AUBURN, Ala. | The South Alabama softball scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth and captured an 8-0 victory on Abby Allen's pinch-hit, walk-off homer on day three of the Jane B. Moore Memorial held at Jane B. Moore Field.

With the win, South Alabama (13-7) finished the tournament with a 4-1 record, which included three run-rule victories. Olivia Lackie, Jenna Hardy, Sasha Willems and Abby Allen were named to the all-tournament team for their play on the weekend.

Victoria Ortiz reached base all three of her plate appearances as she was 2-for-2 with a walk, a double and a home run, while also scoring a pair of runs. Odalys Cordova also had a pair of hits and scored twice, and Marley Sims had a pair of RBI.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the team's performance this weekend: "I'm proud of our grit this weekend. I thought overall, we took a big step forward as a team. Right now, we have to keep that forward momentum and continue to push forward as team."

South Alabama 8, Tennessee Tech 0 (5 inn.)
Jordyn Shirley singled back up the middle with one away in the top of the first, and moved to third on a stolen base and a Jaguar error. Haeli Bryson then drew a walk to put runners at the corners, but Hardy was able to hold the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard with a pair of fly outs to left.

With two outs in the bottom half of the opening frame, Gabby Stagner batted back from an 0-2 deficit and lined a single to left and advanced to second on a TTU error. Willems then lined a single through the left side of the infield to put the Jags up 1-0.

Ortiz walked to start the Jag second and Cordova dropped in a bloop single in shallow left to put runners at first and second. After a flyout to left, South Alabama had a pair of runners in scoring position after Cordova stole third. Mackenzie Brasher then drew a two-out walk to load the bases and Meredith Keel followed with a walk to plate a run (2-0). Sims then lined a single to center to plate two more runs and extend the Jaguar lead to 4-0.

Bryson walked to start the fourth inning and two batters later, Nicolle Nysted doubled to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Jordan Key then reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases, but Hardy was able to get a pair of fly outs to center to work out of the jam.

Ortiz drove a 2-2, two-out pitch deep over the wall in right to stretch the lead out to 5-0 in the fifth. Cordova then singled and Emma Kropp walked to put two more aboard. Allen then walked the Jags off as she unloaded on a 1-1 offering from Cole that banged off the light pole in center field, a three-run pinch hit home run to give South the win.

Scoring Summary
•    1st Inn | Willems singled through the left side of the infield, RBI; Stagner scored (1-0, USA)
•    2nd Inn | Keel walked, RBI; Ortiz scored (4-0, USA)
•    2nd Inn | Sims singled to center, 2 RBI; Cordova scored, Brasher scored (4-0, USA)
•    5th Inn | Ortiz homered to right, RBI (5-0, USA)
•    5th Inn | Allen homered to center, 3 RBI; Cordova scored, Brooklynn Bockhaus scored (8-0, USA)

Postgame Notes
•    With the win, South Alabama improved to 4-0 in the all-time series with Tennessee Tech
•    Willems has now had at least one hit in 11 of her last 13 outings
•    For the tournament, Willems batted .538 (7-for-13) with five extra-base hits – a double, two triples and two home runs – and a 1.385 slugging percentage, while driving in eight, scoring four runs and drawing a pair of walks
•    Stagner has scored a run in 12 games this spring
•    With her base-loaded walk to plate South's second run of the game, Keel has driven in 12 runs this season, just one shy of matching her career high for a season (13 – 2021)
•    Keel has at least one RBI in four of her last five games and driven in five runs over that same stretch
•    Keel has also reached safely with either a walk or a hit in 15 of South's 20 games this spring
•    Sims has reached base safely in eight of her last 11 
•    With her third-inning double, Ortiz has recorded at least one hit in 12 of her last 15
•    The double was the 37th of her career – moving her to third all-time in the category – and was her 64th career extra-base hit – fifth most in program history
•    Ortiz then moved into a tie for fourth with Kaitlyn Griffith (2012-15) in extra-base hits on her fifth-inning home run, the 65th extra-base hit of her career
•    The home run was the 25th of Ortiz's career moving her into a three-way tie with Amanda Minahan (2014-17) and Brittany Fowler (2010-13) for fourth
•    Allen's pinch-hit home run was the first since Stephanie Gonzalez's in the seventh inning at Florida State last season and was the first walk-off home run since Stagner vs. Belmont (2/25/22) – also a three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth of that run-rule victory
•    All eight of South's runs came with two outs as the Jags were 7-for-9 in two-out situations
•    For the tournament, South Alabama outscored its opponents 31-4 and run-ruled three of its five opponents, had 31 hits – 12 for extra bases – and as a staff posted a 0.97 earned run average

Up Next
•    South Alabama competes in its final non-conference tournament of the spring when it travels to Madeira Beach, Fla., to participate in THE Spring Games. The Jags will open up play at the event on Friday with a pair of games against Chattanooga (10 a.m. [CT]) and versus Iowa (12:30 p.m. [CT]).

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