GAMES 20-22 | UT ARLINGTON SERIES
Venue: Allan Saxe Field | Arlington, Texas

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: March 12, 2022 | 1 p.m. (DH)
Game 2: March 12, 2022 | 3 p.m. (DH)
Game 3: March 13, 2022 | 12 p.m.

South Alabama JAGUARS 
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA: -- | D1S: --
RPI: 143
Record: 6-13, 0-0 SBC
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP) | .226 / .349 / .275
Team ERA: 3.24

UT ARLINGTON MAVERICKS 
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA: -- | D1S: --
RPI: 166
Record: 6-8, 0-0 SBC 
Head Coach: Peejay Brun (Hawai'I, '94)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .289 / .398 / .374
Team ERA: 4.42

MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: ESPN+
Audio Stream: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Web Broadcast: www.USAJaguars.com
(In-Game Updates) Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB

SOUTH ALABAMA JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (6-13, 0-0 SBC) enters the conference opener versus the Mavericks after winning two of five last weekend at the Tennessee Invitational.
– Of the 13 losses during the non-conference portion of the schedule, five have been one-run decisions and three have been by two runs.
– Mackenzie Brasher leads the team with a .291 batting average and is second in the Sun Belt in steals (9-for-9.
– Emma Kropp is right behind her with a .290 average and the Jaguar catcher is tied for second in the conference in runners caught stealing as she has gunned down five this spring, including three of the last four attempts.
– Victoria Ortiz (.268) had her best offensive output at the Tennessee Invitational as she batted .455 with five extra-base hits – three doubles and a pair of home runs.
– Ortiz tied for third in the league in doubles (6) and leads the team with eight extra-base hits.
– Kamdyn Kvistad have combined to hit five home runs and have driven in a total of 14 runs.
– In the circle, Olivia Lackie (4-3) is second in the conference in opposing batting average (.160), strike outs (56), strike outs looking (19), and fourth in ERA.
– Jenna Hardy is eighth in the SBC in ERA, sixth in opposing batting average (.248) and ninth in strikeouts (40).
– As a staff, Jaguar pitching is tied with Texas State and Louisiana for second in the SBC in strike outs looking (34), while they also rank third in strike outs (122) and opposing batting average (.207).

SUN BELT OPENING SERIES
– In its 15 previous seasons in the Sun Belt Conference, South Alabama holds a 7-8 record in its league openers.
– Last season, USA swept Appalachian State in Mobile.
– This will mark the fourth time and third in the last five seasons that South has faced the Mavericks to open conference play. The Jags are 5-3 overall against UTA in those three series to begin league play.
– South Alabama has won three of its last four SBC openers and last three of its last four SBC opening series.

SUN BELT ROAD OPENING SERIES
– In its 15 previous seasons in the Sun Belt Conference, South Alabama holds a 9-6 mark in the first game of its first league road series and has won seven SBC opening road series and tied one series.
– South swept a three-game road series at Coastal Carolina last spring in its first SBC road series.
– This will mark the second time that South Alabama has met UTA to open road conference play.

THE SERIES VS. UTA    
– South Alabama and UTA have met 21 previous times in the all-time series. 
– The Jaguars are 14-7 overall in the series after splitting the two meetings last season in Mobile. The Jaguars won 3-1 in game one of a doubleheader, but fell 7-4 to the Mavericks in game two.
– However, UTA holds a 5-4 series advantage in games played on its home field and swept the SBC series in Arlington in 2019.
– South holds five shutouts in the series, while the Jags have yet to be held scoreless in any of the 21 series meetings.
– The two teams first met on March 22, 2014 with South Alabama winning a pair of run-rule decisions.
– The Jaguars won the first nine meetings in the series, but the Mavericks have taken five of the last seven series contests.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE MAVERICKS    
Series: 14-7 (H: 9-1 / A: 4-5 / N: 1-1)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 13-7 (H: 9-1 / A: 3-3 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 1-1 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 1-1)
Extra-Inning Games: 1-1 (H: 1-0 / A: 0-1 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 2-0 (H: 2-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 3/22/14
Last Meeting: 4/18/21
Longest South Alabama Streak: 9 ('14-'16)
Longest UTA Streak: 3 ('19)
Current Streak: 1 by UTA
Last 5 – 1-4
Last 10 – 5-5

KILLER KROPP    
– An early issue for the Jags over the first six games of the season was the defense against opponent's run game as they were a perfect 14-for-14 in their stolen base attempts, swiping multiple in four of those outings, including six by Florida State (2/16).
– However, since moving into a more full-time role behind the plate against Longwood in game 11 of the spring, junior catcher Emma Kropp has thrown out five of the last 10 base stealers.
– Her five caught stealings are tied for second most in the Sun Belt this season.
– They are also already tied for seventh most in a single season, and the most by a Jaguar catcher since Taylor Stevens recorded five during the 2019 season.
– For her career, Kropp has thrown out nine base runners in 34 attempts (.265).
– Led by Kropp, Jaguar catching has thrown out seven base stealers through the first 19 games of the season. USA had seven all of 2021 and five in 2020.

GUNNED DOWN
Player – SB Atts. – Caught Stls    
Katy Neal (2011) – 50 – 11
Kristen Hayes (2007) – 45 – 10
Lyric Cabral (2018) – 50 – 8
Aly Smith (2017) – 47 – 8
Alex Breeden (2014) – 56 – 6
Marissa Boyd (2010) – 50 – 6
Emma Kropp (2022) – 19 – 5
Taylor Stevens (2019) – 45 – 5
Stephanie Pilkington – (2016)    31 – 5    
Chloe Rathburn (2015) – 37 – 5    

ORTIZ SEEING THE BALL WELL    
– To say that Victoria Ortiz saw the ball well at the Tennessee Invitational would be a bit of an understatement.
– In her four starts, Ortiz hit .455 with all five of her hits going for extra bases – three doubles and two home runs. – She also scored three runs and drove in a pair, while registering a 1.275 slugging percentage and tallying 14 total bases.
– Ortiz scored the game-winning run in South's 1-0, eight-inning win over Dartmouth in game one of the weekend. 
– She then doubled in three straight games to move inside the top 10 career category list at South. 
– With South trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth against Dartmouth on Sunday, Ortiz began a Jaguar rally as she blasted her first home run of the season over the right field wall. Ortiz then capped off a four-run inning her next time at the plate with a bomb, her second of the game, high over the scoreboard at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium that landed on the train tracks beyond the left center wall to put South up 5-2.
– The multi-home run performance marked the second time Ortiz has done so in her Jaguar career (vs. ULM | 4/20/19). The last Jag to record two home runs in a game was Kamdyn Kvistad who had two home runs last spring against Missouri (2/26/21). 
– It was also just the 19th time in program history a South Alabama player has recorded two or more home runs in a game. 
– Ortiz is one of 11 players in program history to have two or more home runs in a game and now one of five to have done in multiple times in her career.
– Entering the UTA series, she now has eight extra-base hits – six doubles, two home run – this spring to lead the club.

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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