STATESBORO, Ga. | South Alabama clinched the Sun Belt Conference series versus Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon with a 6-1 win at Eagle Field at the GS Softball Complex.
South Alabama (31-13, 13-4 SBC) had seven players record a hit in the win and had three players record two hits apiece –
Victoria Ortiz,
Odalys Cordova and
Emma Kropp. Ortiz was 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBI, while Cordova had two hits, including a double, and scored a run. Kropp was 2-for-3 at the plate with a home run and two RBI as well.
Jenna Hardy (14-7) tossed her 12th complete game of the season scattering five hits and striking out five. The senior pitcher retired the Eagles in order in four of her seven innings of work.
Faith Barth recorded a pair of hits for Georgia Southern, who fellto 17-25 overall and 6-11 in league play with the loss.
Redshirt-Senior RF Victoria Ortiz
- On clinching the SBC road series: "Clinching the series is a big deal. We were able to get the lead early and maintained it, which was really important for us today."
- On tying Brittany Fowler's career multi-RBI game mark: "I haven't met Brittany, but I do know how incredible of a player she was. I'm really thankful to have followed in her footsteps in some ways. I also can't drive in runs without my teammates on base, so I'm really grateful for all of the opportunities they have given me in those moments."
Senior C Emma Kropp
- On
Jenna Hardy's performance in the circle: "Jenna did a really good job at attacking the zone and getting ahead. I'm proud of her for being able to bounce back and get the outs after giving up a few hits. She set the tone and controlled the game today."
- On her seventh-inning home run sparking the three-run inning: "I knew they were going to throw me something outside after flying out to right my previous at-bat. My adjustment was to slow the ball down with my eyes and watch it travel all the way to my barrel. We needed to score more runs and I'm happy that we were able to work together to string a few more runners to the plate."
South Alabama 6, Georgia Southern 1
South Alabama struck first with a run in the top of the first.
Mackenzie Brasher singled to left with one out and stole her 22nd base of the spring. Two batters later, Ortiz bounced a ball back up the middle to score Brasher from second (1-0). With the RBI, Ortiz has driven in at least one run in four of her last five contests.
Cordova lined a single off the third baseman's glove to lead off the Jag second, and
Bailey Welch walked to put two on. The duo moved into scoring position on
Stephanie Gonzalez's sacrifice bunt, and Kropp plated a run with a single to left (2-0). Welch came home one batter later on
Meredith Keel's RBI ground out to short to make it 3-0 in favor of the Jaguars.
Janai Conklin reached on an error to start the bottom half of the second, and the GS catcher later moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. With two outs, Katie Perkins lined a single back up the middle to score Conklin (3-1) for an unearned run.
South Alabama had an opportunity to extend its lead in its half of the fourth. Cordova doubled to center to start the top of the fourth, who then moved over to third on a sac bunt by Welch. With the run 60-feet away, Alana Barnard was able to retire the next two batters and strand Cordova at third.
Gabby Stagner lined her 11th double of the season to the gap in right center with one out in the sixth. The first baseman was moved to third on a groundout, but the runner was left there after a fly out to left.
Emma Davis reached on a single in the bottom of the sixth and two batters later Faith Barth singled just out of the reach of Cordova at short to put runners at first and second. With the tying runs aboard and the go-ahead run at the plate, Hardy was able to get Conklin to ground into a fielder's choice and struck out Dejah Mills.
South added three insurance runs in its half of the seventh. Kropp drove a 1-1 offering over the wall in right center to extend the lead to three (4-1) – her third home run of the season. With two away in the inning,
Sasha Willems lined a double to left center, scoring Keel who had singled earlier in the frame (5-1). Willems then moved to third on a passed ball and came home one batter later on Ortiz's single back up the middle to make it 6-1.
Scoring Summary
•   1st Inn | Ortiz singled back up the middle, RBI; Brasher scored (1-0, USA)
•   2nd Inn | Kropp singled to left, RBI; Cordova scored (2-0, USA)
•   2nd Inn | Keel grounded out to ss, RBI; Welch scored (3-0, USA)
•   2nd Inn | Perkins singled back up the middle, RBI; Conklin scored, unearned (3-1, GS)
•   7th Inn | Kropp homered to right center, RBI (4-1, USA)
•   7th Inn | Willems doubled to left center, RBI; Keel scored (5-1, USA)
•   7th Inn | Ortiz singled back up the middle, RBI; Willems scored, unearned (6-1, USA)
Postgame Notes
•   Brasher's first-inning stolen base was the 54th of her career, moving her into a tie with Jenny Stevens (2007-08, '11) for fourth on South's all-time list
•   With her two RBI, Ortiz tied former Jag Brittany Fowler's (33, 2010-13) program mark for career multi-RBI games at South Alabama, as it was the 33rd of her career
•   Ortiz has had a hit in 20 of her last 26, including five straight, and reached base safely in a career-best 21 games
•   The 21-game reached base safely streak, which moved her into a five-way tie for sixth-longest stretch in program historyÂ
•   Brasher and
Abby Allen also had 21-game reached base safely streaks during the 2022 season
•   The RBI in the top of the first was the 115th of Ortiz's career, tying her with Christin Crocker (115, 2009-12) for fourth
•   Ortiz then moved into sole possession of fourth with her seventh-inning RBI as it was the 116th of her career
•   With her first-inning run, Brasher has scored at least one run in 13 of her last 21 – 21 runs – and four of her last five outingsÂ
•   Cordova has had a hit in 11 of her last 16 and reached base safely in 13 of her last 15
•   Over her last six games, Welch has batted .583 with seven hits, two doubles, four walks, three runs scored and four runs driven in
•   The caught stealing by Kropp was the 15th of her career, as she has now thrown out 24.2 percent of potential base stealers in her time as a Jag
•   Keel has reached base safely in 20 of her last 22 contests, including 13 of her last 14, and she has now had at least one hit in 31 of South's 44 games this spring
•   Willems has had at least one hit in eight of her last 12, reaching base safely in nine straight, which tied a season high for the junior catcher
Up Next
•   South Alabama will conclude the series with the Eagles on Sunday with first pitch set for 11 a.m. (CT) at Eagle Field.
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