MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama's offense scored in each of the first three innings and rode solid pitching as the Jags held Georgia State to just three hits in their series-clinching, 7-1 win Sunday afternoon at Jaguar Field.

Olivia Branstetter led the way offensively for South Alabama (26-19, 10-5 SBC) as she was 3-for-4 with a single, a double and a triple, while also scoring a run and driving in a run. Making her first collegiate start, Gracie McDonald was also 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a stolen base and a RBI.

Sydney Scapin (8-7) held Georgia State (24-22, 4-11 SBC) in check offensively holding them two hits, while Ryley Harrison tossed four innings of relief to pick up her fifth save of the spring.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On coming back to take the series after losing the close game Friday night: "It was a tough loss on Friday night. Those are the kind that you take home with you. I thought we responded yesterday and then coming out and doing what they did today made for two big wins. I'm proud of our kids for their effort. I thought these were two team wins with a lot of people working to do a lot of little things and string a lot of little things together. I think that's a big deal. It's a good way for us to go into this next week, because this series coming up is a pretty big one."

- On the series at Marshall next weekend: "It's a big weekend ahead on the road. Marshall's playing really well and they've done a great job up there. [They have] a well-coached team and a very, very good team. We'll go up there and hopefully do what we did here -- and I don't mean the win column. I do want to win, but [I want] us to do all the little things -- we've got to play together. After that, let the results take care of themselves."

Junior 3B Olivia Branstetter
- On what changed after the loss Friday night: "We've been play good ball here and there, and we just need to keep it going. (Saturday) before the game, we had a talk as a team, and we felt we were playing for all the wrong reasons. I told my teammates (in that meeting) that we needed to come together and play for the little girl in each of us that we once were and that wanted to play Division I softball. I wanted us to bring the fun back into the game and get more into it, and that's exactly what we've done these last two games. We have to keep this mindset and avoid falling into that pocket where we think we can just coast through the game."

- On her performance at the plate: "I can't lie. It wasn't that I was seeing the ball well, I just let my hands work. I also wasn't thinking for once."

Sophomore RHP Sydney Scapin
- On coming back and taking the series: "It was huge. I think coming out here and showing what we can do and how we can play was really big for us, and gives us a huge confidence boost for us. We needed a reset from the Texas State series last weekend."

- On what was working for her in the circle: "My changeup was good, and then keeping them off-balance on both sides of the plate."

Key Moments
•    Maya Bagsby reached on a one-out, infield single in the opening frame, but Scapin came back and retired the next two, getting Lauren Brister to strike out swinging, her second strikeout of the inning
•    South Alabama took the early lead with a run in the bottom of the first as Branstetter lined a double to center, scoring Presley Lively from second (USA, 1-0), who had been hit by a pitch and then stole second to move into scoring position
•    The Panthers placed two aboard in their half of the second after a single by Zoey Defoor and a two-out walk from Allison Jones, but Scapin again slammed the door with a strikeout of Ciarra Jefferson to end the inning
•    The Jaguars took advantage of the missed scoring opportunity in the bottom half of the inning and extended their lead with three runs
•    Caitlyn Gavin drew a leadoff walk to begin inning and moved into scoring position on Ansleigh Smith's sacrifice bunt, before coming home one batter later on Gracie McDonald's RBI-single back up the middle (USA, 2-0)
•    After Reganied Franka reached on a bunt single over Makayla Stephens' (16-11) head to put runners at the corners, McDonald scored on an errant throw on a failed pickoff attempt at third (USA, 3-0)
•    Franka then scored the third run of the inning on Lively's RBI-groundout (USA, 4-0)
•    Bagsby reached on a one-out walk in the top of the third, but as she had the first two frames, Scapin stranded the runner and ended the inning with a strikeout, this one a strike out looking of pinch hitter Samantha Breaux
•    For the second-straight game, Kayden Dunn launched a two-run home run in the third – her fifth of the season – this one to left field, scoring Branstetter who had tripled to center to lead off the inning (USA, 6-0)
•    Maia Mumpfield drew a leadoff walk to begin the sixth for Georgia State and with two away, Zoey Defoor walked to put a pair on for the Panthers, but Harrison was able to work out of the jam with a strikeout looking of Caitlyn Hall
•    The Jags manufactured an additional run in their half of the sixth as McDonald reached on an infield single when she beat the throw from second for her second hit of the day, and then stole second – her 12th swipe of the season
•    After moving to third on a ground out, the freshman outfielder crossed the plate on a sac fly to left by Lively (USA, 7-0)
•    With two outs in the seventh, McKenzie Walker broke up the shutout attempt as she homered over the wall in right center (USA, 7-1)

Key Stats
•    Branstetter had three hits and was a home run shy of becoming the first Jag in program history to hit for the cycle
•    Lively drove in two runs and scored once, while Dunn also posted a pair of RBI
•    McDonald had two hits, scored twice and drove in her first career run in the win
•    Harrison and Scapin combined to hold Georgia State to 0-for-10 hitting with runners on base

Postgame Notes
•    The start for McDonald marked the first of the freshman's collegiate career, and recorded both her first hit and RBI as a Jag
•    With her hit-by-pitch to begin the bottom half of the first, Lively has reached base safely in 15 of her last 17 
•    The first-inning stolen base by Lively was the 24th of her Jaguar career moving her into a tie for 10th with Kaitlyn Griffith (2012-15)
•    Branstetter has now had a hit in seven of her last 10, and driven in a run in six of her last nine
•    The triple by Branstetter was the first of her career and the 12th of the season for the Jags this spring, extending their single-season mark
•    The three hits by Branstetter tied a career high and marked the ninth time in her career she has done so, and her 24th career multi-hit game
•    Virginia Mambelli extended her on-base streak to 14 games with a two-out walk in the sixth inning
•    In addition to the 14-game streak, she has also reached safely in 20 of her last 21 games
•    The home run was Dunn's fifth career home run against Sun Belt Conference competition
•    The multi-RBI game was the fourth of the season for Dunn and the 13th of her career
•    South Alabama has homered in four of its last five games, and in nine of the Jaguars' 15 Sun Belt Conference games
•    Of the Jags' 30 home runs this spring, 12 have come in Sun Belt play
•    Harrison (5) is one save shy of tying Hannah Campbell's single-season mark of six (2013)
•    As a staff, South Alabama now has seven saves this spring which equals the program's single-season mark held by the 2015 squad

Up Next
•    South Alabama will head to Marshall for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series beginning on Friday with first pitch set for 5 p.m. (CT).

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