BATON ROUGE, La. | Akron's Delaney Jenkinson led off the top of the eighth with a solo home run to break a scoreless tie in extra innings, and South Alabama loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half of the inning, but the Zips held the Jags off the scoreboard to advance with a 1-0 win at the Baton Rouge Regional held at Tiger Park.
With the loss, South Alabama concludes its season with a 32-27 record, while Akron improved to 35-24 with the win.
Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- Opening statement: "Very proud of our student-athletes and the way they've represented the University of South Alabama this year. I think that they have given people a glimpse of what our university is about. We have amazing people. These guys, just their professionalism, their grit, their toughness. I'd like to think that we have represented the university in a first-class manner, so I'm proud of them and everything they've accomplished. Not the way we wanted it to end, obviously, but the conference championship I just told them is something no one can ever take away from them. I think this gives us something to build on next year with a lot of young players on the field; two of them sitting next to me. So, a lot of youth on this team, so I think it was a blessing for a lot of those younger players to play and win a conference championship and then play in a regional and know what that looks like. So, I think that's something we really need to build on moving forward. When you look at the youth, I think the future is very bright for South Alabama Softball."
- On
Sydney Scapin: "Syd is one of the most unselfish players we have on our team. I think for her to be as good as she is, and to have had the success she's had, and the humility she has, I think just the success she's had through her career, not just college but high school as well, she's put up some Mickey Mouse numbers. And for her to be just as humble as she is and be such a great teammate, that's what I'm proud of her for. She's a team player and she fights for her team. That's a big deal."
Sophomore RHP Sydney Scapin
- On her outing: "They (Akron) just had really big swings, so going up there and trusting my spin and letting my ball move. Just really trusting my curve change and keeping them off balance with that."
- On reflecting on the season: "I'm just grateful that I got the opportunity this year to go out there and really show what I knew I could do last year. But just doing it this year, I'm really grateful."
- On if the pitcher's dual added more pressure: "I try to keep a clear head whenever I'm pitching. I don't feel any added pressure. I try to stay within my teammates and just cheer them on to keep me out of my head. Me cheering them on helps me stay out of my head."
Sophomore C Ansleigh Smith
- On her three-hit day: "I've just been really focused on my approach. Going up there with an idea of what I want to hit and what I want to do. I'm glad to have those three hits, but obviously I would have loved to have come through in the end."
Key Moments
•
Olivia Branstetter looked as if she had put the Jags on the board first with a drive to center, but Akron's Meagan Lee made a leaping grab at the wall to rob the South Alabama third baseman of a home run
• South Alabama threatened for a second time as
Ansleigh Smith led off the bottom of the third with a single back up the middle – the first hit for the Jags – and pinch runner
Edy Gavin then moved around to third after a sacrifice bunt by
Brooklynn Bockhaus, and to third with two outs on a wild pitch, but Madie Jamrog (19-7) was able to get out of the jam with a fly out to left center
• The Jaguars loaded the bases in their half of the fifth after a one-out infield single by Smith – her second hit of the contest with one away, and then walks by Bockhaus and Lively, but Jamrog left the bags full when she got a foul out to end the inning
• The Zips had their first scoring opportunity in the sixth pinch hitter Kylie Bailey greeted Jaguar reliever
Ryley Harrison (18-14) with a walk to begin the inning and on the next at-bat, Branstetter was able to cut down the lead runner at second on a sacrifice bunt attempt
• The play proved to be huge as two batters later Sophia Wygast lined a single to the gap in left center that would have scored a run
• With runners later at second and third with two outs, Harrison was able to strand the runners with a fly out to right to end the inning
• Smith lined a single to left center – her third hit of the game – with one away in the seventh, and Bockhaus looked as if she had walked the Jags off as she lined a ball down the leftfield line, but it went just foul
• After a pop out to second,
Caitlyn Gavin lined a two-out single to right to turn the lineup over, but Jamrog got a line out to third to end the inning and send the game into extra innings
• Jenkinson broke the scoreless tie in the top of the eighth as she drove a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left – her eighth home run of the season – and just the third hit allowed by Jaguar pitching in the contest (AK, 1-0)
• South Alabama attempted to rally back in the bottom half of the eighth as Bransetter singled to left center with one out, and later loaded the basses after a single by Stagner and a walk by
Kayden Dunn, but Jamrog was able to get a fielder's choice out at third to end the game
Key Stats
• Smith was 3-for-4 at the plate and recorded 12 putouts behind the plate
• Stagner also had a pair of hits and Lively also reached base twice with a pair of walks
• In her five innings of work in the circle, Scapin allowed just one hit, walked two and struck out eight
• Scapin ended the first, second, third and fourth innings with a strikeout
• The sophomore also recorded multiple strikeouts in the first, third (side) and fourth, while the fifth inning was the only inning Scapin did not register a strikeout
• Jaguar pitching recorded multiple strikeouts in four innings and finished with 12 strikeouts for the game
• South Alabama left 10 runners left on base in the loss and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position
• Jamrog tossed all eight innings for the Zips, scattering seven hits and four walks
Postgame Notes
• The game marked the 59th of the season for South Alabama, matching for the most in a season set during the program's inaugural season (2007)
• The meeting versus Akron marked the first in the series between the two programs
• With her leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, Lively has now reached base safely in 26 of her last 31
• The sacrifice bunt in the third was the eighth of the season for Bockhaus and the 19th of her career, moving her into a tie for sixth place at South in the category, joining former Jags Carolina Mendoza (2007, '09-11) and Julie Moss (2011-14)
• With her two hits, Stagner now has four multi-hits this spring, and closes out her freshman season having reached base safely in 12 of her last 17
• The multi-hit game was the fifth of the season for Smith and the ninth of her career, and the three hits tied a career high (at LSU (3/7/25)
• Branstetter finishes the season having had a hit in 15 of her last 19, and reaching base in 14 of her last 17
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