MOBILE, Ala. | Honored prior to the start of the contest, South Alabama senior pitcher Olivia Lackie was outstanding in the circle as she tossed the 37th shutout of her career as the Jaguars opened the series against Georgia Southern with a 3-0 victory Friday night at Jaguar Field.

With the win, South Alabama (22-14-1, 8-5 SBC) extended its win streak to five games, while Georgia Southern dropped to 20-17 overall and 4-9 in SBC play with the loss.

Lackie (16-6) allowed just two base runners in the victory – a walk and an infield single – and struck out seven. The Walker, La., native retired the Eagles in order in five of her seven innings of work and didn't all a runner passed first base.

Marley Sims was 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in two of South's three runs with a triple in the bottom of the fifth. Bailey Welch also had a hit and a RBI, while Sasha Willems reached base twice with a walk and a single.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On her thoughts on the series-opening win: "You always want to win on Senior Day, and I thought Liv (Olivia Lackie) pitched great. She kept them off balance, threw a lot of strikes and her defense played good behind her. We had some timely hitting. It took us a little while to get going, but when we had the opportunity in the fifth, we were able to get the big hit. I'm proud of Marley (Sims) for squaring that one up. It was a great night overall. I love starting the series with the win. We just have to keep our foot on the gas and keep this thing rolling."

- On what the team is doing well during this current five-game win streak: "Timely hitting, good pitching, good defense. At App State (last weekend) I thought we had great pitching and great defense. The same thing tonight. We had some timely hitting. We aren't squaring the ball up as much as I would like to see us do, but we're getting timely hits when we need them. It's enough right now to get us through. I think we need to take a step forward in that area, but we'll talk about it and get that figured out."

Senior P Olivia Lackie
- On opening the series with a win: "Getting the win tonight was huge for us, because it just keeps building the momentum going. We struggled a little bit offensively over the first few innings, but it was huge for us to figure it out and get the win."

- On pitching on her Senior Night: "My goal was just to go out there and make the best pitches that I could, and hopefully at the end of it, we'd come out with a win. That's what happened."

Senior SS Marley Sims
- On getting the win to start the series: "This win was huge for us, especially with it being the first game of the series. I feel it will give us a lot of momentum going into the next two games."

- On her two-run triple in the fifth: "I had runners on and all I wanted to do was just lock into my approach. The outfielders were playing me in since I'm a slapper, and I just decided to see if I could hit the ball hard."

How It Happened 
•    For the fourth time in five innings, South Alabama placed a runner on base as Odalys Cordova led off the frame with a single. Two batters later, Stephanie Gonzalez lined a one-out single to left to put a pair on and Sims followed with a two-run triple to center field (USA, 2-0). Welch then added another run with a RBI single to left (USA, 3-0).

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting marked the 26th in the all-time series between the two clubs and the 13th in Mobile
•    South Alabama now leads the all-time series 19-7 and has won 12 of the 13 meetings at Jaguar Field
•    The Jags have also outscored the Eagles 74-24 in the 13 meetings in Mobile
•    In a streak dating back to May 7, 2021, Mackenzie Brasher made her 147th consecutive start, which ranks as the seventh longest streak all-time at South Alabama
•    Brasher (213) moved into a three-way tie for third in games played with former Jags Christin Crocker (2008, '09-12), Meghan Collins (2010-13) and Kaleigh Todd (2015-18) 
•    With her first inning single, Brasher has had a hit in 10 of her last 12, tallying 17 hits over the 12-game stretch
•    Brasher has also reached base safely in 12 of her last 13, including each of her last eight, and 18 of her last 21 outings
•    Sims and Gonzalez have now each had a hit in four of their last five outings
•    The multi-hit game was the 10th of Sims' Jaguar career and her sixth of 2023
•    Willems has had a hit in nine of her last 11, recording 11 hits and two walks over that stretch
•    Gonzalez has also reached base safely in eight of her last nine, including a career-best seven straight 
•    Welch has had a hit in six of her last eight games after her RBI single, and has reached base in 12 of her last 15, including each of her last six

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue the Sun Belt Conference series versus Georgia Southern on Saturday with game two set for a 3 p.m. start.

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