GAINESVILLE, Fla. | Stephanie Gonzalez delivered a go-ahead RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning and Brooklynn Bockhaus threw out the tying run at the plate to end the game as second-seeded South Alabama defeated third-seeded Florida Atlantic Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the Gainesville Regional held at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.

Olivia Lackie (24-7) was outstanding in the circle as she recorded her ninth shutout of the spring, scattering five hits and a walk, while striking out five. 

Mackenzie Brasher stole a pair of bases, and reached three times with a hit and a pair of walks, while Gabby Stagner also drew two walks. Bailey Welch reached safely all three of her plate appearances with two walks of her own and a single, and stole a base for South Alabama (33-18-1).

Florida Atlantic (41-15) was led offensively by Kiley Channell who was 2-for-3 in the loss.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- Opening statement: "Obviously, it was great to get our first win (of the regional) under our belt. I thought we could've played better and that we had some opportunities in there where we could have done a little bit more. I guess it's always good to get the win even if you didn't play well., so we'll take that. Tomorrow, we are going to have to pick it up. We're a better team than what we just played like, but we did enough to get the win."

- On the two defensive plays in the seventh: "They were pretty big. Olivia Branstetter in my opinion is one of the better third basemen in the nation. When we know (the bunt) is coming, we're going to go after the lead runner, so that play was huge. BB (Brooklynn Bockhaus) then came up and gave a strike at the plate. We work on those types of situations in practice all the time. We'll take a game-ender like that all day long."

- On what makes Olivia Lackie a successful pitcher in tight ball games: "She's a winner and she just has grit. Everyone wants to talk about confidence, and to me, confidence is overrated. Give me grit all day long. She's gritty and tough and just a winner. Put that on the mound and it equals wins."

Senior P Olivia Lackie
- On her mindset when she has limited run support: "My mindset is to just go out there and compete, and make every pitch count, so that we can get our team back in the dugout and on the sticks."

- On having a lot of these type games throughout her career and season: "I don't really think that my mindset changes when we do push that one run across, because my job stays the same. I still have to go out there and make one pitch at a time and focus on the next pitch and the next pitch. It's just going out there and competing like I know how to."

Junior DP Stephanie Gonzalez
- On how her game-winning at-bat came together: "It was just learning from my first few at-bats really. I got jammed during my first at-bat and wasn't able to get out in front, and then I missed one right down the middle. I knew I had to dig in and attack. My third at-bat, I just went in there and attacked the pitch."

- On changing her mindset and approach as the game goes along and executing the mental adjustments: "It's just going in there knowing why the first set of at-bats didn't go your way, and knowing how to mentally que yourself into the space where you can be successful. That's just using the approach of not going in there too big and trying to be small (in your swing), and trying to get a base hit."

How It Happened 
•    Welch singled just out of the reach of Jesiana Mora's glove at third with one out in the bottom of the second, and then moved into scoring position with her seventh stolen base of the spring. FAU's Gabby Sacco (12-4) retired the next two Jaguar batters though to leave Welch stranded
•    Brasher drew a one-out walk in South's half of the third, and the graduate senior moved into scoring position as she swiped her 27th stolen base of the spring. Two batters later, Stagner drew her second free pass of the game to put a pair on for the Jags, but Sacco was able to escape after a ground out to third.
•    With two out in the top of the fourth, Kamryn Jackson recorded the Owls' first hit of the contest with a single back up the middle, but was left standing at first after Lackie got a foul out to left to end the inning.
•    Welch worked the count full and then after fouling off three two-strike pitches reached for the second time in as many plate appearances with a walk. Odalys Cordova was then hit by pitch put runners at first and second for the Jaguars for the second-straight inning, but again Sacco worked out of the jam with a fly out to shallow center and a foul out to right.
•    Channell led off the top of the fifth with a single back up the middle, and two batters later Zoey Jones lined a single to center with one out in the inning. FAU later loaded the bases with two outs after Kylie Hammonds was hit by a pitch, but Lackie was able to get Presley Keebrick to fly out to left and end the threat. 
•    South Alabama placed the first two runners aboard the next half inning. Brasher drew her second walk of the game to start the frame and Marley Sims then reached on a bunt single after no one covered first, but with the 3-4-5 hitters in the Jag lineup 
•    Welch reached safely for the third time when she drew her second walk of the game and then moved into scoring position after a sacrifice bunt by Cordova. Playing in her home state, Gonzalez doubled off the base of the wall in left, scoring Welch and giving South the 1-0 lead. Prior to the RBI hit, South had been 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. 
•    South Alabama had a chance to tack on more runs as Brasher put runners at the corners two batters later with a single to left, and after a pitching change, the Orange Beach, Ala., native stole her second base of the contest, but a line out to first ended the inning.
•    Channell put the tying run aboard as she led off the seventh with her second hit of the day, and Katelyn de Leon then singled through the left side of the infield. Lackie retired the next two batters, setting the stage for the dramatic finish. FAU tried to move both in scoring position, but third baseman Olivia Branstetter made a heads up play to get the lead runner at third and Lackie then struck out Becca Jones. 
•    Kylie Hammon singled to left and pinch runner Holley Pelus attempted to score from second, by Bockhaus' throw home was on the money and Sasha Willems applied the tag to end the game, preserving the shutout.

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting marked the 26th in the all-time series and the first between the two programs since 2020
•    The game was just the third outside either Sun Belt regular season or tournament play between the two former Sun Belt Conference foes 
•    It also marked the sixth regional appearance for the Jaguars and the second at the Gainesville Regional (2021) 
•    South improved to 5-1 in opening round games of a regional
•    With the shutout, Lackie (41) is now one shut out shy of matching Texas State's Randi Rupp's Sun Belt Conference shutouts mark (42)    
•    The shut out was also the sixth in regional play by a Jaguar pitcher and the second by Lackie
•    Lackie also made her 149th appearance in the circle, tying former Jag All-American Hannah Campbell's program mark
•    In a streak dating back to May 7, 2021, Brasher has made 162 consecutive starts, fifth-longest streak all-time at South
•    The start was also the 221st of Brasher's Jaguar career, moving her into a tie with Blair Johnson's (2012-15) for the program mark 
•    With her first-inning walk, Gabby Stagner has reached base safely in 44 games this season, including 15 straight
•    Welch has reached base in 13 of her last 14 – 24 of her last 30 – and had a hit in eight of her last 12
•    With her two walks, Welch has drawn a walk in 11 of her last 14 games, 15 total over that stretch
•    Welch has either scored a run or driven in a run in 10 of her last 12
•    Brasher has also reached base in 20 of her last 24 after drawing her third-inning walk
•    Brasher has also had a hit in 17 of her last 24, tallying 26 hits over the 24-game stretch

Up Next
•    South Alabama advances to the 1-0 game of the regional where it will take on top-seeded Florida Saturday at noon (CT).

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