MOBILE, Ala. | Fresh of a series sweep, South Alabama returns home to open a four-game homestand Tuesday night when the Jaguars welcome McNeese State. First pitch versus the Cowgirls is set for 5 p.m. at Jaguar Field.

South Alabama (17-11-1, 3-3 SBC) enters the midweek contests versus McNeese after sweeping ULM over the weekend, while McNeese State (19-13, 5-1 SLC) earned a conference sweep over Incarnate Word in Lake Charles.

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

Olivia Lackie (12-5) holds a 1.79 earned run average and has struck out 117 batters – which leads the conference – while ranking third in the league in both ERA and opposing batting average (.183). Lackie ranks sixth nationally in strikeouts and her 12 wins are tied for 13th most in the country. As a staff, South Alabama holds seven shutouts this spring, which are tied for 32nd-most in the NCAA.
 
Gabby Stagner currently leads the team with a .345 batting average and her .759 slugging percentage is second-best in the Sun Belt, and is tied for second in the league in home runs (7), tied for sixth in doubles (9) and tied for seventh in RBI (25), while also tied for the SBC lead in triples with three. Of the junior's team-high 30 hits on the year with 19 of those going for extra bases.

Olivia Branstetter (.288) is second on the team with 13 RBI, and leads the team in hit by pitch (6), and is tied for fourth in the SBC in the category and tied for 34th nationally. Mackenzie Brasher (.297) ranks second on the team at the plate, and leads the team in runs scored (22) and stolen bases (16). Brasher's 16 steals are second-most in the SBC, just one behind league leader Lourdes Bacon (17, ULM), and she is tied for 25th nationally. Brasher leads the team with eight multi-hit games, while Stagner is right behind her with seven.

McNEESE STATE
Site: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI: -- | RPI: 41
Record: 17-11-1, 3-3 SBC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP):  .251 / .371 / .317
Team ERA: 2.92

McNeese State COWGIRLS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI: -- | RPI: 42
Record: 19-13, 5-1 SBC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .261 / .423 / .359
Team ERA: 2.38

SERIES SCHEDULE
March 26, 2024 | 5 p.m.

THE SERIES
All-time series: South Alabama leads 8-4
In Mobile: South Alabama leads 4-1
In Lake Charles: McNeese leads 3-2
At Neutral Site: South Alabama leads 2-0
Current Streak: South Alabama 2

NOTES
•    South Alabama holds am 8-4 advantage in the all-time series, and has won four of the five series meetings in Mobile
•    Brasher (75) is one stolen base from becoming the new all-time leader in the category, passing Kaleigh Todd's (76, 2015-18) program mark
•    Brasher (196) is four hits shy of becoming the fifth player in program history to record 200 hits in their career, where she will join Todd (231), Brittany Fowler (213, 2010-13), Emily Messer (208, 2013-16) and Blair Johnson (203, 2012-15)
•    Branstetter has been hit by a pitch in four of her last five games, five times over that span, and reached base safely in each of her last six games, while recording four hits over her last two games
•    Stagner has had a hit and an extra-base hit in six of her last nine and in 22 of her 28 games this spring
•    Marley Sims has had at least one hit in six of her last 10 games, tallying nine hits over that stretch, and reached base safely in eight of those contests
•    Lackie (789) is 11 strikeouts from becoming just the second Jaguar pitcher to reach 800 strikeouts for her career

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