TROY, Ala. – The University of South Alabama softball team scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning and tried to rally late, but Troy held on for a 3-2 win in the series opener Thursday night at the Troy Softball Complex.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (23-18, 15-5 SBC) will continue the three-game conference series with game two on Friday when the Jags take on the Trojans at 6 p.m. 

Date: 5/5
Place: Troy Softball Complex (Troy, Ala.)

Final Score: Troy 3, South Alabama 2
Records: Troy (28-28, 14-11 SBC), South Alabama (23-18, 15-5 SBC)
Pitchers of Record: WP – Leanna Johnson (19-10)  LP – Olivia Lackie (13-7)
Home Runs: Troy: Jade Sinness (9), Kelly Horne (12)

SCORING
- Troy (1st Inn.) | Sinness homered to right center, RBI (0-1, 0 out)
- Troy (4th Inn.) | Horne homered to left (0-2, 0 out)
- Troy (4th Inn.) | Blake Gibson singled through the right side of the infield, RBI; Taylor McKinney scored from third (0-3, 1 out)
- USA (6th Inn.) | Meredith Keel tripled to left center, RBI; pinch runner Janeah Finney scored, unearned, from first (1-3, 0 out)
- USA (6th Inn.) | Stephanie Gonzalez singled to center, RBI; Keel scored from third (2-3, 1 out)

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama had a chance to get on the board in the top of the first. Caroline Nichols led off the game with a single, but was caught attempting to steal. Victoria Ortiz then lined a two-out double and stole third before Kamdyn Kvistad put runners at the corners after drawing a walk after a 13-pitch at-bat.
- The Trojans quickly took advantage of the missed scoring opportunity as Sinness homered to center on the second pitch of the bottom half of the first.
- Abby Allen drew her 29th walk of the season with two away in the South Alabama second. Belle Wolfenden then walked on four-straight out of the zone to put a pair of runners on for the second straight inning, but a foul out to third left the runners stranded.
- Ortiz recorded a hit for the second time in as many at-bats with a one-out single back up the middle in the third. She moved into scoring position, but was left there.
- Horne doubled the Jag deficit (2-0) as she led off Troy's half of the fourth with a solo shot to left. With one out and a pair on after a pair of walks, Gibson singled through the right side of the infield to plate the second run of the inning and make it 3-0 in favor of the Trojans.
- Nichols drew a one-out walk and moved into scoring position on a ground out, but she was left at second after a fly out to center.
- South Alabama finally broke through with a pair of runs in its half of the sixth. Kvistad reached on an error and Keel then lined a triple into the left center gap to score Finney from first, who was pinch running for Kvistad (1-3). Two batters later, Gonzalez singled to center to cut the deficit to one (2-3) scoring Keel from third.
- The rally would come up short though as Johnson retired the Jags in order in the seventh to pick up her 19th win of the season.
- Both Brasher (11) and Kvistad (13) had double-digit at-bats in the first inning. Kvistad fouled off seven two-strike pitches before drawing a walk.
- South Alabama had scoring opportunities early putting multiple runners on each of the first two innings. The Jags had five hits through three innings and at least one each of the first three, but all five were left on base. USA left seven on for the game.
- Both of Troy's home runs came on 1-0 pitches.

NOTES
- The loss snapped a seven-game win streak by the Jags and was the first conference road loss for the club this spring.
- Nichols led off the game with a single to center to extend both her hit streak (4) and reached base safely (10) streaks.
- She has now had at least one hit in seven of her last eight and 11 of her last 13.
- Ortiz recorded her team-leading 11th double of the spring and the 33rd of her career, which is now tied with former Jag Kaitlyn Griffith (2012-15) for sixth all-time in the category.
- The double was also the 54th extra-base hit of her Jaguar career, moving her into a tie with Haley Hopkins (2009-12) for eighth in program history.
- With her two hits, Ortiz recorded her 27th career multi-hit game, which is tied for 19th with Britany Campbell (2010-13).
- Keel's triple was her fourth of the season and the 10th of the spring for the club. The 10 triples are the most since 2017 (12) and tied for seventh-most in a season.
- The four triples by Keel are also tied for third-most in a season (Kaleigh Todd – 2017).
- Of the 30 home runs allowed by Jaguar pitching, 23 have been solo home runs.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the game: 
"I thought we fought and competed, but we've got some places where we have to execute better. Tomorrow and Saturday are big games and we've got to reset and come out going hard again tomorrow."

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—