MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama snapped its seven-game skid and picked up a doubleheader sweep of James Madison Friday at Jaguar Field to open Sun Belt Conference play, defeating the Dukes 5-0 in the opener and 5-4 in game two.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On her thoughts on the sweep: "Great to be back in the win column. I thought we competed hard all night long. It was good to see the pitchers find the strike zone and they made some key pitches when they needed to. It was great to have Ryley (Harrison) back out there. I thought she pitched a great game.

"Offensively, we had a lot of big hits. There were some places where we could have broken the game open and didn't, but we did enough to get the win. Sunday, we will have to come out with the right 'compete mentality' as we try to close out the series with a win."

Game 1 – South Alabama 5, James Madison 0
In her first game back, Ryley Harrison (5-3) tossed a complete-game shutout for South Alabama (12-15, 1-0 SBC), striking out eight and allowing just two hits to James Madison (11-11, 0-1 SBC).

Presley Lively and Ansleigh Smith each were 2-for-3 at the plate in the opener with a run scored, while Lively also drove in a pair with a two-run home run. Stephanie Gonzalez also had a two-run home run for South Alabama.

How It Happened 
•    Payton List recorded the first hit by either team in the top of the third with a two-out double to left center, but Ryley Harrison was able to get Reed Butler to ground out to third to end the inning.
•    South Alabama broke the scoreless tie with three runs the next half inning. Smith lined a single to left center to begin the frame for South's first hit of the contest. Caitlyn Gavin followed with a walk to put a pair on, and both runners were then moved into scoring position on Brooklynn Bockhaus' sacrifice bunt. The Jags scored their first run of the inning when Smith came home to score after a passed ball (USA, 1-0). Two pitches later, Lively put South up by three with a two-run homer over the left centerfield wall (USA, 3-0).
•    Sidney Lee worked the count full with one out in the sixth and lined a double to left center – her team-leading eighth double of the spring, and two batters later Gonzalez drove an 0-2 pitch deep over the wall in left for her second home run of the season (USA, 5-0).
•    Harrison saved her best inning for the final one as she struck out the side to seal the win.

Postgame Notes
•    The conference series meeting in Mobile marked the first on either team's home field 
•    With the home-conference opening win, the Jaguars now hold a 10-9 record in their league openers, and holds a 14-5 record in its Sun Belt Conference home openers over the program's previous 19 seasons
•    South has won 12 of its last 15 SBC home openers 
•    The Jags have opened league play at home in six of the last eight seasons
•    The complete-game shutout was the fourth of Harrison's career and the eight strikeouts were one shy of matching a career best
•    Smith has now had a hit in three of her last five games
•    The multi-hit game was the third of the season for Smith
•    With her walk, Gavin has reached base safely in eight of her last 12
•    Lively has had a hit or a walk in 13 of her last 16 outings, and reached base safely in 21 of her 27 games this spring
•    Lively has also scored a run in 18 games, including eight multiple-run games, and in 11 of her last 16
•    With her two hits, Lively now has a team-best seven multi-hit games this season
•    With her third-inning double, Olivia Branstetter has had a hit in 10 of her last 13, and reached base in in 14-straight games – a career best – and 17 of her last 19 games
•    With Lively and Gonzalez both homering, it was the first time since Feb. 22 versus Murray State that the Jags have had two players record home runs in the same game
•    Gabby Stagner saw both her four-game hit streak and her 16-game reached base safely streaks come to an end
•    Nine of Gracie Jo Ward's 12 runs scored have come as a pinch runner

Game 2 – South Alabama 5, James Madison 4
In the nightcap, South Alabama (13-15, 2-0 SBC) rallied back with a pair of runs in the fifth and then a huge insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to pick up a 5-4 victory over James Madison (11-12, 0-2 SBC).

Stagner, Gonzalez, Lively and Bochaus each had a pair of hits, while Stagner (3) and Bockhaus plated four of the Jags' five runs. 

How It Happened 
•    JMU took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Kylee Gleason reached on a one-out infield single in the top of the first and then with runners at first and second and two away in the inning, the left fielder came around to score on Lexi Rogers RBI-single to left.
•    Branstetter doubled – her fifth of the season – with one out in the bottom of the inning, and one batter later, Stagner dropped in a single in shallow left to score Branstetter and tie the game up at 1-1. 
•    Abbie Campbell and Lily Romero earned back-to-back walks with one out in the James Madison second, and the two base runners then moved up a base after a wild pitch, but Tori Miller (5-4) was able to get out of it with two straight ground outs.
•    Gonzalez led off the Jags' half of the second with a single to right, and pinch runner Gracie Jo Ward stole second to move into scoring position. List though would leave the Jag runner stranded as she retired the next two batters.
•    Rogers recorded her second hit of the game as she lined a two-out double to left for the Dukes in the top of the third. Jasmine Hall was hit by a pitch to put a pair, and one batter later Madison Edwards gave JMU a 3-1 advantage with a two-run double to the gap in left center.
•    Brooklynn Bockhaus beat the throw to first for an infield bunt-single to begin South's half of the third. With Bockhaus standing at third after a double play, James Madison looked as if it were going to get out of the inning, but Hall bobbled Stagner's grounder at third, allowing Bockhaus to come home (JMU, 3-2).
•    South Alabama had a chance to push across another run to either tie or retake the lead in its half of the fourth. Gonzalez lined a leadoff single to begin the bottom of the fourth, and Smith then reached on an error when Romero was unable to cleanly field the ball. JMU's Taylor Johnson was able to retire the next three batters though with a fielder's choice, strike out and a ground out.
•    James Madison left a runner in scoring position in the top half of the inning and South Alabama capitalized. Lively reached on an infield single to begin the frame – her second hit of the game – and Branstetter was then hit by a pitch to put a par aboard. Lively and Branstetter then executed the double steal to move up a base, and one batter later the duo came around to score on Stagner's two-run single to center (USA, 4-3). 
•    The Dukes placed the tying run aboard in their half of the sixth as Cali Legzdin reached on a two-out bunt single, but Miller was able to work out of it as she fielded her third chopper back to the circle to end the inning.
•     South Alabama added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Gracie Tentinger lined an opposite field single to right to start the inning off for the Jags. Two batters later, Bockhaus lined a double down the line in left, scoring pinch runner Amity White all the way from first (USA, 5-3).
•    List pulled James Madison within a run as she drove a 2-2 pitch down the line in left that stayed fair and cut the Jaguar lead to one (5-4). Butler followed with an infield single and Rogers moved the potential tying run into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Miller didn't allow any further advancement though as she recorded back-to-back pop ups to short to end the game.

Postgame Notes
•    The Jaguars improve to 3-2 in the all-time series with JMU
•    South Alabama has won six of its last eight SBC opening series, and 12 of its last 15 SBC home-opening series
•    Branstetter has had a hit in 11 of her last 14, and extended her career-best reached base safely streak to 15, as she has also now reached in 18 of her last 20 games
•    The hit-by-pitch was the 14th of Branstetter's career moving her into a tie with Tara Donaldson (2007-09) for eighth on the list
•    With her first-inning, RBI single, Stagner has had a hit in five of her last six and also reached base in 17 of her last 18 and 24 of her 27 games this season
•    Stagner now has 34 multi-hit games for her career, tying her with Megan Collins (2010-13) for 14th on the list, and has driven in multiple runs eight times this spring
•    The two-hit night marked the sixth multi-hit game of Gonzalez's career
•    The multi-hit game was Lively's second straight and extended her team lead in the category (8)

Up Next
•    South Alabama will close out the series with James Madison on Sunday with first pitch of the series finale set for noon at Jaguar Field.

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