2 (H: 0-1 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-1)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/7/20
Last Meeting: 2/26/21
Longest South Alabama Streak: --
Longest Missouri Streak: 2 ('20-'21)
Current Streak: 2 by Missouri
Last 5 – 0-2

SOUTH AGAINST THE SEC    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 14-49 (.222) against current Southeastern Conference members.
– Last season, the Jaguars faced six opponents from the league and went 2-4 in those contests.
– In addition to Missouri, South is scheduled to face three other SEC opponents this spring. USA fell twice to LSU (2/11-12) on the opening weekend of the season at the Tiger Classic. The Jags will also play at Mississippi State (2/26-27), at Tennessee (3/5).
– Of the 10 teams South has faced from the SEC, Florida and Missouri are the lone teams from the league that the Jags have yet to pick up a win against as they hold at least one victory over the other seven schools that they have faced. 
– South has yet to face SEC members Arkansas, Kentucky or Texas A&M.
– The 15 meetings against Alabama and LSU are the most against any SEC member, while USA has also Mississippi State nine times.
– South Alabama has faced at least one SEC team in each of its previous 14 seasons of play since the program began in 2007.

THE SERIES VS. OHIO STATE    
– South Alabama and Ohio State have met one previous times in the all-time series with that meeting coming during the 2011 season at the South Alabama Invitational in Mobile.
– The Jaguars won that meeting 8-5 as Hannah Campbell earned the win after going the distance, striking out six and allowing only three earned runs.
– Brittany Fowler and Meghan Collins led the Jags at the plate as the former went a perfect 2-for-2 scoring two runs and driving in one, while the later was 3-for-4 driving in one and scoring one.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE BUCKEYES    
Series: 1-0 (H: 1-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/18/11
Last Meeting: 2/18/11
Longest South Alabama Streak: 1 ('11)
Longest Ohio State Streak: --
Current Streak: 1 by South Alabama

SOUTH AGAINST THE BIG TEN    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 8-8 (.500) against current Big Ten Conference members.
– The five meetings versus Illinois are the most against any team from the league, while the four against Purdue rank as second most.
– Of the other 12 members, South has only faced Minnesota (2), Iowa (1), Ohio State (1) and Penn State (1).
– The Jags faced Illinois during the opening weekend of the spring ?? at the Tiger Classic in Baton Rogue, La.

THE SERIES VS. BUTLER    
– South Alabama and Butler have met four previous times in the all-time series with the Bulldogs
– South faced Butler last season, defeating the Bulldogs 7-5 in Mobile at the Jaguar Classic.
– Three of the four series meetings have come at Jaguar Field with the lone neutral site coming in Winter Springs, Fla., at the Friends of Jaclyn Invitational during the 2018 season.
– The first series meeting came back during the 2015 season when the Jaguars picked up a 9-4 victory over BU in Mobile at the Mardi Gras Invitational.
– USA has outscored the Bulldogs 24-9 in the previous four meetings and hold two shutouts in those contests.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE BULLDOGS    
Series: 4-0 (H: 3-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 1-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/14/15
Last Meeting: 2/20/21
Longest South Alabama Streak: 4 ('15-'21)
Longest Butler Streak: --
Current Streak: 4 by South Alabama

SOUTH AGAINST THE BIG EAST    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 9-1 (.900) against current Big East Conference members.
– The lone loss came during the 2020 season to Seton Hall (9-7) at THE Spring Games held in Madiera Beach, Fla.
– The four matchups versus Butler are the most against any other league member.
– Seton Hall (2) is the only other Big East member that South has faced multiple times, as the Jaguars have faced Georgetown, Providence, St. John's and Villanova one time each.
– Butler is the lone Big East member that the Jaguars are scheduled to face during the regular season this spring.

THE SERIES VS. LIBERTY    
– South Alabama and Liberty have met one previous times in the all-time series.
– That meeting came during the 2015 season where South picked up an 8-0 victory in five innings at the Sand Dollar Classic held in Gulf Shores, Ala.
– Devin Brown pitched a one-hit shutout in her first collegiate start to lead the Jaguars passed Liberty.  
– USA scratched a run across in the first inning and added seven in the fourth and fifth to go ahead 8-0 and win by virtue of the mercy rule.
– South Alabama scratched four runs across in the bottom of the fourth, beginning with Emily Messer's sacrifice fly to right field that scored Haliegh Lowe, pinch-running for Amanda Herron, from third. Stephanie Pilkington then drove in Amanda Linn, who singled before, and Chloe Rathburn double to deep left center to push across Kaliegh Todd and Pilkington, making it 5-0 Jaguars.
– Facing two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Herron doubled, Linn singled and Todd drew a walk to load the bases, with Pilkington and Rathburn each drawing walks to add a pair of runs to USA's total, the 8-0 score enacting the mercy rule.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE FLAMES    
Series: 1-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 1-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 1-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 1-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/6/15
Last Meeting: 2/6/15
Longest South Alabama Streak: 1 ('15) 
Longest Liberty Streak: --
Current Streak: 1 by South Alabama

SOUTH AGAINST THE ASUN    
– South Alabama holds an all-time record of 27-7 (.794) against current Atlantic Sun Conference members.
– The nine meetings versus Lipscomb rank as most for the Jags versus an ASUN opponent, just ahead of Jacksonville State (7) and UCA (7).
– South has already faced one league member this spring, defeating Central Arkansas, 7-4 at the Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge, La., on the opening weekend of the season.
– The ASUN welcomed two new members to the league this season: Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State, who join after spending time in the Ohio Valley Conference.

I'M A PEPPER 
– While her given name is Caroline Knight Nichols, the Jaguar outfielder is affectionately known as "Pepper".
– The nickname dates back to her younger days in the sport as she liked to wear a "Dr. Pepper" t-shirt.
– One of the coaches on her team, who was a close personal friend of the family started calling her "Pepper".
– Soon after, the nickname took with teammates, coaches, family and friends, and has stuck with her since.
– The nickname is very appropriate for the way she plays on the field as she provides a spark at the top of the lineup for the Jags.

ONE MORE TIME AROUND THE BASES
– The Covid 19 pandemic has had man negative impacts and effects on our daily life, but one such positive that has emerged is the extra year of eligibility that the NCAA granted to those student-athletes who had their season cut short in 2020.
– Two South Alabama players that have elected to return to the program for a "Super Senior" season are Kamdyn Kvistad and Allie Hughen.
– Kvistad ended the 2021 campaign one home run shy of taking over the program's career mark in the category.
– Hughen suffered a season-ending knee injury prior to the UTA series around the midpoint of last season, but has made a full recovery this spring.

TOUGH SLATE TO OPEN 2022
– Tough competition on the South Alabama schedule is something that Jaguar ball clubs have regularly been challenged with under head coach Becky Clark.
– The schedule features nine programs (Florida State, Liberty, Louisiana, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas State, Troy) which made appearances in the 2021 Division I NCAA Softball Championship. \
– LSU, Missouri and FSU advanced to the Super Regionals, with the Seminoles reaching last season's Women's College World Series where they advanced to the championship series before falling to national champion Oklahoma in a best of three series.
– Along with the stiff competition, only 13 of the 48 games on the docket are scheduled to be played at Jaguar Field, with the first not coming until the middle of the second month of the season.

GONZO PH BOMB
– Freshman Stephanie Gonzalez made the most of her first collegiate home run as she blasted a seventh-inning, two-run, pinch-hit bomb high and deep over the wall in center field to pull South within a run at No. 5 Florida State (2/16).
– The pinch-hit home run was the first pinch-hit home run for South since Victoria Ortiz's three-run shot on Feb. 23, 2019 against Stephen F. Austin in Mobile. 
– It was also the first road pinch-hit home run since Dayla Gulledge's three-run homer at ULM on April 22, 2017.

ELITE RECRUITING
– Fall signee, Madison Lagle from Glen St. Mary, Fla., was ranked No. 97 on Extra Inning Softball's 2022 Extra Elite 100 List prior to her senior season.
– The honor marked the third time that the Baker County HS product has been selected to the list, while she was also selected to the organization's top pitcher's rankings coming in at No. 35 in 2021 and No. 43 in 2020. 
– During her junior season, the 6-foot pitcher recorded 203 strikeouts in 102 innings of the circle while compiling a 1.16 earned run average. 
– Her selection marks the third season in a row that South will have an incoming freshman ranked within the Top 100 recruits by the organization as Olivia Lackie was listed 56th in Extra Innings Extra Elite 100 rankings, and was listed as No. 30 nationally at her position heading into her senior season prior to signing with the program.
– Current freshmen Erin McGlothlin (No. 60) and Gabby Stagner (No. 98) were also listed on the organization's Extra Elite 100 List, while Rachel Everett was ranked No. 172 among pitchers nationally.

HARDWARE HEAVY
– Junior college transfer Odalys Cordova arrived on campus with several accolades following her sophomore season at College of Central Florida.
– She was selected as a NJCAA Region 8 First-Team All-American, and named the Florida College System Activities Association Player of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year and first-team all-league.
– Cordova recorded 20 of the Patriots' 53 home runs, batted .480 with 82 hits. She posted a .533 on-base percentage and a 1.006 slugging percentage.
– The junior scored 64 runs, recorded 20 doubles drove in 100, in addition to her 20 home runs.
– She had five triples to give her 45 extra-base hits on the year, and was 24 of 25 in her stolen base attempts
– Cordova ranked among the NJCAA leaders in batting average (34th), doubles (T-17th), home runs (T-25th), RBI (third) and slugging percentage (14th).

ALL-STARRING ORTIZ
– Over the summer, redshirt junior outfielder Victoria made the most of her free time playing in the Florida Gulf Coast League for the SUA Pioneers.
– For her play, she earned all-star honors after batting .403 with a .667 slugging percentage.    
– Ortiz finished the summer tied for third in the league in doubles (7), while also recording four home runs, 11 RBI and 11 runs scored.
– She recorded at least one hit in 20 of her 23 games played.

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—