GAMES 38-40 | GEORGIA SOUTHERN SERIES
Jaguar Field | Mobile, Ala.

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: April 29, 2022 | 6 p.m.
Game 2: April 30, 2022 | 3 p.m.
Game 3: May 1, 2022 | 12 p.m.

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 
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA: -- | D1S: --
RPI: 54
Record: 20-17, 12-4 SBC
Head Coach: Becky Clark (Mobile, '95)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .251 / .388 / .328
Team ERA: 2.62

Georgia Southern EAGLES
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SBA: -- | D1S: --
RPI: 222
Record: 11-29, 4-14 SBC 
Head Coach: Sharon Perkins 
(Nicholls State '96)

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .216 / .341 / .298
Team ERA: 5.18 

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
- Friday: $1 Hot Dogs and $1 Popcorn | Ralley Towel Giveaway
- Saturday: Senior Day and Graduation Ceremony | First 100 Students get Raising Canes gift card
- Sunday: Replica Softball Giveaway | Kids Run the Bases following the game presented by Academy Sports & Outdoors

SOUTH ALABAMA JAGUARS    
– South Alabama (20-17, 12-4 SBC) enters the weekend series after picking up four road wins last week which included earning a three-game conference sweep at ULM.
– For the week, Meredith Keel batted .727 and reached base with either a hit or a walk in nine of her 11 plate appearances. She also had a double, a triple and hit her first career home run in the series opener against the Warhwaks.
– Olivia Lackie picked up a pair of wins and earned a save in the series clincher on Saturday.
– With the series win, the Jaguars have won 15 of their last 19.
– Prior to Saturday's game, South Alabama will honor six seniors: Kennedy Cronan, Janeah Finney, Allie Hughen, Keel, Caroline Nichols, Belle Wolfenden. Along with those six seniors, redshirt sophomore Shelby Sloan, who is graduating in three years and student manager Victoria Howard will also participate in an on-field graduation ceremony.
– Mackenzie Brasher leads the team at the plate with a .361 batting average, which ranks just outside the top 10 in the league, and her 16 stolen bases are seventh most in the conference.
– Brasher's 10 multi-hit games this spring also top the club.
– The junior outfielder has been even better in league play as she is batting .438 in those 16 games.
– Brasher also enters the weekend series with both a 20-game reached base safely streak and a 10-game hit streak, both of which are career highs for the junior outfielder.
– With her performance last week, Keel raised her batting average to .330 on the year and she has had a hit in five straight, including four straight multi-hit outings, coming into the series.
– Nichols is close behind Keel at .311 as she has had a hit in five of her last six and scored at least one run, seven total, over her last five.
– Like Brasher, both Keel (.325) and Nichols (.320) have been solid at the plate during conference play. Keel and Nichols also have seven-multi-hit games this spring.
– One other player as of late playing well for the Jags is Kamdyn Kvistad, who has had a hit in eight of her last 11 outings with nine RBI over that same stretch.
– Gabby Stagner (24) and Victoria Ortiz (21) rank first and second on the Jaguar roster, and have combined to drive in 35 in SBC play.
– Stagner has now driven in 19 runs against Sun Belt foes this spring with four of her five home runs coming in league play.
– Ortiz has also seen her power numbers jump as she has recorded six home runs in SBC action and all eight of her home runs this season have come since March 6. 
– The Mobile, Ala., native paces the club with 17 extra-base hits and has now driven in at least one run in eight of her last 11 outings.
– Ortiz's .624 slugging percentage and eight doubles rank just outside the top 10 of the league, while her eight home runs are tied with for ninth in the SBC.
– Ortiz also has a team-high six multi-RBI outings, while freshmen Stagner and Kvistad are right behind her with five and four, respectively..
– Abby Allen leads the team and ranks fourth in the league with 26 walks, 16 of which came during a 21-game reached base safely streak earlier this spring. 
– Brasher have scored a team-best 22 runs this spring for the Jags, while Allen has crossed the plate 20 times.
– Olivia Lackie (11-6) holds a 2.08 earned run average in her 114.1 innings of work. 
– The Walker, La., native has struck out 151 this season and is holding opponents to a .157 batting average, which rank third and second, respectively, in the league.
– She has gone the distance in 11 of her 14 starts and holds six shut outs. 
– Lackie holds a 1.81 ERA in league play and over the weekend, eclipsed the 400 strikeout mark for her career.
– Jenna Hardy has been just as solid in the circle holding a 2.36 ERA in 95.0 innings of work in the circle, while she has struck out 78 and issued just 16 walks this spring.
– Hardy has been outstanding in conference play holding a 1.40 ERA and a 5-1 record.
– Lackie is also third in strike outs looking (47), while Hardy is tied for sixth (30).

THE SERIES VS. GEORGIA SOUTHERN    
– South Alabama and Georgia Southern have met 19 previous times in the all-time series, and the Jaguars hold a 12-7 record in those meetings. 
– The two teams met during the second to last weekend of the regular season last spring with the Eagles coming away with a series sweep.
– Georgia Southern won game one of the series 9-1 in a five-inning, run-rule decision and then took game two 4-3 in extra innings, before closing out the series with a 2-0 win.
– While South Alabama has outscored the Eagles 56-22 in the nine meetings in Mobile, GS holds a 30-17 scoring advantage in the previous seven games in Statesboro, six of which the home team has won.
– USA holds three run-rule victories in the all-time series, while the run-rule win last season was the first by GS.

INSIDE THE SERIES VS. THE EAGLES    
Series: 12-7 (H: 8-1 / A: 3-6 / N: 1-0)
Sun Belt Conference Games: 11-7 (H: 8-1 / A: 3-6 / N: 0-0)
Sun Belt Tournament Games: 1-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 1-0)
Extra-Inning Games: 0-1 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-1 / N: 0-0)
Run-Rule Games: 3-1 (H: 1-0 / A: 2-1 / N: 0-0)
NCAA Tournament Games: 0-0 (H: 0-0 / A: 0-0 / N: 0-0)
First Meeting: 4/11/15
Last Meeting: 5/2/21
Longest South Alabama Streak: 5 ('15-'16) 
Longest Georgia Southern Streak: 3 ('21)
Current Streak: 3 by Georgia Southern 
Last 5 – 2-3
Last 10 – 4-6

TURNAROUND MOMENT
– While it was just a 5-2 victory over Dartmouth (3/6) on the final game of the Tennessee Invitational, the three-run win seemed to be a defining moment for the program this season.
– Over the first 18 games of the season, South Alabama seemed to be struggling to find its way on both sides of the ball as the club was batting .219 and had scored just 42 runs (2.3 runs per game), while striking out 108 times (6.0 SO per game) compared to 25 walks.
– South also held a team ERA of 3.38 and a .954 fielding percentage.
– The Jaguar pitching staff had allowed 29 home runs and issued a total of 44 walks, 20 hit batters, while committing 21 errors.
– Since the three-run victory over the Big Green (12 games), South has posted a 15-4 record.
– As a club, the Jags are hitting .279 and have scored 96 runs (5.1 per game), while the Jaguar pitching staff holds a 1.94 ERA and the defense has been nearly flawless with a .976 fielding percentage over that stretch.
– The offense has also drawn 78 walks, while the pitching staff has issued just 30 walks, struck out 145, hit only one batter and held opponents to a .188 batting average over the 19-game stretch.
– The slapper trio of Mackenzie Brasher (.446), Meredith Keel (.396) and Caroline Nichols (.362) have done a great job of setting the table at the top and bottom of the lineup as the group has gone a combined 65-for-162 (.401), eight extra-base hits and scored a combined 39 runs.
– Gabby Stagner (21) and Victoria Ortiz (18) have been the main run producers over that stretch driving in 39 runs. 

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—