Softball Travels to South Alabama for Conference Clash

HATTIESBURG, Miss.-Southern Miss Softball (16-17, 3-3 Sun Belt) prepares for a weekend series at South Alabama (15-18, 4-2 Sun Belt) this weekend in Mobile, Ala.

The Golden Eagles are following a midweek loss against Mississippi State on Wednesday night. A sellout crowd of 1,083 fans packed the stands, marking the eighth-largest attendance in program history and the highest since 2022.

Freshman outfielder Hannah Christian led the Golden Eagles with her eighth multi-hit game of the season, recording two hits and scoring the team's lone run. Christian knocked her fifth double of the season in the third inning.

Southern Miss earned three wins last week, including its first conference win of the season against Troy. The Golden Eagles started the week with a 10-4 win against Nicholls and extended its winning streak to three games, starting its weekend series versus Troy with a 6-4 win on Friday and 7-3 victory on Saturday. The Trojans avoided a series sweep, taking Sunday's game 6-2.

Southern Miss Notes

Senior pitcher Jana Lee reached a milestone of 200 career strikeouts last week, delivering a complete-game performance against Troy on Friday with ten strikeouts to earn her seventh win of the season.

Freshman pitcher Kayla Giardina leads the Golden Eagles with 61 strikeouts, which ranks second among Sun Belt freshmen, only behind Maddie Johnson's 76 strikeouts for Georgia Southern.

Christian leads Southern Miss with 32 hits and 20 runs, batting at .333 on the season. She paced the team with six hits, six RBI and four runs scored in week seven, maintaining a .400 batting average and .438 on base percentage. She has extended her hitting streak to six games, which is the longest of her career.

Southern Miss has enjoyed an explosive start to conference play, ranking second in the Sun Belt in runs (47), hits (56), walks (30), doubles (10) and third in RBI (36).

Graduate student Mikaila Fox ranks fourth in the Sun Belt with nine hits during conference play. She has maintained a team-high .450 batting average against Sun Belt opponents and recently recorded a career-high three RBI against the Colonels on Wednesday.

Scouting South Alabama

South Alabama is led by head coach Becky Clark, who is in her 19th season with the program with a 583-383-2 record. Clark has led the Jaguars to three Sun Belt titles and six NCAA Regional finals.

Gabby Stagner leads the Jaguars with 33 hits, 31 RBI (6th Sun Belt), eight home runs (6th Sun Belt) batting .355 with a .688 slugging percentage (10th Sun Belt). Stagner recently became the program's career RBI leader with a pair of RBI in South Alabama's 6-1 win Sunday against Georgia State. Stagner now has 138 career RBI, surpassing Brittany Fowler's (2010-13) 136.

Freshman outfielder Presley Lively leads the Sun Belt with 21 walks and is second in the conference for most stolen bases (14) and third for most runs scored (31). Lively was named to the Softball America Freshman Watch List and the D100 Freshman Watch List by D1 Softball.

Ryley Harrison leads South Alabama in the circle with a 2.95 ERA (7th Sun Belt) in 73.2 innings pitched (6th Sun Belt), recording 66 strikeouts (8th Sun Belt).

Series History

South Alabama leads the all-time series 21-7-1. The Golden Eagles snapped a five-game skid to the Jaguars last season with a 5-4 win at Jaguar Field.

For the latest information on Southern Miss Softball, follow the program on Facebook (facebook.com/SouthernMissSB), Twitter (@SouthernMissSB) and Instagram (@southernmisssb).

Softball Travels to South Alabama for Conference Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hannah Christian

Mikaila Fox

Kayla Giardina

Jana Lee

Softball Travels to South Alabama for Conference Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hannah Christian

Mikaila Fox

Kayla Giardina

Jana Lee

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