MOBILE, Ala. |
Olivia Lackie tossed her 10th complete-game shutout of the season and made a first-inning run hold up as South Alabama picked up a 1-0 victory over App State to complete the Sun Belt Conference series sweep at Jaguar Field Sunday afternoon.
Lackie (16-6) now stands alone in shutouts this season after scattering five hits, two walks and striking out nine in the victory.
South Alabama (29-13, 11-4 SBC) was led at the plate by
Sasha Willems, who was 2-for-2 and drove in the lone run of the contest. App State falls to 20-21 on the year and 1-12 in league play with the loss.
Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the importance of getting the sweep: "Anytime you can sweep a team in the conference, that's a big deal. This is a big week for us as we get ready to go on the road for two straight weeks beginning with Georgia Southern. To be able to nail down this last win was huge for us. It wasn't necessarily a great game for us, but we did enough to get the job done, which you have to do sometimes."
- On why the team is starting to put things together: "They are fighting to be great and fighting for their season. We understand we only control what we control on our side. We want to be one of the top teams in the conference and in order to do that, you have to show up and win these games. We want to be playing our best softball at the end of the season, and I feel we're headed in that direction. We have to build on these wins this weekend because we're going on the road to face a very scrappy Georgia Southern team."
- On the performance of
Olivia Lackie in the circle: "Today was big for her. She had to work through some adversity and she was able to do that. I thought she was able to keep App State off balance; there were some places in the game where she was able to change speeds, which I thought was big. She didn't give them anything that they could get going on her."
Junior P Olivia Lackie
- On what was working for her in the circle: "I just went out there with a compete and grit mentality; I wasn't going to let them beat me, and that's what happened."
- On the way the team is playing right now: "It's very important for us that we've created this momentum and we need to carry it throughout the remainder of the season. You always want to be competing and playing well towards the end of the season."
- On why the team is playing well: "We've been talking a lot about competing together and playing together. One of the words that we've been using is T.E.A.M. – Together, Effort, Attitude and Mindset. That's the key thing that we've been focusing on."
South Alabama 1, App State
Meredith Keel walked to lead off the bottom half of the opening frame and moved into scoring position after a passed ball.
Gabby Stagner's four-pitch, one-out walk three batters later loaded the bases, and Willems lifted a ball to center, scoring Keel from third and putting the Jaguars out in front (1-0).Â
App State had a pair reach after a leadoff single by Kayt Houston and a two-out single by Taylor Thorp in its half of the third, but Lackie ended the scoring opportunity with a fly out to center.
With one out in the Jag half of the third,
Victoria Ortiz beat out the throw to first for an infield single – extending her reached base safely streak to 19 games. Later in the inning, Willems singled through the left side to put runners at the corners with two out, but Delani Buckner (4-7) held the Jags off the board with a fielder's choice to end the inning.
Sidney Martin lined a two-out single to left for the Mountaineers in the top of the fifth and moved into scoring position after a wild pitch, but Lackie ended the inning with a pop out on the infield.
South Alabama looked to add some insurance in its half of the sixth as Willems singled with one out and after getting down 0-2 in the count, Cordova singled back up the middle to put a pair on. Buckner was able to get a pop out on the infield and a fly out to right to leave the runners stranded.
Scoring Summary
•   1st Inn | Willems flew out to center, sacrifice, RBI; Keel scored (1-0, USA)
Postgame Notes
•   South Alabama has now won 23 of the 27 series meetings – including nine straight – and is 15-2 at Jaguar Field
•   Following Sunday's win, South holds an 8-2 record this spring in games played on Sunday, outscoring opponents 39-14 in those 10 games, and have shut out the opponents six times
•   The Jaguars have swept all three conference home series this spring and won 12 straight at Jaguar Field
•   South is also 17-0 this season when scoring a run in the first inning and 22-3 when scoring before the opponent
•   With her leadoff walk, Keel has now reached base safely in 18 of her last 20 contests
•   Cordova has had a hit in nine of her last 13, and reached base safely in 11 of her last 12 after her first-inning single
•   The infield single by Ortiz extended her career-best reached base safely streak to 19 games, tying her with five other former Jags for 11th longest streak
•   Over the streak, she has recorded 19 hits, nine extra base hits, eight walks, been hit by pitch once, 13 runs scored and 23 RBI
•   Ortiz has now had a hit in 18 of her last 24, and with her third-inning single, the redshirt-senior moved into the top 10 on South's career hits chart, tying Meghan Collins (154, 2010-13) for 10th place
•   Willems has had at least one hit in seven of her last 10, reaching base safely in nine of those contests, including each of the last seven
•   Lackie has been credited with the win in eight of her last 11 starts
•   The junior improved to 6-0 all-time versus the Mountaineers with five shutouts and 65 strikeouts in 40 innings of work
•   Since her Feb. 17 start vs. Mississippi Valley State, Lackie has allowed one or fewer runs in 14 of her last 20 starts
•   The Sunday shutout was the 29th of Lackie's career, just two back of
Devin Brown (2015-18) who holds the all-time mark with 31.
Up Next
•   South Alabama will head back out on the road for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Georgia Southern. The series is set to get underway on Friday at Eagle Field at GS Softball Complex with first pitch set for 5 p.m. (CT).
FOLLOW THE JAGS
For complete coverage of South Alabama Softball, follow the Jags on social media @SouthAlabamaSB (Twitter), /SouthAlabamaSB (Facebook), @SouthAlabamaSB (Instagram) or visit the official home of South Alabama athletics at usajaguars.com.
Â
