MOBILE, Ala. | After being on the road for the last three weeks, South Alabama returns home this weekend to open Sun Belt Conference play versus preseason league favorite Louisiana. 

Game one of the three-game series is set to get underway Friday night at 6 pm. at Jaguar Field. Games two and three of the series are scheduled for Saturday (3 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).

Live stats and the ESPN+ stream can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com. 

Both clubs enter the weekend receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball To 25 poll as both hold some key out of conference victories this spring. South Alabama (14-8-1) holds three victories over opponents ranked in the Top 25 poll – Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina – while Louisiana (15-12) is riding a six-game win streak, which includes a victory over top-ranked Oklahoma in Norman, and snapped the Sooners' 71-game win streak. The Ragin' Cajuns are also receiving votes in both the USAToday/NFCA and Softball America Top 25 Polls as well.

Gabby Stagner currently leads the team with a .365 batting average and her .770 slugging percentage is third-best in the Sun Belt. The junior has a team-high 27 hits on the year with 16 of those going for extra bases (eight doubles, two triples, six home runs). The Mobile, Ala., native also leads the team with 22 RBI – tied for fifth in the SBC – and she has scored 18 runs. 

Mackenzie Brasher (.321) ranks second on the team at the plate, and leads the team in runs scored (19), stolen bases (15). Stagner and Brasher are tied for the team lead with seven multi-hit games, while Stagner's five multi-RBI efforts lead the club.

Olivia Lackie (10-3) holds a 1.32 earned run average and has struck out 100 batters, while holding opponents to a .151 batting average. Lackie ranks third nationally in strikeouts and her 10 wins are tied for fifth most in the country. Freshman Ryley Harrison (3-2) holds a 1.71 ERA this spring and both her and Lackie rank among the NCAA leaders in shutouts with three. As a staff, South Alabama is tied for 27th in shutouts (6).

LOUISIANA SERIES INFORMATION
Site: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

THE SERIES
vs. Louisiana: Louisiana leads 45-11
In Mobile: Louisiana leads 17-6
In Lafayette: Louisiana leads 24-2
At Neutral Site: Louisiana leads 4-3
Current Streak: Louisiana 23

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: March 15, 2024 | 6 p.m.
Game 2: March 16, 2024 | 3 p.m.
Game 3: March 17, 2024 | 1 p.m.

NOTES
•    South Alabama holds a 13-4 record in its Sun Belt Conference home openers over the program's previous 17 seasons 
•    This weekend's conference opening series marks a match up between the two teams picked at the top of the preseason Sun Belt Conference rankings - Louisiana (1) and South Alabama (2) - and will be the fourth time the two have begun SBC play together
•    Brasher has started 133-straight games for South Alabama, which is tied for ninth-longest stretch
•    Brasher (74) is also one stolen base away from matching Kaleigh Todd's career mark at South Alabama and two shy of taking over sole possession of the record
•    Brasher is also eight hits away from becoming the seventh Jaguar to reach 200 for her career
•    Brasher's 15 steals are second-most in the SBC, just one behind league leader Lourdes Bacon (16, ULM), and she is tied for eighth nationally with Jackson State's Jalia Hubbard 
•    Stagner (27) is 3 doubles shy of moving into a tie for eighth all-time in the career category at South - Amanda Minahan (31, 2014-17)
•    Stagner has reached base safely in 21 games this season, and has had a hit in three of her last four and in 19 games 
•    Lackie is 28 strikeouts from reaching 800 for her career

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