GAINESVILLE, Fla. | After falling in five innings to Florida in game one of the day, South Alabama bounced back to survive and advance with a 5-1 victory over fourth-seeded Florida Gulf Coast on day two of the Gainesville Regional held at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium.
Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- Opening statement: "I'm just proud of our kids. Today was a really long day and tough day. We had to bounce back from the loss and battle the rain delays, and all that goes along with that, and then we had to sit for the second game to be completed. It was a really long day for us, so I'm proud of them for coming back and bouncing back, and giving us a chance to play tomorrow."
- On facing Florida again and the challenge of having to beat them twice on Sunday: "You can't get caught up in all that, and you have to play one pitch at a time. We're in survive and advance mode, so we just survived and we'll figure those things out tomorrow. Florida is a very good ball club. We played them close today until it wasn't. I thought we were aggressive today and that we competed. I was pretty frustrated yesterday because I didn't think we were very aggressive and that we didn't compete. Today, we came out and set the tone (in the first inning against Florida), but we just couldn't tack on or sustain it. Tomorrow, we will come out and play it one pitch at a time and see what happens."
- On
Sasha Willems: "Her performance was huge and I'm really happy for her. She's caught all but three innings behind the plate this season. She's been a grinder and a workhorse for us, and as a senior, I'm happy to see her have that moment in a regional tournament."
- On giving
Olivia Lackie the ball in the must win game: "I keep saying it, but she's a winner. When you have to have a win, put a winner on the mound. It's her senior year, so she wants to keep playing as long as possible. She's earned the right to be out there. I just keep putting her out there. We're in an end-your-season situation if you don't get it done, so I'm going to put her out there until she can't. Tomorrow, we'll figure it out."
- On resetting after the Florida game: "After the Florida game, the first thing I told out players was that we had to reset and regroup. We couldn't sit there and get caught up in that. Our season is on the line, so we had to hit the reset button and get ready to go again. Like I said before, I thought we competed in the Florida game, but it just didn't go our way. You can always control the compete part of it, and I thought we did that tonight after a long delay."
- On the offense getting things going: "I was glad to see us put some runs on the board because both of the Florida Gulf Coast pitchers that we faced tonight do a good job. They mix speeds, they don't really come across the plate a whole lot. I thought that we had to earn those runs, none of them were give me's. It was a huge deal for us to get something going and give us some momentum heading into tomorrow."
Senior C Sasha Willems
- On bouncing back after the loss to Florida: "We seniors just weren't ready to be done. It was important to us that we competed and put our best foot forward to get the win and extend our season to tomorrow."
- On her night at the plate: "I really didn't want our season to end. I felt somebody stuff out and decided that I was going to swing hard at pitches I thought I could hit hard and have success at to help my team any way I could."
No. 5 Florida 9, South Alabama 1 (5 innings)
South Alabama jumped out to an early lead, but Florida tied the game up in the bottom of the third, and after a nearly three-hour weather delay the Gators scored eight more runs to pick up a 9-1 win in five innings.
Gabby Stagner had the lone RBI for the Jags (33-19-1), while Florida (48-12) saw their 1-4 hitters combine for five hits, six runs and four RBI. Skylar Wallace drove in four with an inside-the-park home run and a double, while also scoring twice. Korbe Otis reached twice with a hit and a walk, and also scored twice.
How It Happened
• South Alabama manufactured a run in the top of the first to take the early lead.
Mackenzie Brasher led off the game with a single that bounced into shallow left field, and then moved into scoring position on
Marley Sims' sacrifice bunt. Stagner put the Jags on top as she lined a single to left, allowing Brasher to race around the bases and slide home (USA, 1-0).
• Ava Brown tied the game up (1-1) with a solo home run to right center to lead off the bottom of the third.
• Korbe Otis lined a lead off double down the left field line to begin the fourth for UF. Skylar Wallace then hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run that was just out of reach of a diving effort by Brasher and rolled to the wall, allowing Otis to score as well (UF, 3-1).
• Florida loaded the bases with one out in the fifth after a fielder's choice, a double by Kendra Falby and a walk to Otis. Wallace then plated two more runs with a single to center (UF, 5-1). Wallace then moved up a base with her 34th stolen base of the spring, and Jocelyn Erickson walked to load the bases for the second time in the inning. With two outs, Katie Kistler cleared the bases with a three-run double to the right-center game (UF, 8-1). After a walk, Ariel Kowaleski ended the game with a RBI single to right (UF, 9-1).
Postgame Notes
• The meeting marked the fourth all-time in the series between South Alabama and Florida, and the second in NCAA Regional play
• The game was delayed for two hours, 42 minutes in the bottom of third due to weather
• The appearance by
Olivia Lackie (24-9) was the 150th of her career – a program record – and is tied with FIU's Amanda Nealer (2002-05) for seventh most by a Sun Belt Conference pitcher
• In a streak dating back to May 7, 2021, Brasher has made 163 consecutive starts, fifth-longest streak all-time at South
• The start was also the 222nd of Brasher's Jaguar career, moving passed Blair Johnson's (2012-15) program mark of 221
• With her first-inning single, Brasher has had a hit in 18 of her last 25, tallying 27 hits over the 25-game stretch, and also reached base in 21 of those contests
• Brasher has scored a run in eight of her last 14 games
• Stagner has reached base safely in 45 games this season – 16 straight games – and had a hit in 40 of her 51 games this spring
• Stagner has had at least one hit in 17 of her last 21, and driven in at least one run in 13 of those outings, driving in 21 during that stretch
• With her sacrifice bunt in the opening frame, Sims moved into sole possession of 10th in the category as it was the 17th of her career
•
Bailey Welch has reached base in 14 of her last 15 and 25 of her last 31, and had a hit in nine of her last 13
• With her hit by pitch, the eighth of the spring for the freshman,
Olivia Branstetter has reached base safely in 14 of her last 17
• The inside the park home run by Wallace was the first by an opponent since Bradley's Sydney Young (3/1/19)
South Alabama 5, Florida Gulf Coast 1
After suffering its first run-rule loss of the season, the Jaguars (34-19-1) bounced back and advanced to Sunday's championship round of the Gainesville Regional.
Sasha Willems was 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBI, while Stagner also added a pair of hits, drove in a run and scored once, while both also walked in the game.
Lackie (25-9) went the distance allowing just one run on seven hits and striking out five.
How It Happened
• With one out in the top of the second, Willems drove a 3-2 pitch from Allison Sparkman (12-6) deep over the wall in center to give the Jags the early lead (1-0).
• Meagan Ricks was hit by a pitch to begin the third, and Tiffany Meek then reached on a fielder's choice when Ricks beat the throw to second after the throw pulled
Odalys Cordova off the bag, but Lackie retired the next three, and was helped out by her defense after an acrobatic catch by Welch to save extra bases and a pair of runs.
• After reaching on a fielder's choice, Meek stole second and advanced to third with two outs, but Lackie was able to get Olivia Black to fly out to left to strand the potential tying run.
•
Brooklynn Bockhaus found a hole and dropped in a single in shallow right center to lead off the Jaguar fifth and flip over the batting order. Bockhaus then stole second and moved up to third on a throwing error by the Eagles. Two batters later, the Jags doubled their lead on a RBI fielder's choice by Sims (USA, 2-0). South Alabama threatened to do more damage loading the bases with two outs, but FGCU reliever Angelina Bonilla ended the threat with a strikeout.
• Avery Viancos reached on an infield single with one out in the fifth, and Riley Oakes followed with a single to left to put a pair aboard. Neely Peterson nearly put the Eagles on top as she pulled a ball down the line in left, but Welch was able to snag it on the warning track. Florida Gulf Coast did plate a run one batter later one a RBI single by Nikki Gibson (USA, 2-1). The Jags were able to end the inning on the play though as Oakes overran the bag at third and came too far down the baseline before getting caught in a run down.
• Meek lined a one-out single to left in the bottom of the sixth and then stole second, but with the potential tying run in scoring position, Lackie struck out Emily Chiarella and Black to end the inning.
• South Alabama got some insurance the next half inning. Brasher led off the South Alabama seventh with an infield single and was then moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Sims. The Jag center fielder then moved to third on a fly out to center, and came home one batter later when Stagner snuck one back up the middle (USA, 3-1). Willems then worked the count full and blasted her second home run of the night, this one a two-run shot over the left field wall to extend the Jaguar lead to 5-1.
Postgame Notes
• The meeting marked the first-ever between the two programs
• Brasher made her 164th consecutive start, fifth-longest streak all-time at South
• With her home run, Willems has now had a hit in 17 of her last 23, recording 18 hits and eight walks over that stretch
• The home run for Willems was her first since versus Bowling Green (3/4/23), and was also the first one allowed this spring by FGCU's Sparkman
• With her two home runs, Willems became just the ?? player in program history to have a multi-home run game and was the first since
Gabby Stagner (vs. Louisiana, 4/14/22)
• Gonzalez has reached base safely in 14 of her last 18 after the second-inning walk
• Stagner has reached base safely in 46 games this season – 17 straight games – and had a hit in 41 of her 52 games this spring, including at least one hit in 18 of her last 22
• Stagner (28) is one multi-hit games shy of moving into the Top 20 and tying Katie McGuire (29, 2007-09) and
Brittani Reid (29, 2018-19) for 19th in the career category
• Stagner (107) is one RBI shy of tying Haley Hopkins (108, 2009-12) and
Kristian Foster (108, 2015-18) for eighth
• With her strike out of Chiarella, Lackie reached the 900-strikeout mark for her career
• Brasher has had a hit in 19 of her last 26, tallying 28 hits over the 26-game stretch, and also reached base safely in 22 of those contests
• Brasher (144) is 1 run scored shy of tying
Kaleigh Todd (145, 2015-18) for second in the category, and six hits shy of matching Todd's career hits mark (231)
Up Next
• South Alabama stays alive and advances to a re-match with top-seeded Florida at 3 p.m. (CT) with the if necessary game set for 5:30 p.m. (CT). The Jags will have to win twice in order to keep their season alive.
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