BOONE, N.C. | South Alabama completed the Sun Belt Conference series sweep Sunday afternoon as the Jags took both games of a doubleheader at Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium. The Jags held on for a 2-1 victory in the opener and then completed the sweep with a 5-1 win in the finale.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On Sunday's sweep: "We had great pitching and defense all day today, and quality at-bats throughout. It is hard to sweep a team, especially on the road, so these are huge wins for us."

Senior OF Bailey Welch
- On her performance at the plate during the series: "At the plate, I was just trying to slow myself down all weekend and not make the moment too big. Allowing the barrel to work and staying behind the ball has shown me a lot of success, so that was my goal going into the weekend."

- On the sweep: "A sweep is always a good thing. We came into today knowing that we had to build off of yesterday's win for both of our games today. Overall, it was a good team day, and something to build off of going into our midweek game and series next weekend at home."  

Game 1 – South Alabama 2, App State 1 
South Alabama (20-14-1, 6-5 SBC) scored a pair of runs in the top of the third and the Jaguar pitching duo of Rylie Harrison (5-4) and Olivia Lackie (1) made it hold to clinch the series with a 2-1 victory over App State (15-18, 3-8 SBC) in game one of the doubleheader.

Gabby Stagner and Stephanie Gonzalez drove in the two runs for South Alabama

How It Happened 
•    South Alabama had an opportunity to score in the opening frame as Stagner drew a four-pitch, one-out walk and Sasha Willems went the other way with an opposite-field double to right to put runners in scoring position, but Sejal Neas was able to get out of the jam after a hard line out to second and a strikeout looking to end the frame.
•    Mackenzie Brasher drew a one-out walk in South's half of the third and moved into scoring position with her 20th stolen base of the spring. Stagner then lined a single to right center, scoring Brasher from second (USA, 1-0). Gonzalez then plated a run with an infield single as pinch runner Marlayna Capaldi – who had stole second – kept running on the play and came all the way around to score (USA, 2-0). 
•    The Mountaineers cut the Jag lead in half as Peyton Darnell drove a 2-1, two-out pitch over the fence in right center to trim the Jaguar lead to one (2-1).
•    Gracie Tentinger lined a one-out single to the gap in left center in the Jaguar sixth, and Bailey Welch then walked to put a pair aboard, but Neas was helped out by her defense as South lined into a double play to end the inning.
•    Macy Hamby led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to left, who moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Katy Houston then walked to put runners at the corners and moved to second after a ground out back to the circle. Darnell then walked to load the bases, but Lackie was able to get Taylor Thorp to pop up just in front of home plate to end the threat and maintain the one-run Jaguar lead.
•    Marley Sims led off the seventh with a solid single to center and with one out, the shortstop stole her third base of the season to move into scoring position, but Neas was again able to work out of the jam as she retired the next two Jaguar batters.
•    Addie Wray placed the tying run aboard in the bottom of the seventh when she bounced a single back up the middle with one out in the inning. Lackie though struck out the next two Mountaineer batters to end the game and pick up her first save of the season and the 10th of her career

Postgame Notes
•    South improves to 25-4 in the all-time series and 10-2 in Boone versus the Mountaineers, while also taking 13 of the last 14 meetings
•    Brasher made her 145th consecutive start, moving passed Christin Crocker for seventh longest streak in program history
•    Brasher (211) also moved into a tie for seventh with Kaitlyn Griffith (2012-15) in the in games played at South
•    With her walk during her first plate appearance, Stagner has now reached base safely in 28 games this season
•    Willems has had a hit in eight of her last nine, recording 10?? hits and two walks over that stretch
•    Brasher has reached base in 16 of her last 19 outings after her walk in the top of the third
•    Gonzalez has reached base safely in five of her last seven – four of her last five - outings and driven in a run in three of her last five
•    After her fourth-inning single, Welch has had a hit in eight of her last 13 games

Game 2 – South Alabama 5, App State 1
South Alabama (21-14-1, 7-5 SBC) scored a pair of runs in each of the first two innings and that was all Lackie (15-6) needed as the Jaguars completed the series sweep over App State (15-19, 3-9 SBC).

Lackie scattered six hits and allowed just one earned run, striking out five in the victory. 

Brasher was one of five players to record multiple hits as she was 3-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Stagner, Welch, Sims and Amity White also had two hits apiece, while Stagner drove in a pair and Welch homered.

How It Happened 
•    Brasher quickly moved into scoring position as she reached on a two-base throwing error by App State to start the second game of the day. Stagner followed with a RBI double to center, scoring Brasher and giving South the early advantage (1-0). After a sacrifice bunt by Willems moved Capaldi, pinch running for Stagner, to third, Gonzalez executed a squeeze bunt to plate the second run of the inning for the Jags (2-0).
•    Houston (walk) and Grace Barrett (single) each reached base to start the bottom half of the first for the Mountaineers, but Lackie was able to retire the next three batters to leave the runners stranded.
•    South Alabama loaded the bases as White, Sims and Brasher each recorded a single to begin the second inning. Stagner then drove in her second run of the contest with a RBI single of her own (USA, 3-0). Willems then plated another run with a sac fly to right, scoring Sims (USA, 4-0).
•    Welch extended the Jaguar lead to 5-0 as she homered to left center – her second of the season and third of her career – on the first pitch she saw from reliever Delanie Buckner.
•    Darnell homered to left center – her second of the doubleheader – with two outs (USA, 5-1) to put the Mountaineers on the board in the bottom of the third. 

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting marked the 30th in the all-time series between the two clubs 
•    South Alabama improved to 26-4 in the series, 11-2 in Boone and has won 14 of the last 15 meetings
•    The Jaguars also improved to 10-1 in true road games this spring and 6-0 in Sun Belt play
•    The win marked the 70th of Lackie's Jaguar career, moving her into sole possession of second place in the category at South, passing Devin Brown (69, 2015-18)
•    Brasher is tied Kamdyn Kvistad (205, 2018-22) for sixth most starts at South, and also moved into a tie with Brittany Fowler (212, 2010-13) for sixth in games played
•    With her infield single, Brasher has had a hit in nine of her last 10, tallying 14 hits over the 10-game stretch, and reached base in 17 of her last 20 outings
•    With her fourth-inning stolen base, Brasher became the first player in program history to reach the 80 steals mark for her career
•    The multi-hit game marked the 11th of the season for Brasher and the 53rd of her career, and the three hits matched a career high
•    The three-hit performance also moved Brasher (207) one hit shy of Emily Messer (208, 2013-16) for third on the career list
•    Gonzalez has reached base safely in five of her last six outings and has driven in a run in four of her last six
•    With her RBI double, Stagner has reached base safely in 29 games and had a hit 24 of her 33 contests this spring
•    Stagner leads the team with 32 RBI this year, which is three shy of matching her career best of 35 set last season
•    The two runs driven in also moved Stagner to 90 for her Jaguar career
•    The multi-RBI game was Stagner's second of the season, her team-leading eighth of the season and the 22nd of her career, tying Jenny Stevens (22, 2007-08, '11) and Tara Donaldson (22, 2007-09) for 14th in career multi-RBI games
•    Stagner (25) also moved into a tie with Kaitlyn Griffith (2012-15) and MC Nichols (2017-20) for 23rd in career multi-hit games, while it was her eighth of the year
•    White recorded the first hit and first extra-base hit of her Jaguar career in the game
•    The home run by Welch marked the ninth time in her last 14 games in which she has had a hit
•    All three of Welch's career home runs have come on the road
•    The 13 hits by the Jaguars were a new season high, surpassing the 12-hit performance at ULM (3/24)

Up Next
•    South Alabama will travel to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State on Wednesday. First pitch versus the Bulldogs is set for 5 p.m. at Nusz Park. 

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