University of South Alabama Athletics

LAFAYETTE, La. | South Alabama's offense erupted for a season-high 13 runs on 11 hits and had six players reach multiple times Thursday evening as the fifth-seeded Jaguars picked up a 13-0, run-rule victory over fourth-seeded Southern Miss in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship held at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park.

Staked to the early four-run lead after the opening frame, Ryley Harrison (16-12) struck out nine and allowed just three base runners as she held the Golden Eagles (33-24) to one hit in her five innings.

Up Next
•    South Alabama (30-25) will (1) ULM (38-19) in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park with first pitch set for 6 p.m.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- Opening statement: "I'm super proud of our kids. It was a great way to open up the tournament. I thought all the way around we had a ton of compete. This is the time of year that you just turn it all loose and let it go, and I thought we did that tonight. We had a ton of energy and continued to compete the entire game. I was very proud of our effort and the way we fought together."

- On Southern Miss: "Southern Miss has a great team and kudos to them. When we went to their place a couple weeks ago, it seemed like we couldn't do anything right and they could do no wrong. I'm really proud of our effort in flipping that tonight. They are a solid, well-coached team. I felt we just continued to apply pressure and that's what it's supposed to look like."

Junior RHP Ryley Harrison
- On the mindset of the team coming out and getting the quick start: "As a team, we refused to lose tonight. The last time we faced Southern Miss, we were swept by them, so it was kind of personal tonight. The offense set the tone tonight with the four runs in the first inning. Pitching with the lead is pretty easy when you have a good offense behind you."

- On what they can take from this game heading into the game with ULM on Friday: "Coach Clark says it all the time, 'Today's work doesn't win tomorrow's game.' We have to build off what we did tonight. We lost the series with them earlier this season at their place, so this is going to be another personal game for us that we just have to refuse to lose. We need to have a lot of grit and compete heading into this next game."

Freshman SS Lillie Stagner
- On the early offense: "I was just leaving it all on the field (tonight), and I give God the glory of course. It was really nice knowing that our team was coming in ready to attack. We worked very well as a team tonight."

- On what they did in preparation to face USM's Kayla Giradina: "We just came in ready to go and had an aggressive mindset. It started for us even before the game, and that's how it has to be."

Key Moments
•    South Alabama took advantage of a two-out Southern Miss error in the opening frame, scoring four unearned runs to take the early lead
•    With runners on first and second, the Gracie Dees reached when two Southern Miss defenders collided, scoring Olivia Branstetter – who had singled – from second (USA, 1-0)
•    Lillie Stagner then blasted a 0-1 pitch over the wall in left center (USA, 4-0) for her fifth home run of the season
•    Dees walked to begin the top of the fourth and two batters later, Ansleigh Smith laced a one-out double to the gap in left center, scoring pinch runner Gracie McDonald (USA, 5-0) all the way from first
•    South Alabama batted around in its half of the fifth, scoring eight runs on seven hits
•    The Jaguars quickly loaded the bases after a double by Wince, a single by Branstetter and a hit-by-pitch by Mambelli loaded the bases, before Dees single back up the middle to score two (USA, 7-0)
•    Stagner then singled to left to drive in her fourth run of the evening (USA, 8-0) and Smith singled through the right side to plate her second run of the game (USA, 9-0)
•    With one out, Bockhaus walked for the second time to load the bases for the second time in the inning, and Presley Lively lined a RBI-single to center (USA, 10-0)
•    Wine capped off the scoring with a single to right – her second hit of the inning and third hit of the game – to clear the bases as she advanced to third on a USM error (USA 13-0)

Key Stats
•    Harrison struck out six of USM's nine batters the first time through the lineup, and tossed her 10th career shutout and her sixth of the season, finishing just one strikeout shy of matching her career high
•    Six players reached base multiple times in the win with four recording multi-hit games
•    South Alabama was 9-for-15 (.600) with runners on base, 7-for-12 (.583) with runners in scoring position and was 5-for-6 with runners at third and less than two outs
•    Wine led the offense with a 3-for-4 showing at the plate where she scored a run and drove in a pair
•    Stagner was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a career-high four RBI
•    Branstetter finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and Smith had both a multi-hit and multi-RBI game as she was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI
•    Mambelli was hit by a pitch twice – the fifth time this season that she has been hit by pitch multiple times in a game – and Bockhaus also walked twice

Postgame Notes
•    The meeting between the two regional conference rivals marked the first in the postseason
•    South Alabama has won its last seven opening round contests at the Sun Belt Conference Championship and holds a 13-3 Record in its first tournament game all-time
•    The Jaguars are 7-6 at Lamson Park in postseason play
•    Not only was the 13 runs scored a season high by the Jags, it was also the most runs scored in a Sun Belt Conference Championship game or NCAA game in program history, eclipsing the previous mark of 11 scored against Chattanooga at the 2015 Auburn Regional
•    The eight-run fifth inning tied for the most runs scored in an inning by South Alabama at the Sun Belt Conference Championship (8, vs. Georgia State, 4th inn., 5/11/22)
•    The shutout was the eighth thrown by Jaguar pitching at the SBC Championship and was the first since an 11-0 win versus Appalachian State (5/12/21)
•    South Alabama (12) also moved into the Top 10 for a season in shutouts, tying the 2022 and the 2018 squads for ninth
•    Harrison struck out six of USM's nine batters the first time through the lineup
•    Kara Wine has had a hit in 13 of her last 17 and has reached base safely in 21 of her last 24
•    Wine has now had either a hit, a walk or driven in a run in 31 of her last 38 games
•    The multi-hit game marked the eighth of the season for Wine
•    Branstetter has had a hit in 12 of her last 15, and reached base in 11 of her last 13
•    The hit-by-pitch in the first inning for Mambelli marked the 14th time this season for the junior and moved her into a tie with Tara Donaldson (2007-09) for ninth on the career list
•    The multi-hit game for Branstetter was her 11th of the spring and the 28th of her career
•    McDonald has scored 16 runs off the bench this spring
•    Mambelli has reached base safely multiple times in a game either by hits, walks, or hit by pitch, 20 times this spring
•    The multi-hit game marked the fourth of the season and eighth of Smith's career, and the multi-RBI game was also the sophomore's fourth of her Jaguar career
•    The four RBI by Stagner set a new career-best in the category and was her fifth multi-RBI game of the spring
•    The multi-hit game was Stagner's third of the season and her first since March 14 vs. Troy

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