MOBILE, Ala. – Sophomore pitcher Olivia Lackie tossed a complete-game shutout, her seventh of the spring, and the University of South Alabama softball team recorded three home runs as the Jaguars completed the Sun Belt Conference sweep with a 4-0 victory over Georgia Southern Sunday afternoon at Jaguar Field.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (23-17, 15-4 SBC) will close out the regular season with a three-game road series at in-state rival Troy Thur.-Sat. Game one of the series is set to get underway at 6 p.m. while first pitch for game two and game three are 6 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

Date: 5/1
Place: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

Final Score: South Alabama 4, Georgia Southern 0
Records: South Alabama (23-17, 15-4 SBC), Georgia Southern (11-32, 4-17 SBC)
Pitchers of Record: WP – Olivia Lackie (13-6)  LP – Kastin Belogorska (3-13
Home Runs: USA: Stephanie Gonzalez (3)

SCORING
- USA (2nd Inn.) | Gonzalez homered to left, RBI (1-0, 2 out)
- USA (4th Inn.) | Kvistad homered to left center, 2 RBI (3-0, 0 out)
- USA (4th Inn.) | Stagner homered to center, RBI (4-0, 1 out)

GAME FACTS
- Both teams left a runner in scoring position in their half of the first, but the Jaguars broke through with a run their next time up as Gonzalez drove a 2-2, two-out offering over the wall in left to give South the early 1-0 lead.
- South Alabama tacked on three more runs on four hits two innings later. Ortiz doubled to left to lead things off in the Jag fourth and Kvistad blasted a two-run homer, her sixth of the season to put the Jags up 3-0. Two batters later, Stagner lifted a ball to center on the first pitch she saw to extend the lead (4-0). 
- Georgia Southern placed runners in scoring position in first and fourth innings, but Lackie didn't allow either runner to advance passed second. 
- For the game, the Eagles were 0-for-7 with runners on and 0-for3 with runners in scoring position.
- Gonzalez was one of six Jags to finish the afternoon with a hit as she was 2-for-3 with the homer.
- Kvistad drove in two and homered, while Stagner added the solo shot.
- Lackie tossed her 13th complete game of the season and her seventh shutout as she struck out for, allowed just two hits and a pair of walks.
- She needed just 77 pitches and threw 70 percent of them for strikes.

NOTES
- The series sweep of Georgia Southern was the first by the Jags since the 2017 season. USA has now won 11 of the 12 series meetings in Mobile.
- With the three wins, South Alabama is also now 18-4 in its last 22 games. 
- The 15 Sun Belt wins are the most by the program since earning 15 in 2017, and just two league wins shy of the program mark of 17 accomplished in 2012, 2013 and 2016.
- The start was the 200th of Kvistad's Jaguar career and her 211th game
- A day after having her hit streak snapped, Brasher started a new streak with her base hit. She has now had a hit in 12 of her last 13 and 15 of her last 17 outings.
- Brasher also eclipsed the 30th career stolen base mark in the game. 
- The home run by Gonzalez was her first since March 16 versus Nicholls State. It was also her first at-bat since going out with an injury at App State (4/8).
- Nichols extended her reached base safely streak to eight with her infield single in the bottom half of the fifth.
- Nichols now has had a hit in eight of her last nine, four of which have been multi-hit efforts.
- The fourth-inning double by Ortiz marked the 32nd of her career, moving her into seventh place in the category at South Alabama. It was her 10th of the spring.
- Kvistad's home run was the 34th of her career and her second of the series. She now has 59 extra-base hits, which are sixth-most in program history. 
- With her two runs driven in, Kvistad now has 29 career multi-RBI games, fifth-most at South.
She has also recorded seven RBI in her last two Sun Belt series and had two home runs and four RBI this weekend.
- The shutout was the 15th of Lackie's career and she moved into fifth-place all-time at South in innings pitched. It was also her 30th career complete game, moving her into a tie for fifth in that category as well.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the series sweep: 
"It was a great weekend on our home field and a great way to celebrate senior weekend. We helped ourselves out again this weekend taking care of business. We've got to get ready to turn this thing around quickly and get ready to go to Troy for three big games up there. I was happy to see the way we did it this weekend, there were some games we won with our speed, today was with our power and yesterday I thought it was pitching and defense. You have to be able to win a lot of different ways if you want to win at a high level, and I thought we did that this weekend. We need to get through finals this week and then go up to Troy, get on the field and compete again and go hard."

Sophomore P Olivia Lackie
- On how the team's playing right now: 
"It feels really good that it's all starting to come together, because in the beginning of the season it was a little discouraging that we were losing these close games that should've been won. It feels really good that we've got it all together and now we're figuring it out."
- On going into the final regular-season series this week at Troy: 
"I think the most important thing to do is have the right mindset going into that weekend, because obviously it's a big rivalry weekend and we want to make sure that everyone is in the 'go get them' mindset, so I think that's one of the biggest things we need to do."

Freshman INF Stephanie Gonzalez
- On being back in the lineup: 
"It meant a lot to me. The last two days I wasn't playing, and I wanted to play so bad. Getting back on the field made me want it even more since I was out for two weeks."
- On homering her first at-bat back: 
"It felt really good. I've been working for the past two weeks trying to gain that feeling again and that confidence. I think being out for two weeks really let me restart myself and have a fresh start."
- On what she believes this team can do: 
"I believe that we're capable of going very far. This team has something that can let us win at the end of this."

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—