DECATUR, Ga. | Stephanie Gonzalez and Amity White led a six-run first inning with a grand slam and a two-run home run as South Alabama opened up the series at Georgia State with a 7-2 victory Friday night at the Bob Heck Softball Complex.

Mackenzie Brasher was 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and a RBI, while Marley Sims added a double and a single and drove in a run as well. 

Olivia Lackie (18-6) tossed five scoreless innings allowing just one hit and striking out six. The senior didn't allow a runner until a leadoff walk in the third and took a no-hitter into the fifth. Cadence Williams tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, retiring all five batters she faced.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the game: "We scored six early and made it stand. Liv (Olivia Lackie) pounded the zone and Cadance (Williams) gave us a solid outing at the end. We had some great defensive plays sprinkled in there as well. Tomorrow is a big day for us as we finish out the series."

Junior 2B Stephanie Gonzalez
- On the team getting off the to hot start in the first inning: "Getting off to the six-run start just comes from being locked and ready every single pitch. It was very important for us to get off to a good start and score in the first inning because it sets the tone not only for the game, but for us as a team and we need that."
 
- On her grand slam: "Always seeing a couple of pitches and working the count to see what the pitcher has is important during the first at-bat of the game. Throughout my at-bat, I just tried to stay ready for anything in the strike zone with a 3-2 count. I saw the pitch and exploded on it."

How It Happened 
•    Brasher led off the game with a single to left center, and she moved into scoring position on Sasha Willems' sacrifice bunt. Gabby Stagner and Olivia Branstetter then drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Two batters later, Gonzalez cleared the bags wither her first career grand slam, this one to left center (USA, 4-0). Bailey Welch followed with an infield single and White then blasted her first career home run on the first pitch she saw from Sydney Boulware (6-13), a two-run shot to dead center (USA, 6-0).
•    Sims dropped in a double in left center with two outs in the top of the third, and Brasher plated her with a RBI single to left center (USA, 7-0). 
•    McKenzie Walker reached on a one-out infield single to break up Lackie's no-hit bid, and Carolyn Deady dropped in a hit of her own one batter, a single that was just inside the foul line in left, but Lackie didn't allow the Panther runners to advance any further as she struck out the next two batters.
•    Ashton Schrayer led off the bottom half of the sixth with an infield single, and two pitches later Chloe Middlebrooks put Georgia State on the board (USA, 7-2) with her fourth home run of the season. With one out, Chloe Nadler lined a double to right center and Jordan Rayner was hit by a pitch to put a pair on, but Cadence Williams came in relief of Rylie Harrison and retired the final two batters to end the threat.

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting marked the 27th in the all-time series between the two clubs and the 10th on the Panthers' home field 
•    The Jaguars now hold a 19-8 series advantage and have won six of 10 in Decatur 
•    All seven of South's runs came with two outs and the Jags hit .417 with two outs 
•    The six-run, first inning for the Jaguars marked the fourth time this season that the club has scored six or more runs in an inning
•    In a streak dating back to May 7, 2021, Brasher has made 151 consecutive starts, which is the seventh longest streak all-time at South Alabama
•    Brasher (217) moved into sole possession of second place in games played at South
•    Brasher has now had a hit in 13 of her last 16, tallying 21 hits over the 16-game stretch
•    The two-hits by Brasher marked the 13th of the season – which leads the team and was the 55th of her career, moving her into a tie with Emily Messer (55) for third place at South
•    Brasher's second hit of the contest moved her into a tie with Brittany Fowler (213, 2010-13) for second all-time at South 
•    With her run scored, the center fielder (137) passed Blair Johnson (136, 2012-15) for sole possession of fourth in the category
•    Stagner has reached base safely in 33 games this season, eight of her last nine
•    The double by Stagner (31) moved the junior into a tie for eighth all-time in the career category at South - Amanda Minahan (2014-17)
•    The six-run, first inning for the Jaguars marked the fourth time this season that the club has scored six or more runs in an inning
•    The home run for Gonzalez was her first since May 1, 2022 at Georgia Southern, and the first grand slam of her career
•    Three of Gonzalez's four career home runs have come on the road
•    The grand slam is the second of the season for the Jags – Stagner vs. Northern Iowa (3/2) – and the 22nd in program history
•    Gonzalez has had a hit in six of her last eight and driven in a run in five of those outings, and reached base safely in eight of her last nine
•    The four-RBI performance also marked the fifth multi-RBI game of Gonzalez's career
•    The two-run home run for White marked the first of the freshman's career
•    Willems has had a hit in 11 of her last 15, recording 13 hits and three walks over that stretch
•    Sims has had a hit in five of her last seven and reached base safely in six of her last eight
•    Sims also now has seven multi-hit games this spring and 11 for her Jaguar career
•    Branstetter has had a hit in three of her last five and reached base safely in four of her last five

Up Next
•    South Alabama will close out the three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch for game two of the series is set for noon (CT) with the finale to immediately follow.

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