TUSCALOOSA, Ala. | After suffering a tough loss the night before, South Alabama bounced back with a pair of wins to pick up a Saturday sweep, defeating Northern Iowa, 11-3 in five innings and then closing out the day with a 2-0 victory over previously undefeated and 10th-ranked Alabama Saturday at T-Mobile Crimson Classic held at Rhoads Stadium.

South Alabama (12-5) head coach Becky Clark reached a coaching milestone with the wins as she earned her 700th career coaching victory.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the team bouncing back with two wins: "I'm proud of us for bouncing back in a big way today. Both wins were huge team wins against two very good teams. I thought we were aggressive all day long. Madison (Lagle) gave us great innings against UNI and Liv (Olivia Lackie) pounded the zone against Alabama. Offensively, we had some huge effort at-bats and stayed aggressive on the bases in both games."

- On picking up win No. 700: "The longer I do this, the more I appreciate the people who are a part of these milestones. I'm so blessed to work with and coach so many amazing people so today was pretty special to reach 700 with this group. I love the University of South Alabama and this program and am proud of the way we represent them both."

Senior P Olivia Lackie
- On her approach in the circle against Alabama: "My approach going into that game was to focus on making one pitch at a time and competing even when things didn't go my way."

- On stepping up: "After last night's loss, I felt like I needed to step up for my team and get my job done in the circle. I wanted to go out there and compete for them and give us the best chance I could to win."

Game 1 – South Alabama 11, Northern Iowa 3 (5 inn.)
A night after being held to just one run versus Northern Iowa, the Jaguar offense exploded for 11 runs and picked up its fifth run-rule victory of the season, defeating Northern iowa 11-3 in five innings.

Gabby Stagner recorded her fourth career grand slam to highlight a six-run second inning and Gracie Tentinger and Bailey Welch each had a pair of hits and scored twice. Odalys Cordova also had a hit, drove in a run and scored twice.

How It Happened 
•    UNI (9-5) put a pair on in the bottom of the first after a two-out walk to Madison Parks and a single to left off the bat of Addison McElrath, but Madison Lagle (1-0) battled back and struck out Kate Lappe – her third of the inning – to leave the two Panther runners stranded.
•    Tentinger worked a one-out walk in the Jags' half of the second and Cordova lined a single to center to put a pair on. South loaded the bases one batter later as pinch hitter Shelby Garrett drew a walk, and Marley Sims earned the third walk of the inning to score pinch runner Caitlyn Gavin and give the Jaguars the early 1-0 advantage. South Alabama then went up 2-0 as Cordova came home on a wild pitch.
•    After a walk to Mackenzie Brasher – the fourth of the inning by UNI's Samantha Heyer –Stagner unloaded on the first pitch she saw and cleared the bases with her fourth career grand slam (USA, 6-0).
•    Tentinger then added to the Jaguar lead as she blasted her first home run of the season over the wall in left center (USA, 7-0) with one out in the third. 
•    Lappe doubled off the base of the wall in right center to start the bottom of the fourth for Northern Iowa. Two batters later, Faith Sanderski singled to left and after advancing to third on the play, Lappe came home to score after the ball was bobbled (USA, 7-1). UNI put two more on later in the inning and with both runners in scoring position, Lagle was able to get a foul out to Stagner at first to leave the runners stranded. 
•    Tentinger recorded her second hit of the game – her first multi-hit effort of the spring – to put runners at the corners with one away in the top of the fifth. Cordova then reached scoring Stephanie Gonzalez (USA, 8-1) and Welch recorded a RBI single back up the middle, scoring Tentinger. Cordova also scored on the play when the throw home was off target (USA, 10-1). Pinch hitter Sophia Mendoza drew a walk to again put runners at the corners. The Jags then did a delayed double steal as Welch added the fourth run of the inning sliding home (USA, 11-1).
•    UNI added two runs in bottom half of the fifth on solo home runs by Madison Parks and Lappe (USA, 11-3)

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting marked the fourth in the all-time series between the two clubs, and all four have come on a neutral field in Tuscaloosa
•    The two teams are also scheduled to face each other on March 8 at the Razorback Rumble in Fayetteville, Ark.
•    Lagle made the third start of her collegiate career versus UNI
•    In a streak dating back to May 7, 2021, Mackenzie Brasher has made 126 consecutive starts
•    With her first inning walk, Stagner extended her reached base safely streak to 17 straight, which moved the junior into a tie with six other players for 20th-longest streak in program history
•    The four grand slams by Stagner are the most of any player at South Alabama and the 21st in program history
•    No other player at South Alabama has more than two in their career – Brittany Fowler, Britany Campbell and Christin Crocker
•    The home run was the fifth of the season for Stagner, just one shy of tying a season best
•    The six-run second inning marked the third time this season (7, vs. North Carolina Central and 7, vs. ??) that South Alabama has scored six or more runs in an inning this season
•    Stagner now has 19 multi-RBI games in her Jaguar career, tying her with Abby Krzywiecki (19, 2017-19) for 16th place all-time at South
•    Brasher has scored a run in 13 of her 16 outings this spring, and nine of her last 11
•    Welch has reached base safely in five of her last six games
•    With her fourth-inning single, Brasher has had at least one hit in nine of her last 12
•    The run-rule victory marked the fifth of the season for South Alabama 

Game 2 – South Alabama 2, No. 10 Alabama 0
South Alabama put up single runs in the second and third innings, and that was all Olivia Lackie (8-3) needed as she tossed a three-hit shutout as the Jags defeated No. 10 Alabama (18-1) in game two of the day.

Lackie struck out six batters and allowed just four base runners on the afternoon. Sasha Willems and Cordova each had an RBI double for the Jaguars.

How It Happened 
•    Gonzalez reached on an error in the top of the second with two away in the inning and Cordova made the Crimson Tide pay as she doubled off the base of the wall in right to give South the early 1-0 advantage.
•    South Alabama did more two-out damage an inning later. Stagner walked – her 18th-straight game to reach base safely – and Willems then lined a double to the gap in right center to put the Jaguars up, 2-0.
•    Riley Valentine singled to start the bottom of the third and then moved into scoring position with a stolen base and advanced to third on a Jaguar throwing error with one out in the inning. With the runner standing 60 feet away from home, Lackie retired the final two batters of the inning with a line out to third and a strikeout swinging of Jenna Johnson.
•    Kali Heivilln reached on a bunt single to begin the bottom of the fifth and Lauren Johnson walked with one out to put a pair on for the Crimson Tide. Lackie thought struck out pinch hitter Kat Grill and got Johnson to fly out to right to end the inning.
•    Bailey Downing singled with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to bring the potential tie run to the plate, but Lackie again ended the inning with a strikeout as she retired Marlie Giles who looked at the called third strike.
•    Staked with the two-run lead, Lackie closed strong as she retired the side in order in the seventh, striking out the final two batters.

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting marked the 17th in the all-time series between the two clubs 
•    The win marked the 700th of Clark's career
•    Lackie improved to 2-0 versus the Crimson Tide with the win and in her 14 innings of work, the senior hasn't given up a run 
•    Brasher made her 127th consecutive start for South Alabama, putting her just one shy of moving into the Top 10 in the category
•    With her third-inning walk, Stagner extended her reached base safely streak to 18 games, which is tied for 17th-longest streak in program history
•    Gonzalez has scored a run in five of her last six games
•    The win marked the 63rd in Lackie's career, moving her into a tie with former Jag Farish Beard (2012-15) for third place all-time in the category at South Alabama
•    South Alabama's offense entered the game averaging six runs per game before suffering the shutout

Up Next
•    South Alabama will close out play at the T-Mobile Crimson Classic on Sunday when the Jaguars take on 15th-ranked Arizona at 10 a.m.

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