LAKE CHARLES, La. | South Alabama scored three runs in the opening frame and Oliva Lackie made it stick as she tossed a 3-0 shut out Tuesday afternoon at Joe Miller Field at Cowgirl Diamond.

Behind Lackie's effort in the circle, South Alabama (6-4) ended McNeese State's (8-3) four-game win streak, which included a pair of Top-25 wins. Lackie allowed just five hits and two walks, while striking out five in her seven innings of work in the circle.

Mackenzie Brasher, Victoria Ortiz, Gabby Stagner and Sasha Willems each recorded two hits apiece as part of South's season-high 11. Meredith Keel also had a hit and a pair of walks, to go along with a sacrifice bunt.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the big road victory: "I thought we really played together today. Liv (Olivia Lackie) had one of her better outings of the year and made the three early runs stand up. Offensively, we worked opposite field and put together some big hits. There were places where we could have extended the lead, but they (McNeese) made some big defensive plays. Overall, this is a great road win for us and gives us momentum going back into our home tournament

South Alabama 3, McNeese State 0
South Alabama struck first with three runs on three hits in the opening frame. With a runner on and two away, Ortiz and Stagner drilled back-to-back RBI doubles and Willems singled through the left side of the infield to give the Jaguars a 3-0 advantage.

McNeese State's Rylie Boovier led off the bottom of the second for the Cowgirls' first hit of the contest, but Crislyne Moreno fouled out to Jaguar catcher Emma Kropp, who caught Boovier wandering too far off the bag at first and doubled off the McNeese runner for a double play. 

Stagner, Willems and Kropp reached on three-straight one-out hits in the Jags' half of the sixth to load the bases, but the Cowgirls were able to get out of the jam turning their third double play of the contest.

McNeese placed a pair of runners on with one out in the bottom half of the inning, but Lackie was able to work around the early-inning trouble as she struck out Corine Poncho and then got Boovier to line out to Marley Sims at short and preserve the shutout.

Sims and Brasher led off the Jag seventh with back-to-back hits and after the duo was moved into scoring position on Keel's sacrifice bunt, McNeese was able to prevent South from capitalizing as the Cowgirls retired the final two batters of the inning.

McNeese led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to center, but Lackie closed strong striking out the next two and then getting a fly out to left to end the game and extend South's five-game win streak.

Scoring Summary
•    1st Inn | Ortiz double to left, RBI; Cordova scored (1-0, USA)
•    1st Inn | Stagner double to center, RBI; Ortiz scored (2-0, USA)
•    1st Inn | Willems singled through the left side of the infield, RBI; Stagner scored (3-0, USA)

Postgame Notes
•    The win was the 499th in program history for the Jags
•    With her first-inning walk, Keel has now reached base safely in eight of her 10 outings
•    She later recorded her eighth game of the season with a hit as she lined a single to left in the top of the fifth
•    Ortiz extended her hit streak to eight games with her RBI double
•    The double was Ortiz's 35th of her career and moved the redshirt senior into a tie with Stephanie Pilkington 2013-16
•    The two-hit performance by Ortiz marked the 32nd multi-hit game of her Jaguar career
•    Brasher also recorded her 32nd career multi-hit effort
•    With her second-inning, two-out single, Brasher has now had a hit in nine of her 10 outings this spring
•    South's first four hits came with two outs                          
•    Stagner has now driven in five runs over her last two outings
•    Tuesday marked the second game this season in which South has had double-digit hits, as the Jags had 10 hits versus Mississippi Valley State, and the 11 hits were a new season best for the club
•    The complete-game, shutout was the 20th of Lackie's career, tying her with Beth Pilgrim (2007-10) for fourth, and her fourth of the spring
•    The shutout also extended the Jaguar pitching staff's current streak of 34.1 innings without allowing an earned run
•    With Brasher's stolen base, South Alabama has now stolen 15 consecutive bases without being caught

Up Next
•    South Alabama will return home to hosts the South Alabama Invitational presented by Marriott Mobile, Thursday-Sunday. The Jags will open the tournament against Tulsa on Thursday with first pitch versus the Hurricanes set for 5 p.m. at Jaguar Field.

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