MOBILE, Ala. |
Bailey Welch tripled to lead off the seventh and later scored, but South Alabama's late-inning rally attempt came up short Tuesday night as McNeese State held on for a 3-2 victory at Jaguar Field.
Mackenzie Brasher had a hit and became the program's all-time steals leader in the loss as she recorded the 76th stolen base of her career.
Welch was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and scored a run, while
Sasha Willems added a pair of hits.
Shelby Garrett homered for the Jags (17-12-1) as well. After pitching all 13 innings on Sunday,
Olivia Lackie tossed three innings of relief as she faced the minimum and struck out six.
McNeese State (20-13) had a pair of players finish with two hits – Samantha Mundine and Alexis Dibbley – while the latter homered and scored two runs.
Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the game: "I thought McNeese outplayed us tonight. They took care of their opportunities and we didn't. It wasn't good enough and we have to be better going into the Texas State series."
How It Happened
• McNeese State loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the first after a walk to Rylie Bouvier, and then took a 1-0 lead one batter later as Reese Reyna drew a walk of her own, bringing Corine Poncho who had led the game off with a single to right.
• Dibbley dropped in a double in shallow right center with one out in the third, and one batter later the Cowgirls added to their lead on Bouvier's RBI single to left (MCN, 2-0). With runners at second and third later in the inning.
• South Alabama had a scoring opportunity in the bottom half of the third. Brasher singled with two outs and then advanced all the way to third on a stolen base and a throwing error by McNeese on the attempt. Shaelyn Sanders (10-6) was able to get out of the inning and hold the Jags off the scoreboard with a ground out.
• The Jags cut the lead in half their next time at the plate as Garrett drove a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left, her second home run of the spring.
• McNeese quickly got the run right back though as Dibbley homered to straight-away center field on the first pitch she saw to start the fifth.
• South had another chance to break through with some runs as
Marley Sims was hit by a pitch and
Olivia Branstetter walked to begin the bottom of the fifth, but McNeese was able to throw out two Jaguar runners attempting to move up a base.
• Willems lined a triple to the gap in right center to start things off for the Jags in the sixth, but McNeese reliever Lindsay Davis (3) came in and retired the next three batters to leave the runner stranded.
• Welch led off the seventh with a triple to right center – her third hit of the contest and then came around to score on pinch-hitter
Stephanie Gonzalez's RBI groundout (MCN, 3-2). That was as close as the Jags got though as Davis retired the final two batters of the game.
Postgame Notes
• The meeting marked the 13th in the all-time series between the two clubs
• With the exception of the 2022 season, the two teams have met at least once every season since 2014
• For the first time this spring, Willems, who had caught all 204.0 innings, didn't start behind the plate as she was the designated player
• In a streak dating back to May 7, 2021, Brasher has made 140 consecutive starts, which is one shy of moving into eighth place (Brittany Fowler)
• Brasher is now one start shy of reaching 200 for her Jaguar career and three hits away from becoming the fifth player in program history
• Brasher has reached base in 11 of her last 14 outings and had at least one hit in 10 of her last 13
• Brasher became the program's all-time stolen base leader at South Alabama with her third-inning steal, passing former Jag
Kaleigh Todd's (76, 2015-18) previous mark
• The home run by Garrett marked the third-straight game in which the Jags have homered
• Welch has had a hit in five of her last eight games, and the three-hit performance tied a career high and marked her 12th-career multi-hit game
• With her first-inning single, Willems has had a hit in each of her last four games, six over that span
• The multi-hit game was the fifth of the season and 13th of Willems' career
• Lackie (795) is now just five strikeouts from becoming just the second Jaguar pitcher to reach 800 strikeouts for her career
Up
Next
• South Alabama will open a three-game Sun Belt Conference series Thursday night versus Texas State with first pitch set for 6 p.m.
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