MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama erupted for seven runs in the first inning and Ryley Harrison tossed a five-hit, shutout as the Jags picked up a 10-0, run-rule victory on day one of the South Alabama Invitational presented by Marriott Mobile and held at Jaguar Field.

South Alabama (5-1) was led offensively by Sasha Willems, who was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, while seven other Jags also recorded a hit in the win. Mackenzie Brasher, Odalys Cordova and Sidney Lee each drove in a pair.

Harrison improved to 2-0 on the spring with the victory.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the win: "Tonight was a great way to start our home tournament. We hit a lot of balls hard the other way and ran the bases well. Ryley (Harrison) threw strikes and didn't give in with runners on base. And, our defense was solid behind her. We need to carry that same focus and energy into tomorrow."

Senior C Sasha Willems
- On her performance at the plate: "I felt really calm at the plate and knew that I just had to drive the ball. I was working on driving the ball where it was pitched and just working on swinging at good pitches."

- On the team building off the opening weekend: "We knew we had to build off our performance from this past weekend and this was exactly what we were wanting to do. A good team effort at the plate to back up Ryley's shutout, as well as building energy and excitement in our dugout to continue on throughout the weekend has us in a great place to continue on the weekend."

How It Happened 
•    South Alabama batted around in the opening frame, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs on five hits. 
•    Gabby Stagner then continued her hot hitting as she tripled to the gap in right center, allowing Brasher – who had walked – to score and give the Jags the early lead (1-0).
•    Olivia Branstetter then plated Stagner with a sac fly to right (USA, 2-0), a ball that was dropped allowing the freshman to move to third. Willems extended her hit streak to six-game with a single and with runners at second and third later in the inning, Cordova drove in the third run of the inning with a sac fly to right. Lee then walked on four-straight out of the zone to put runners at the corners 
•    The fourth run of the opening frame then crossed the plate as Willems scored on a wild pitch (USA, 4-0). After another wild pitch moved Lee to third, Bailey Welch lined a shot back up the middle to extend the Jaguar lead to 5-0. Brasher then bounced a single back up the middle to score two more (USA, 7-0).
•    South Alabama strung together four-straight, one-out singles in their half of the fourth. Branstetter and Willems set the table with a pair of singles, and Cordova then drove in a run with a single of her own, this one to center (USA, 8-0). Lee then lined a single to right, plating Willems and Cordova (USA, 10-0) 

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting marked the first in the all-time series between the two clubs 
•    South Alabama holds an all-time record of 9-3 against current Mid-American Conference members
•    The Jaguars are also 13-5 in their 17 home openers
•    The shutout was the fourth in a home opener
•    The shutout was the second of the season for Harrison
•    The seven-run first by the Jaguars marks the second time this season that South has scored five or more runs in an inning
•    The seven runs were the most by the Jags in an inning since scoring seven in the third inning versus Georgia State on March 19, 2023
•    Stagner and Willems each extended their hit streaks to six games with their first-inning singles, and Branstetter matched them with her fourth-inning infield single
•    Stagner and Branstetter have driven in at least one run in four of South's six games this season
•    Of Stagner's 10 base hits this season, five have gone for extra bases 
•    Brasher has had at least one hit and scored one run in five of her last six outings 
•    With her bunt single, Sims has now had a hit and scored a run in four of her six contests this spring
•    Cordova has had a hit in four-straight games and reached base safely in five of her last six
•    The three-hit performance by Willems matched a career high and was her ninth career multi-hit effort
•    Brasher made her 116th consecutive start, which is the 12th-longest streak all-time at South Alabama, and made her 145th start in center field
•    The home victory extended a program-best, 16-game home win streak, which began on Feb. 25, 2023 with a 5-3 victory over Tulsa

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue play at the tournament on Saturday with a pair of games, beginning with Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. and then Eastern Kentucky at 7 p.m.

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