University of South Alabama Athletics

MOBILE, Ala. | Junior right-hander Ryley Harrison tossed a two-hit, complete-game shutout as South Alabama picked up a 4-0 win Thursday night in game one of the Sun Belt Conference series versus Louisiana at Jaguar Field.

Due to forecasted weather on Friday, start time for game two of the series has been moved to 4 p.m.

With the win, South Alabama (28-24, 12-10 SBC) snapped Louisiana's (27-25, 10-12 SBC) 29-game series win streak, marking the first win in the series by the Jags since May 9, 2015.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On getting the win: "I thought Ry (Ryley Harrison) did a great job. She kept (Louisiana) off balance the entire time and had good defense behind her, clean defense. I'm proud of our hitters for the job that they did and they way they competed and put balls in play. I felt we had the momentum the entire game and never felt like we gave it up. I felt that we continued to compete the entire game. It was a big win for us, we needed that. We've been trying to pick ourselves back up and I am really proud of their effort tonight. With the adversity we've gone through, it's easy to feel sorry about yourself, but I was proud of the toughness that they showed tonight. They were able to come out here and get the job done against a very good team."

- On the importance of wins this weekend as it relates to seeding in next week's conference tournament: "This time of year, you're looking at seeding, you're looking at RPI, you're looking at a million things, but more than anything, I'm just happy for our players. They needed this win. They've been working their tails off, and for them to have the night they had tonight and keep the momentum the entire game is great. I thought we played a really clean game of softball. We've been needing to do that. It gives us something to work off of going into tomorrow."

Junior RHP Ryley Harrison
- On getting the win in game one of the series and snapping the streak: "We were just talking about it as a team that it'd been a while since we had been able to beat Louisiana, so this one meant a lot more than just a regular game to us. It's our last regular-season series. Getting the win in game one is great, and at home especially for our seniors."

- On her performance in the circle: "Myself and Coach Hannah (Campbell) have been working in the bullpen a lot this week. I've had a rough past few outings, but coming out here tonight, I felt great. Everything was working for me. I was able to keep them off balance."

Junior 3B Olivia Branstetter
- On getting the win and snapping the streak: "It's a huge thing for us. It's been a while since we've been able to beat them. We knew (about the streak) coming into the game, but we didn't let that affect us. We just tried to treat it like any other game. We were able to bounce back from last weekend with our offense, and I'm proud of us for doing that." 

- On her home run: "I was a little frustrated because my swing didn't feel too good (my first at-bat), but I made sure I kept going and looked for a pitch I could drive."

Key Moments
•    Louisiana threatened to get on the scoreboard first placing a runner in scoring position in its half of the second as Cecilia Vasquez lined a one-out double to left center, but Ryley Harrison (14-11) answered back with back-to-back strikeouts as the junior struck out the side
•    Virginia Mambelli was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom half of the inning, and pinch runner Edy Gavin moved to third one batter later on Gracie Dees' doubled down the leftfield line, before coming home on Lillie Stagner's RBI ground out to second (USA, 1-0)
•    Presley Lively reached for the second time in as many plate appearances with a two-out walk in the bottom of the third, Kara Wine RBI double down the leftfield line (USA, 2-0), Olivia Branstetter dropped in a RBI-single in left to score pinch runner Reganied Franka from second (USA, 3-0)
•    Branstetter drove in her second run of the night her next time up as she blasted her seventh home run of the spring, this one a two-out solo shot over the wall in left center (USA, 4-0) in the bottom of the fifth 

Key Stats
•    Branstetter was 2-for-3 with a home run and drove in a pair
•    South Alabama had four other extra-base hits as Wine, Mambelli, Dees and Sydney Stewart each doubled
•    Three of South Alabama's four runs came with two outs as the Jags were 4-for-9 (.444) in those situations
•    Louisiana was 0-for-7 both in two-out situations and with runners on base, and also failed to get the leadoff batter on base 
•    Harrison struck out nine batters and allowed just four base runners – two hits and two walks – in her seven innings of work, as she used just 83 pitches 

Postgame Notes
•    The shutout marked the 11th of the season by the Jags and the ninth of Harrison's career, moving her passed Jenna Hardy (8, 2020-23) for sixth all-time at South
•    Sophia Mendoza was honored prior to the start of the game as part of her Senior Day recognition
•    Ansleigh Smith has now thrown out nine base runners attempting to steal
•    The sacrifice bunt by Brooklynn Bockhaus marked her sixth of the season and the 17th of her career, just one shy of moving her into the program's Top 10 in the category
•    Lively has had a hit in 17 of her last 23 games and reached base safely in 20 of her last 24
•    With her hit by pitch, Mambelli has reached base safely in 18 of her last 20 games
•    The second-inning hit by pitch also marked the 11th of the season for Mambelli, tying her with Olivia Branstetter (2025), Katelyn Gruich (2019) and Christin Crocker (2009) for fifth most in a single season at South
•    Branstetter has had a hit in nine of her last 12, and reached base in nine of her last 10
•    The multi-RBI game was the 26th of Branstetter's career, moving her into a tie for 24th with former Jag Julie Moss (2011-14)
•    The fourth-inning home run for Branstetter was the 10th of her career and her sixth in Sun Belt Conference play
•    Five of Branstetter's seven home runs this spring have come in league play
•    Mambelli then moved into fourth place on the list as she was hit for the second time in the game and her 12th, moving her into a tie with Brittany Fowler (2012)
•    Mambelli has reached base safely multiple times in a game either by hits, walks, or hit by pitch, 19 times this spring
•    With her second-inning double, Dees moved into a tie with Gabby Stagner (2023) for third place on South's single-season chart as it was her 16th of the spring
•    Of Wine's 23 RBI, 15 have come in Sun Belt play, which leads the team
•    Wine has had a hit in 10 of her last 14 and has reached base safely in 18 of her last 21
•    Wine has had either a hit, a walk or driven in a run in 28 of her last 35 games
•    Stagner has reached base safely in seven of her last 10

Up Next
•    South Alabama will continue the series with Louisiana on Friday with the first pitch of game two set for 4 p.m.

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