SAN MARCOS, Texas | With the regular season complete, South Alabama now enters the postseason where the third-seeded Jaguars will open up play versus sixth-seeded ULM Thursday at the Sun Belt Conference Championship held at Bobcat Stadium. First pitch versus the Warhawks in the quarterfinal round is set for 4 p.m.

Live stats and the ESPN+ links for all the tournament games can be accessed on the South Alabama schedule page or at the Sun Belt Conference Championship page.

South Alabama (31-17-1, 16-8 SBC) comes into its opening round game against sixth-seeded ULM (31-23, 12-12 SBC) after taking two of three from Southern Miss in Mobile to close out the regular season, securing the third seed in the Sun Belt Conference Championship. 

Mackenzie Brasher leads the club at the plate with a .322 batting average, while also leading the team in hits (55), runs scored (34) and stolen bases (26). Brasher also has a team-high 14 multi-hit games this spring. Brasher's 26 steals lead the Sun Belt Conference and are tied for 24th-most nationally. For her play this spring, Brasher was named to the Sun Belt Conference first team, marking the fourth league postseason honor of her career as she has now been selected to the first-team unit twice and the second-team unit on two occasions.

Gabby Stagner (.306) ranks second on the roster in batting average and her .728 slugging percentage is fifth-best in the Sun Belt. Stagner is third in the league in home runs (14), fifth in doubles (14) and tied for third in triples with three, while she tied for seventh in RBI (43). Of the junior's 45 hits on the year with 31 of those going for extra bases, and the Mobile, Ala., native, has scored 30 runs. In the series finale against USM, Stagner became the new single-season home run leader at South as she with her two-run, home run. Stagner also has 12 multi-RBI efforts to lead the club, while she has nine multi-hit outings.

Olivia Branstetter (.340) and Bailey Welch (.321 have been outstanding in league play, ranking first and second on the team in hitting. Welch is also tied for third in sacrifice bunts with 10, which are also tied for sixth-most in a season at South. 

Olivia Lackie (22-7, 2 SV) holds a 1.38 earned run average, has struck out 204 batters and held opponents to a .174 batting average. On Tuesday, the Walker, La., native was named the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week for the third time this spring and the 14th in her Jaguar career, tied for second-most by a league pitcher, and also earned first-team all-conference accolades for the fourth-straight season, becoming the first South Alabama player to ever do so. 

The senior leads the Sun Belt in strikeouts and opponent batting average, while ranking second in the league in strikeouts looking (61) and innings pitched (207.1). Lackie is ranked second nationally in innings pitched, tied for fourth in shutouts with eight, 10th in strikeouts, and her 22 wins are tied for ninth most in the country. 

As a staff, South Alabama holds 12 shutouts this spring, third-most in the Sun Belt and tied for 29th most in the NCAA, while the group is second in the league in ERA (2.67), strikeouts (267) and strikeouts looking (78).

SUN BELT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Site: Bobcat Stadium (San Marcos, Texas)

SUN BELT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Quarterfinal Round | May 9, 2024 | 4 p.m.
Semifinal Round | May 10, 2024 | 7 p.m.
Championship Game | May 11, 2024 | 1 p.m.

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: RV | SA: -- | DI: -- | RPI: 33
Record: 31-17-1, 16-8 SBC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .251 / .380 / .326 
Team ERA: 2.61

ULM WARHAWKS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI: -- | RPI: 93
Record: 31-23, 12-12 SBC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .286 / .381 / .364 
Team ERA: 2.71

SERIES INFORMATION
vs. ULM: USA leads 46-9
In Mobile: USA leads 17-4
In Monroe: USA leads 24-5
At Neutral Site: USA leads 5-0
Current Streak: USA 11

NOTES
•    The meeting will the 56th in the all-time series and the seventh time the two clubs have met in the Sun Belt Conference Championship 
•    South Alabama has won 46 of the previous 55 meetings, including a three-game, series sweep in Monroe earlier this spring, and the Jags are 6-0 in the postseason versus the Warhawks 
•    The two teams have met in the opening game of the conference tournament on four occasions, the most recent coming at the 2017 tournament in Troy, Ala.
•    Brasher (218) is three starts shy of tying Blair Johnson's (2012-15) program mark of 221
•    The center fielder (142) is three runs scored shy of tying Kaleigh Todd (145, 2015-18) for second in the category
•    Stagner (26) is two home runs shy of moving into a tie in the career category at South with Christin Crocker (28, 2009-12) and Kaitlyn Griffith (28, 2012-15) for third
•    Stagner comes into the conference tournament with at least one hit in 14 of her last 17, and at least one RBI in 11 of those outings, driving in 18 during that stretch
•    Stagner has also had an extra-base hit in 12 of her last 16 games: five doubles, seven home runs
•    Welch has reached base in 10 of her last 11 and 21 of her last 27, and had a hit in six of her last nine 
•    Amity White has had a hit in four-straight games and reached base safely in five straight
•    Lackie is 29 strikeouts shy of tying Louisiana's Jordan Wallace (905, 2012-15) for fifth-most strikeouts by a Sun Belt Conference pitcher
•    Lackie (40) is also two shutouts matching Texas State's Randi Rupp's SBC shutouts mark (42)

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