MOBILE, Ala. | Olivia Lackie tossed a complete-game, five-hit shutout and Meredith Keel was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of RBI as South Alabama completed the Sun Belt Conference series sweep of ULM with a 4-0 victory Sunday afternoon at Jaguar Field.

With the win, South Alabama (25-10, 8-1 SBC) has now won 10 of its last 11, while ULM falls to 19-18 overall and 3-6 in league play.

Along with Keel, Gabby Stagner had a pair of hits and scored a run, while Mackenzie Brasher had a hit and scored twice at the top of the order. 

Lackie (13-4) allowed just six base runners – five hits and a walk – while striking out eight. Victoria Abrams (4-7) took the loss after allowing four runs, one earned in an inning-and-a-third.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On Sunday's game: "I thought we got quality pitching and defense all weekend. From an offensive standpoint, we had timely hitting. It is hard to sweep in our conference, so this weekend was big for us and gives us some momentum to take into this week."

Senior 3B Meredith Keel
- On getting the sweep: "Coming out here today and getting the sweep is big. ULM is a scrappy team and they are well coached, so getting the series sweep was big for us. We have a big series coming up at UL next weekend, so having that momentum and where we're playing as a team is huge for us."

- On her performance at the plate today: "The last few days, I've been having good at-bats and hitting the ball, but just right at people. Today, I found some holes and went up to the plate just focused on putting a good barrel on the ball, and was able to do some good things."

South Alabama 4, ULM 0
South Alabama took an early 1-0 lead as it strung together three-straight hits to begin the bottom half of the first. Brasher led off the inning with a single through the right side of the infield and Keel followed with a single through the left side. Victoria Ortiz then drove a ball back up the middle to bring around Brasher and give South the early lead (1-0).

ULM placed a pair on in its half of the second as Andie Edwards dropped in a single in center and Madison Blount drew a two-out walk, but Lackie was able to get Kennedy Johnson looking to end the inning.

 Stagner led off the bottom half of the inning with a single to left and two batters later, the Jags had runners at the corner after a Warhawk error allowed Bailey Welch to reach. Marley Sims then lined a single back up the middle to plate another run and double the Jaguar lead (2-0). With two outs, Keel recorded her second hit in as many at-bats as she doubled to the gap in left center, bringing in Sims and Brasher (4-0).

For just the second time in the game, the Warhawks had multiple runners reach after a pair of singles. The inning was kept alive when a Jaguar error loaded the bases with two outs, but Lackie was able to get Lourdes Bacon swinging to end the game.

Scoring Summary
•    1st Inn | Ortiz singled back up the middle, RBI; Brasher scored (1-0, USA)
•    2nd Inn | Sims singled back up the middle, RBI; Stagner scored, unearned (2-0, USA)
•    2nd Inn | Keel doubled to left center, 2 RBI; Sims scored, unearned and Brasher scored, unearned (4-0, USA)

Postgame Notes
•    Sunday's contest marked the 860th in program history for South Alabama and the 350th at Jaguar Field
•    The series sweep marks the ninth time South has swept ULM in the all-time series, fourth in Mobile
•    The shutout was also the 13th by the Jags is the series, as they have shutout each of their last four opponents
•    The shutout marked the 11th of the season by Lackie and the 15th of the season by the pitching staff
•    Brasher has had a hit in 12 of her last 15 games and reached base safely in 13 of those contests, including a hit in each of her last 10
•    Brasher has also scored at least one run in 12 of her last 14 contests, and over her past 10 games, she has scored 15 runs, including multiple runs on five occasions
•    Keel has reached base safely in 11 of the last 12 with her first-inning single
•    The three hits marked 11th multi-hit game of the season, and the 33rd multi-hit for Keel as a Jag, moving into a tie for 14th with Haley Hopkins (2009-12) and Evelyne Pare (33, 2007-08)
•    It was also the 47th multi-hit game of her collegiate career, and the two RBI marked the 10th multi-RBI game of her career as well
•    The three hits tied a career best for the senior third baseman and was the ninth three-hit game of her career
•    Stagner also recorded her seventh multi-hit performance of the season
•    With her RBI single in the opening frame, Ortiz has reached base safely streak to 11 straight, and has had at least one hit in seven of her last eight and 13 of her last 16
•    Over that span, she has registered seven of her 10 multi-hit games 
•    The first-inning singles for Brasher and Ortiz also marked the 150th career hits for the pair 
•    Sims has now reached base safely in 24 of her last 32, while Cordova extended her reached base safely streak to seven games with her third-inning walk
•    Welch has had a hit in five of her last seven, and reached base safely in nine of her last 11 contests
•    Lackie (460.2) moved passed former Jag Farish Beard (454.2, 2012-15) for fourth in career innings pitched
•    The junior righty has now been credited with the win in six of her last seven starts
•    Since her Feb. 17 start vs. Mississippi Valley State, Lackie has allowed one or fewer runs in 13 of her last 16 starts, tossing all 11 of her shutouts over that stretch

Up Next
•    South Alabama will head out on the road for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Louisiana with game one set for Thursday at 6 p.m. at Lamson Park.

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