GAMES 27-29 | GEORGIA STATE SERIES | Robert E. Heck Field | Decatur, Ga.

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: March 25, 2022 | 4 p.m. (CT)
Game 2: March 26, 2022 | 12 p.m. (CT)
Game 3: March 27, 2022 | 12 p.m. (CT)

MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: None
Audio Stream: www.USAJaguars.com
Live Stats: www.USAJaguars.com
Web Broadcast: None
(In-Game Updates) Twitter: @WeAreSouth_SB

South Alabama JAGUARS 
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA: -- | D1S: --
RPI: 88
Record: 12-14, 5-1 SBC
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .238 / .369 / .306
Team ERA: 2.58

Georgia State PANTHERS 
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA: -- | D1S: --
RPI: 139
Record: 12-17, 3-3 SBC 
Head Coach: Angie Nicholson (Cleveland State, '00)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .242 / .368 / .330
Team ERA: 4.34

SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA 
– South Alabama (12-14, 5-1 SBC) enters the weekend conference series after taking two of three from Texas State over the weekend, it's second straight Sun Belt series win.
– The Jags took the first two games of the series versus the Bobcats, 2-1 [8 inn.] and 7-0, before dropping the finale on Sunday (3-0).
– Mackenzie Brasher leads the team at the plate with a 
.315 batting average and her 12 stolen bases are tied for fourth in the conference.
– Brasher is also tied with Caroline Nichols for the team lead in multi-hit games with four this spring.
– The junior outfielder has been even better in league play as she is batting .438 in those six games.
– Belle Wolfenden and Nichols have also been solid at the plate during conference play, batting .375 and .368, respectively.
– Victoria Ortiz paces the club with 11 extra-base hits and is second with 11 RBI.
– Her seven doubles are tied for fourth-most in the Sun Belt coming into the weekend, and she sit just outside the top 10 of the league in homers with four.
– Ortiz also has a team-high four multi-RBI outings and drove in five in the UTA series.
– Prior to Sunday's finale, Abby Allen had reached base safely in each of her last 21 games. 
– Allen leads the team and ranks third in the league with 18 walks, 16 of which came during the 21-game stretch.
– Allen also ranks ninth in the SBC in runs scored with 16.
– Gabby Stagner leads the team with 14 RBI, 10 of which have come during the first two SBC series. Her walk-off walk in the eighth inning of game one gave South the 2-1 win over Texas State.
– Jenna Hardy tossed her third-straight shutout in game two.
 – Since allowing a run with one out in the fourth inning vs. Dartmouth (3/6) at the Tennessee Invitational, Hardy has tossed 30.2 innings without allowing an earned run. She allowed an unearned run in relief on Sunday.
– The junior holds a 2.22 ERA in 79 innings of work in the circle, while she has struck out 62 and issued just 12 walks this spring.
– Olivia Lackie (6-4) holds a 2.09 earned run average in her 63.2 innings of work. 
– The Walker, La., native has struck out 95 and is holding opponents to a .151 batting average, second best in the league.
– She has gone the distance in five of her eight starts and holds three shut outs. 
– In the series opener against Texas State, Lackie struck out a career-high 18 batters.
– Since the start of conference play, Lackie holds a 1.11 ERA with a pair of wins.
– In her 19 innings of work, she has struck out 39 and posted double-digit strikeout performances in all three of her SBC outings, while walking just four.
– Opponents are batting just .129 against the righty in conference play.
– Lackie and Hardy rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the SBC in ERA, while Lackie is also third in strike outs and strike outs looking (28).

THE SERIES VS. GEORGIA STATE    
– South Alabama and Georgia State have met 22 previous times in the all-time series. 
– The Jaguars hold a 14-8 series advantage and have won seven of the 10 series meetings in Mobile.
– Of those 22 meetings, 19 have come during regular-season action.
– South owned the early series advantage taking 10 of the first 11 meetings. Since defeating the Jaguars 3-2 at the 2016 Sun Belt Conference tournament, the Panthers hold a 7-4 series lead.
– South Alabama did win the regular season series the last time the two clubs met during the 2019 season, taking two of three from the Panthers on their home field.
– USA and GSU were supposed to have met in 2020, but the day prior to the start of the series, the Covid-19 Pandemic shutdown all of sports.
– The two teams did not face each other in 2021.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE PANTHERS    
Series: 14-8 (H: 7-3 / A: 5-4 / N: 2-1)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 12-6 (H: 7-2 / A: 5-4 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 1-2 (H: 0-1 / A: 0-0 / N: 1-1) 
Extra-Inning Games: 1-0 (H: 1-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 2-1 (H: 1-0 / A: 0-1 / N: 1-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 2/9/13
Last Meeting: 4/13/19
Longest South Alabama Streak: 8 ('14-'16)
Longest Georgia State Streak: 5 ('16-'18)
Current Streak: 1 by South Alabama
Last 5 – 3-2
Last 10 – 4-6

NOT LACKIE'ING FOR K's
– Olivia Lackie was masterful in the series opener against Texas State (3/18) as she tossed eight innings and struck out a career high 18 batters.
– Lackie set the tone in the first inning as she struck out the side – one of her four times to do so in the game – in the top half of the first and the first four batters of the game.
– The Walker, La., native went on to retire the side in order five innings in the contest. 
– Along with her career-high 18 strikeouts, Lackie allowed just three hits and issued just one walk.
– She retired the side in order in the first, third, fourth, fifth and eighth innings, while striking out the side four times. The only inning that she didn't record at least one strikeout was the fourth where she retired the Bobcats in order.
– Lackie was able to get ahead of Texas State's batters as she went first-pitch strike to the first 21 she faced and didn't throw a first-pitch ball until the second batter of the seventh inning. 
– Lackie also got ahead 0-2 counts on 12 times in the game, and posted nine of her strike outs in those counts. Only two batters managed to get on base after falling behind 0-2.
– Of her 115 pitches thrown, 73 percent were for strikes.
– The 16 strikeouts through seven marked the third most-in a seven-inning performance and the 18 were second-most in a game in program history, just two behind Beth Pilgrim's mark of 20 set in a 10-inning affair versus Middle Tennessee (3/27/10).

PITCHING HEATING UP IN SUN BELT PLAY
– Since the start of league play, Jaguar pitching has been outstanding in the circle.
– They hold a staff earned run average of 1.02, allowing just seven total runs (six earned), while also registering three shut outs in their first six conference games.
– In their 41 innings of work, South has struck out 53 batters and issued just nine walks. SBC opponents have recorded just 25 hits and are batting .175. They also have hit just two home runs.
– Individually, Jenna Hardy has yet to allow an earned run in her 20 innings of work, as her lone unearned run allowed came in the seventh inning of the series finale against Texas State.
– She is 3-0 against SBC opponents and holds two of the staff's three shutouts.
– Olivia Lackie has posted first-team all-league numbers herself as she holds a 1.11 ERA with a pair of wins.
– In her 19 innings of work, she has struck out 39 and posted double-digit strikeout performances in all three of her SBC outings, while walking just four.
– Opponents are batting just .129 against the righty in conference play.

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—