LAKE CHARLES, La. | McNeese State used a five-run third to take control of the game and handed South Alabama an 8-2 loss Wednesday night at Cowgirl Diamond.

South Alabama (11-10) was led offensively by Olivia Branstetter had a double, a walk, scored a run and drove in a run. Presley Lively had a hit, a walk and scored South's lone run, while Gabby Stagner and Megan Davidson also reached in two of their three plate appearances as well with a hit and a walk.

The Jaguars had their scoring opportunities, but left 10 runners on base.

Six of the eight runs scored by McNeese State (12-10) came from their 1-6 hole hitters. Kassidy Chance had two hits for the Cowgirls and scored a run.  Nyja Fontenot drove in a pair, and Reese Reyna and Jada Munoz also had two hits each. Reyna reached all three of her plate appearances as was also hit by a pitch, while scoring two runs and driving in a run.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On where the team's at right now: "We're better than we are playing right now, and have to continue to push through right now. When you hit a rough patch, you have to compete through it. That's where we are right now."

How It Happened 
•    Lively lined a single to left to start things off for the Jaguars in the opening frame. Stagner put runners at the corners as she went the opposite way and lined a single to right, and one batter later, South took the early lead (1-0) on Branstetter's sacrifice fly to right, scoring Lively.   
•    South Alabama had a chance to add to its run in the top of the third. Stagner reached with two outs on a fielder's choice and then moved into scoring position as she stole second. Branstetter then drew a walk – extending her reached base streak to eight games, but McNeese's Alexis Dibbley (2-1) was able to work out of the jam as first baseman Rylie Bouvier snagged a looper to right.
•    McNeese capitalized on the missed opportunity the next half inning. Reese Reyna led off the bottom of the third with a double to left center, and she was moved up to third on a sac bunt. The Cowgirls tied the game up one batter later when Delaney Dunham reached on an error (1-1). With two outs, Kassidy Chance stole second to move into scoring position, and Samantha Mundin then walked to put a pair on for McNeese. Nyjah Miller then lined a two-run double to left center to give the home team the lead (MCN, 3-1). Jada Munoz lifted a 1-0 pitch from Tori Miller (4-2) high over the wall in center – her sixth home run of the spring – to extend the advantage to 5-1.
•    Davidson drew a leadoff walk to begin the fourth for South, and the Jaguar catcher later moved to third after a pair of wild pitches. Caitlyn Gavin put runners at the corners when she reached first on a Cowgirl error, and South Alabama loaded the bases one batter later as Frankie Andujo reached on a fielder's choice. The Jaguar runners were stranded though as Dibbley got the next two batters to pop up on the infield and fly out to left.
•    After getting down 0-2 in the count, Brylie Fontenot battled back to earn a lead-off walk in the bottom of the fourth. Reyna recorded her second extra-base hit of the game as she lined a triple off the top of the wall in right center to score Fontenot and make it 6-1. After a pitching change, Reyna came in on a wild pitch (MCN, 7-1). 
•    Bouvier dropped in a one-out double in the bottom of the fifth for the Cowgirls. McNeese loaded the bases with a walk and a hit-by-pitch, and Dunham drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in a run (MCN, 8-1). 
•    Caitlyn Gavin reached on an infield single and Andujo walked to put a pair on in the top of the sixth, and the duo moved up a bag on a ground out to third, but as was the case much of the night, the runners were left stranded after a ground out to first ended the inning.
•    Branstetter lined a one-out double that rolled to the wall in left center and moved up to third on a ground out. Davidson kept the rally going and scored Branstetter when she reached on an error (MCN, 8-2).

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting marked the 14th in the all-time series
•    The five-run third by McNeese marked the ninth time this season an opponent has scored four or more runs in an inning this season against Jaguar pitching
•    Lively has reached base in her first plate appearance in 10 times this spring
•    The hit in the opening frame marked the 10th time this season that Lively has reached base safely in her first plate appearances
•    Lively has also scored a run in 15 games, and in eight of her last 10
•    Stagner extended her reached base safely streak to 11-straight, and she has now done so in 18 of her 21 games
•    The base hit also extended Stager's current hit streak to eight games
•    The sacrifice fly moved Branstetter into a six-way tie for sixth all-time at South as she now has six sacrifice flies in her Jaguar career
•    Branstetter extended her hit streak to a career-best seven straight, and has reached base in eight-straight games – 11 of her last 13 games
•    With her first-inning walk, Sidney Lee has had a hit or drawn a walk in eight of her last 10
•    Davidson reached base safely for her ninth-straight game, and she has now reached in 13 of her last 14
•    Caitlyn Gavin has had a hit in four of her last with her sixth-inning infield single, and reached base safely five times over that stretch

Up Next
•    South Alabama will close out its road trip this weekend at the LSU Round Robin in Baton Rouge, La. The Jaguars will face both LSU and Minnesota twice each, opening the tournament on Friday at 6 p.m. versus the Tigers at Tiger Park.

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