MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama softball will open a 10-game road swing this weekend when it competes at the Ole Miss Classic held at the Ole Miss Softball Complex. The Jaguars will open up tournament play with a pair of games on Friday versus Murray State (1 p.m.) and Ole Miss (6 p.m.). South will also face Murray State (10:30 a.m.) and Nicholls State (1 p.m.) on Saturday and then against the Rebels on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

The games versus the Rebels will be streamed on SEC Network+. Links for the stream and live stats for all the tournament games can be accessed on the South Alabama schedule page.

South Alabama (9-6) enters the Ole Miss Classic after posting a 4-0 record last weekend at the Mardi Gras Classic in Mobile, picking up a pair of wins over Notre Dame, and wins over Lipscomb and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. Three of the four wins were run-rule victories, as the Jags outscored opponents 34-6.

Gabby Stagner (.278) is tied for second in the Sun Belt in home runs and tied for 15th in the category nationally with six this season. The senior first baseman also ranks second in the league in RBI (17) and fifth in slugging percentage (.806). Stagner currently ranks second all-time at South Alabama in career home runs (33), just three shy of matching Kamdyn Kvistad's program mark.

Sidney Lee leads the club with a .346 batting average and her four doubles are also tops on the team and tied for sixth in the league. Last week, the senior batted .556 and reached base safely in nine of her 13 plate appearances
– Lee recorded five hits – three doubles – scored three runs, drove in two, walked twice and was hit by a pitch, while finishing the week with an .889 slugging percentage. 

Olivia Branstetter (10) and Caitlyn Gavin (9), rank second and third, respectively on the roster in RBI. Presley Lively is also batting .308, which ranks second on the team, and the true freshman leads the Sun Belt triples (3), walks (17) and stolen bases (10), and is second in runs scored (18). Five of Lively's hits have gone for extra bases, including an inside-the-park home run.

Led by Lively, South currently leads the SBC in walks with 87, and holds four of the top five spots: Lively, Amity White (11, t-second), Stagner (11, t-second) and Branstetter (10, fifth). As a team, South ranks second in conference in triples (6), third in runs (91), home runs (11), hit by pitch (14), and fourth in RBI (77), total bases (152).

In the circle, sophomore Ryley Harrison is 3-2 and has struck out 31, which is tied for sixth in the SBC, in her 44.0 innings of work

GAME INFORMATION
Site: Ole Miss Softball Complex (Oxford, Miss.)

South Alabama JAGUARS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI: -- 
Record: 9-6, 0-0 SBC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .257 / .436 / .406 
Team ERA: 5.04

Murray State RACERS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI: -- 
Record: 4-6, 0-0 MVC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .220 / .360 / .294
Team ERA: 2.63

Series: South Alabama leads 6-2

Ole Miss REBELS
NFCA: RV | USA: RV | SA: -- | DI: -- 
Record: 13-3, 0-0 SEC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .315 / .482 / .398
Team ERA: 1.39

Series: Series tied 2-2

Nicholls State COLONELS
NFCA: -- | USA: -- | SA: -- | DI: --
Record: 6-9, 0-0 SLC

Team Slash Line (AVG / SLG / OBP): .302 / .360 / .367 
Team ERA: 6.07

Series: South Alabama leads 18-6

NOTES
•    South Alabama last competed at a tournament hosted by Ole Miss during the 2011 season where the Jags were 5-0
•    South and Murray State have already met once this season with the Jags defeating the Racers, 3-2 at the South Alabama Invitational during the opening weekend of play
•    Six of the eight meetings versus the Racers have been decided by two runs or less
•    The Jaguars last faced Ole Miss during the 2021 season and have squared off with the Rebels three times on their home field
•    In addition to the two games versus Ole Miss, the Jags will also face three other SEC members this spring: at LSU (2x, LSU Round Robin, 3/7-8), vs. Alabama (3/11) in Mobile, and vs. Auburn in a home-and-home series (3/19 and 4/23) 
•    South has won 16 of the last 17 series meetings, including five straight, versus the Colonels
•    The longest game in Jaguar program history came against the Colonels, a 16-inning affair won by Nicholls in Thibodaux on Feb. 25, 2020
•    The meeting with Nicholls will mark the fourth for South versus a Southland Conference member 

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