HATTIESBURG, Miss. | Southern Miss scored four runs over its final two at-bats to pull away and pick up the Sun Belt series opener with a 5-1 win Friday night over South Alabama at the USM Softball Complex.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the loss: "There really isn't a lot to say tonight, except that Southern Miss executed and we didn't. We have to do a better job of taking advantage of our opportunities offensively and shut them down when they get something going. It's pretty simple stuff."

Key Moments
•    Southern Miss (31-20, 12-7 SBC) struck first with a run in its half of the opening frame when Carrie Green bounced a RBI-single back up the middle (USM, 1-0) to score Hannah Christian, who had led off the inning with a triple that was just inside the bag at first
•    South Alabama (27-22, 11-8 SBC) threatened to answer back the next half inning after back-to-back hits by Kara Wine and Lillie Stagner put runners at second and third with nobody out, but Kayla Giardina (16-7) was able to escape the second-inning jam after a pop up on the infield and then a double play on a fly out to left center
•    After being held to three hits through the first four innings, the Golden Eagles loaded the bases after three infield singles, and with one away, Green singled through the left side of the infield – her third hit and second RBI – to score Abbi Troquille (USM, 2-0)
•    Two batters later, Kinsely Gordon-Sivley drew a bases-loaded walk to plate the second run of the inning (USM, 3-0)
•    Olivia Branstetter led off the sixth with a solo shot deep over the wall in left as she drove a 2-2 offering off of Giardina to cut the deficit to two (USM, 3-1) 
•    South Alabama threatened to do more damage in the inning as Virginia Mambelli reached for the third time in as many plate appearances with a walk and Wine lined a one-out single to left, but Girardina retired the next two Jaguar batters to maintain the two-run Southern Miss advantage 
•    The Golden Eagle answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning as Kayce Bennett led off the bottom of the sixth with a double off the wall in left, and with one away, pinch runner Jadyn Raush came into score after a pair of wild pitches (USM, 4-1) by Ryley Harrison (13-11)
•    Nealy McManus followed with a walk and Glasgow singled and moved to second on the throw to third. McManus was initially called out at third, but upon video review, the call was overturned, and the junior shortstop came home one batter later on Christian's sac fly to center (USM, 5-1)

Key Stats
•    Branstetter drove in the lone run for the Jaguars as she recorded her sixth home run of the season
•    Mambelli reached all three of her plate appearances with a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch, while Wine finished the game 2-for-3
•    South Alabama was 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-14 with runners on, leaving six runners on base in the loss
•    Christian, Green and Glasgow combined to record seven of USM's nine hits, and drove in three of its runs
•    Christian and Glasgow were each 2-for-3 and scored a run each, while Christian also drove in a run
•    Green was 3-for-4 with two RBI

Postgame Notes
•    The start for Presley Lively marked the 100th of her Jaguar career
•    Branstetter has had a hit in seven of her last nine, and reached base in each of her last seven
•    The lead off home run by Branstetter was the third of her career and the sixth of the spring by South Alabama
•    Four of Branstetter's six home runs this season have come in Sun Belt Conference play
•    With her first-inning single, Mambelli has now reached base safely in 17 of her last 18, and 23 of her last 25, including 18 games with a hit
•    After her hit by pitch in the fourth, Mambelli has reached base safely multiple times in a game either by hits, walks, or hit by pitch, 18 times this spring
•    Ansleigh Smith has now thrown out eight runners attempting to steal, and as a team the Jaguars have gunned down 10
•    Kara Wine has had a hit in eight of her last 11 and reached base safely in 16 of her last 18
•    Wine has had either a hit, a walk or driven in a run in 26 of her last 32 games
•    Wine now has seven multi-hit games this spring
•    Caitlyn Gavin has had a hit in each of her last three games
•    Stagner has reached base safely in five of her last seven

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue the series with the Golden Eagles on Saturday with first pitch set for 2 p.m.

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