TROY, Ala. | Gabby Stagner had three hits and drove in three runs for South Alabama Thursday night, but Troy was able to hold on for a 7-6 win in game one of the series at the Troy Softball Complex.

Stagner reached all four of her plate appearances as she was 3-for-3 with a home run and a walk and came just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Presley Lively was also 2-for-3 with three runs scored, a walk and a RBI in the loss for South Alabama (19-30, 8-13 SBC). Olivia Branstetter walked twice and scored a run as well for the Jags.

With the win, Troy (32-22, 11-11 SBC) secures a spot in next week's Sun Belt Conference Championship. The top of the order did most of the damage for the Trojans as the first five hitters in the lineup combined to record nine of Troy's 11 hits, scored six runs and drove in six.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the game: "Tough loss tonight in a very back and forth ball game. We have to put that behind us and dig in for tomorrow. We're getting the same opportunities they are and we need to take advantage of them."

How It Happened 
•    Lively drew a walk to leadoff the game, who then moved up a base on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Branstetter. Stagner then walked to put runners at the corners, and Stephanie Gonzalez then laid down a bunt on the squeeze play, scoring Lively (USA, 1-0). South Alabama did load the bases in the frame and after a pitching change Kate Peters came in and retired the next two Jaguar batters to prevent any further scoring.
•    Troy loaded the bases in the bottom half of the first after three-straight singles from Makaley Boswell, Taylor McKinney and Caiden Oliva, and the Trojans tied the game up (1-1) on Annie Orman's sacrifice fly to center. One batter later, Cassidy Boltz lined a single – the Trojan's fourth hit of the inning – to score McKinney and give Troy the lead (2-1). 
•    With two outs in the South Alabama second, Lively reached on a bunt single and then moved into scoring position on the play when the throw to first got away and rolled into shallow right field. Branstetter then drew a walk, and both runners moved up a base on a passed ball. Stagner then lined a ball off the wall in right center to plate a pair and put South back out in front (USA, 3-2).
•    Oliva led off the bottom of the third with a double to right, who advanced to third on a wild pitch. One batter later, Troy retook the lead on a two-run, inside-the-park home run by Orman (Troy, 4-3). With one out, Dailynn Moates singled to shallow left center, who was then sacrificed over to second, but Ryley Harrison (9-7) prevented any further damage with a strikeout, her fourth of the game.
•    McKinnon Howard reached on a bunt single and Boswell walked to begin the fourth for the Trojans. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and McKinney plated another run with an infield single (Troy, 5-3). One batter later, the Trojans doubled their advantage (6-3) on a RBI fielder's choice. With a runner at third, Troy scored its third run of the inning when Boltz's flare was just out of reach of Lively's diving effort, allowing Oliva to score (Troy, 7-3).
•    Stagner trimmed the deficit to three (7-4) as she led off the top of the fifth with her 12th home run of the season.
•    Pinch hitter Frankie Andujo drew a walk with one away in the top of the sixth and after re-entering, Bockhaus then came into score on a triple to left center by Lively. The freshman pulled the Jags within a run when she scored on a wild pitch (Troy, 7-6).
•    South placed the potential tying run on base when Caitlyn Gavin singled, but Mya Holt was able to get a fly out to center to end the game and record her second save of the season

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting marked the 53rd in the all-time series and the 28th in Troy
•    Lively has had a hit or a walk in 11 of her last 13 and 31 of her last 37 outings, and reached base safely in 40 of her 49 games this spring
•    Lively has reached base in her first plate appearance 22 times this spring
•    Lively has also scored a run in 31 games this spring, including 13 multiple-run games, and three straight games
•    Lively's 33 walks this season set a new single-season record at South, eclipsing the previous mark (32) held by Evelyne Pare (2007), Meghan Collins (2013) and Stephanie Pilkington (2015)
•    The multi-hit game for Lively was her 11th of the season 
•    Lively's five triples are now tied with three other players – Meredith Keel (2022), Emily Messer (2016) and Amanda Minahan (2015) – for the most triples by a Jag in a single season
•    With her first-inning walk, Stagner has reached base in eight straight, drawing a walk in seven of those contests and tallying eight over that stretch
•    The walk was the 70th of Stagner's career, moving her into a tie for ninth all-time with Tara Donaldson (2007-09) in the career category
•    Stagner has reached base in 32 of her last 37 and all but five of her 46 games this season
•    Stagner's two-run double was the 35th of her career, moving her into a tie for fifth with Pilkington (2013-16)
•    The multi-RBI game was the 40th of Stagner's career and her 14th of the season, which is tied with Brittany Fowler (2011) and Haley Fagan (2013) for third-most in a season
•    Stagner has driven in a run in each of her last four games, and her 43 RBI this season are ninth most in a season at South
•    The fifth-inning home run marked the 150th career RBI for Stagner
•    It was also the fourth lead off home run of the spring for Stagner and the seventh of her Jaguar career
•    Stagner has had a hit in 10 of her last 14, and she now has 38 career multi-hit games, tying her with Keel (2021-23) for 10th
•    The inside-the-park home run by Orman marked the first by a Jag opponent since Sydney Young, Bradley (3/1/19)
•    Branstetter extended her reached-base safely streak to 12 games as she has also reached in 23 of her last 25 games
•    Gavin has had a hit in 11 of her last 18, and reached base safely in 13 of her last 18 games
•    Amity White has had at least one hit in eight of her last 12

Up Next
•    South Alabama will take on Troy will close out the series on Friday with a doubleheader as the schedule was altered due to expected inclement weather on Saturday. First pitch of game one of the doubleheader set for 3 p.m. with the finale set for 5 p.m., or 30 minutes immediately following the conclusion of game one. Should game two be unable to be completed, it will be continued on Saturday.

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