MOBILE, Ala. | Coming off a successful seven-game road swing, South Alabama will close out the regular season this weekend with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series versus Southern Miss. Game one of the series versus the Golden Eagles is set for Thursday night at 6 p.m. at Jaguar Field, while the final two games will be played on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (2 p.m.).

Sasha Willems will be recognized prior to Thursday night's game and Odalys Cordova will be recognized prior to Friday's game, while graduation ceremonies will be held prior to Saturday's series finale. "Senior Day" trading cards for both Willems and Cordova will be given out to the firsts 250 fans on those two players' respective days.

South Alabama (29-16-1, 14-7 SBC) comes into the series versus Southern Miss (21-26, 9-12 SBC) sitting in third in the SBC standings, a game behind Texas State and two games in front of both Coastal Carolina and Troy who are tied for fourth. The Jaguars return home after wrapping up at seven-game road swing in which they went 6-1.

Mackenzie Brasher leads the club at the plate with a .335 batting average, while also leading the team in hits (54), runs scored (33) and stolen bases (26). On Tuesday, Brasher was named SBC Player of the Week after batting .500 with six hits, four RBI, three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases in the series against Troy. Brasher's 26 steals lead the Sun Belt Conference and are tied for 19th-most nationally. 

Gabby Stagner (.304) ranks second on the roster in batting average and her .710 slugging percentage is fifth-best in the Sun Belt. Stagner is fourth in the league in home runs (12), tied for fifth in doubles (14) and tied for third in triples with three, while she tied for eighth in RBI (39). Of the junior's 42 hits on the year with 29 of those going for extra bases. The 12 home runs for Stagner are one shy of tying a single-season record at South, and the Mobile, Ala., native, has scored 26 runs.

Stagner also has 10 multi-RBI efforts to lead the club. Brasher leads the team with 14 multi-hit games, while Stagner is close behind her with eight.

Bailey Welch is batting .308 in Sun Belt games, which is only behind Brasher (.338).

Olivia Lackie (20-7, 2 SV) holds a 1.36 earned run average, has struck out 188 batters and held opponents to a .180 batting average. The senior leads the Sun Belt in opponent batting average, while ranking second in the league in strikeouts, just one behind Texas State's Jessica Mullins, second in ERA, strikeouts looking (56) and innings pitched (190.2). Lackie is ranked second nationally in innings pitched, tied for ninth in shutouts with seven, 12th in strikeouts, and her 20 wins are tied for 11th most in the country.

As a staff, South Alabama holds 11 shutouts this spring, third-most in the Sun Belt and tied for 31st most in the NCAA

SOUTHERN MISS SERIES
Site: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)

SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: May 2, 2024 | 6 p.m.
Game 2: May 3, 2024 | 6 p.m.
Game 3: May 4, 2024 | 2 p.m.

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI: -- | RPI: 32
Record: 29-16-1, 14-7 SBC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .248 / .373 / .321 
Team ERA: 2.63

Southern Miss GOLDEN EAGLES
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI: -- | RPI: 135
Record: 21-26, 9-12 SBC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .268 / .411 / .354 
Team ERA: 5.78

SERIES INFORMATION
vs. Southern Miss: USA leads 19-6-1
In Mobile: USA leads 9-2
In Hattiesburg: USA leads 9-4-1
At Neutral Site: USA leads 1-0
Current Streak: USA 4

NOTES
•    The Jaguars hold a 19-6-1 advantage in those meetings, with South sweeping the SBC series last spring in Hattiesburg, outscoring the Golden Eagles, 24-6
•    The two teams have met in Mobile 11 times in the series with the series with the Jags holding a 9-2 record in those meetings, and in those 11 games at Jaguar Field, South Alabama has outscored Southern Miss, 63-27 (5.7 - 2.5 runs per game)
•    The Jags have won seven of the last eight meetings in Mobile and outscored USM, 51-13 (6.4 - 1.6 runs per game)
•    Brasher (222) is one game played shy of passing Blair Johnson's (2012-15) program mark
•    The center fielder (141) is four runs scored shy of tying Kaleigh Todd (145, 2015-18) for second in the category
•    Brasher (220) is 11 hits shy of tying Todd's (231) all-time hits mark at South 
•    Stagner is one home run shy of matching Kaitlyn Griffith's single-season home run mark (13) set during the 2015 season
•    Lackie (39) – the all-time leader in the category – is one shutout from 40 for her career
•    Olivia Branstetter has had a hit in five of her last eight and reached base safely in eight of her last 10
•    Brasher has scored a run in six of her last seven games and stolen a base in five of her last seven
•    Brasher has had a hit in 14 of her last 18, tallying 23 hits over the 18-game stretch
•    Sidney Lee has reached base safely in six straight and walked in each of her last five, drawing seven walks over that stretch
•    Stagner comes into the Southern Miss series with at least one hit in 11 of her last 13, and at least one RBI in nine of those outings, driving in 14 during that stretch
•    Stagner has also had an extra-base hit in 10 of her last 13 games: 5 doubles, 5 home runs
•    Welch has reached base in a career-best eight straight and 19 of her last 24
•    Welch has had a hit in four of her last six and driven in five runs over her last five outings

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