SAN MARCOS, Texas | Third-seeded South Alabama jumped to a three-run lead, only to see second-seeded Texas State tie the game up late, before winning and advancing to the championship game on Katarina Zarate's walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning Friday night in the semifinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship held at Bobcat Stadium.

South Alabama (32-18-1) will now wait to learn its fate and see if it will receive and at-large bid to the NCAA Championships set to start next week. The Jags have a tournament-worthy resume with five Top 25 wins, four road wins over SEC opponents, and as of Friday morning, held a RPI of 31 and a non-conference strength of schedule of nine.

Gabby Stager homered for the Jags, while Odalys Cordova drove in two with a double. 

Hannah Earls had a hit and a walk, and drove in two runs, while Zarate scored twice.

Jessica Mullins (29-8) picked up the win in relief as she tossed 4.2 innings and struck out nine, while allowing just two base runners – a hit and a walk.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- Opening statement: "I thought it was a great game. There was tremendous effort on both sides. You had not only two of the best teams in the conference, but two of the best teams in the nation competing against each other. I was proud of our kids; I thought they left it out on the field. There was a tremendous amount of effort and grit out there tonight. I would have loved to have seen it turn out the other way, but those are close games that can go either way. The biggest thing (as a competitor) is to be able to walk away knowing that you left it all on the field, and that you did everything you could do, and I think we did that."

- On the team's growth from the beginning of the season: "It's been a huge shift. When I looked this morning, we've played the ninth toughest non-conference schedule in the nation. You don't do that without growing, getting tougher and more experienced. They've taken huge steps forward and I'm just proud of them. I've thrown a lot at them this season and they've taken care of it and positioned themselves, and that's been pretty cool to watch."

- On Olivia Lackie: "Liv is all heart. She threw the extra-inning game last night and then came back tonight and competed against a very good Texas State lineup. She gave us everything she had and left everything on the field. I don't thing there's anything that she could have done different. I'm proud of her for her effort. She's just a winner and a class act. She did everything in her power tonight to give her teammates a chance to win."

How It Happened 
•    Emilee Baker dropped in a single in shallow left field with one away in the bottom of the first, and Sara Vanderford followed with a single through the left side of the infield, but Olivia Lackie (23-8) got Anna Jones looking and then a fly out to left to end the inning and leave the runners stranded.
•    Stephanie Gonzalez laced a one-out double down the left field line, and one batter later, pinch runner Caitlyn Gavin moved up to third on a fly out to right. Texas State's Madison Azua though left the Jaguar runner stranded after a ground out to first.
•    Baker drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the third, and Vanderford reached on an error to keep the inning alive, but a defensive gem by Cordova on a fielder's choice stranded the Texas State runners.
•    With one out in the top of the fourth, Stagner drove an 0-2 pitch over the wall in left center to give the Jags the lead (USA, 1-0), Olivia Branstetter followed with a single to right center and after a pitching change, pinch runner Marlayna Capaldi moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Bailey Welch drew a walk, and Cordova lined a double off the wall in left, scoring two (USA, 3-0).
•    Earls drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the fifth, and Texas State put runners at the corners after a Jaguar error on a possible double-play ball. On the next batter though, Lackie was able to get her double play to end the inning, as the Jags went 6-4-3 to retire Baker and Vanderford.
•    Hannah Jones led off the bottom of the sixth with an infield single – the first hit allowed by Lackie since the first inning. With one away, JJ Smith put runners at the corner for the second-straight inning with a single to right. Zarate drew a two-out walk to load the bases, and Sydney Harvey then lined a single to left, scoring Anna Jones (USA, 3-1). Earls then bounced a single back up the middle to score a pair and tie the game up (3-3).
•    With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Zarate homered on the first pitch she saw, giving Texas State the walk-off win.

Postgame Notes
•    In a streak dating back to May 7, 2021, Brasher made her 161st consecutive start, moving her into sole possession of fifth place at South, passing Stephanie Pilkington (160)
•    Sasha Willems has had a hit in 16 of her last 20, recording 17 hits and eight walks over that stretch
•    Gonzalez has reached base safely in 12 of her last 15
•    Stagner extended her reached base safely streak to 14 games and she has now done so in 43 games this season, while recording at least one hit in 39 of her 49 games this spring
•    Stagner has also had a hit in 16 of her last 19, and driven in at least one run in 12 of those outings, registering 20 RBI during that stretch
•    Stagner has also had an extra-base hit in 13 of her last 18 games: five doubles, eight home runs
•    The home run for Stagner was the 63rd extra-base hit (63 – 33-3-27) of her Jaguar career, moving her into a tie for sixth place in the category with Blair Johnson (63 – 40-8-15, 2012-15)
•    Branstetter has had a hit in seven-straight games and 10 of her last 13 and reaching base safely in 13 of her last 15
•    Branstetter was also hit by a pitch for a team-leading eighth time
•    Welch has reached base in 12 of her last 13 and 23 of her last 29
•    Welch has also drawn a walk in 10 of her last 13 games, 13 total over that stretch
•    Capaldi has scored a run in three of her last five

Up Next
•    South Alabama will now wait until Sunday evening.to see if it receives an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. The NCAA Softball Championship Selection Special will be aired live on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. (CT).

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