MOBILE, Ala.-The University of South Alabama softball team will host Troy University in its final Sun Belt Conference doubleheader over the weekend. The first pitch of Saturday's doubleheader is set for 4p.m.
The doubleheader will be the final home stand for Jags - Danielle Honore (Lake Charles, La.), Katie McGuire (Alabaster, Ala.), Julie Morton (Morris, Okla.), Beth Pilgrim (Cantonment, Fla.) and Kelsey Volz (Mesa, Ariz.). USA will honor all five prior to the first pitch of game one. McGuire, Morton, and Pilgrim are all a part of the Jaguars inaugural recruiting class. Honore and Volz are both two-year letter winners for the club.
The Jaguars are 19-22 overall and 6-10 in league play and looking to secure their seed in next week's conference tournament. The Trojans are 24-26 for the year and 10-11 in the conference.
The Jags enter the contest on nearly two weeks rest. USA has not played a game since defeating Florida International in the series finale 5-4, on April 25.The entire weekend series versus Western Kentucky last weekend was canceled due to severe weather in the Bowling Green, Ky., area.
Pilgrim (14-11) continues to lead the Jaguars in the circle fanning 198 batters in 160 innings of work for the season. The senior is 5-6 in league play and went the distance for the 17th time this season, while recording nine strikeouts in the final game against FIU.
Brittany Fowler has paced USA at the plate, hitting .357 with team-leading totals in runs (32), hits (45) and triples (three). Fowler was a combined 6-for-10 at the plate - three of those hits doubles - in the series against FIU. In league play, she is batting .353, and has recorded18 hits and crossed the plate 10 times.
Centerfielder Britany Campbell hit the first home run of her collegiate career in the series opener against the Golden Panthers. The freshman is batting .417 against SBC opponents and has scored four runs and ten hits.
The Trojans lead the all-time series over South Alabama 6-4, but USA captured a 1-0 decision earlier this season in Troy. Fowler scored the only run of the game in the seventh inning when Haley Hopkins hit a RBI-single to centerfield. Hopkins leads the club in both home runs (eight) and RBI (29).
Troy also enters the contest well rested as they have not seen game action since a 3-2 loss to UAB on April 27. Offensively, the Trojans are led by Kala Moore (.351) and Kaitlin Kenney (.338). Moore has scored 33 runs and recorded 59 hits on the season. Kenney has crossed the plate 13 times, while recording 23 hits. Also batting over .300 for Troy is Rocky Paige (.311). The Trojans are led in the circle by Ashlyn Williams (18-19), who has a 2.55 ERA. She has struck out a league-leading 346 batters in 239 innings pitched.
Live stats of Saturday's doubleheader versus Troy can be accessed at www.usajaguars.com.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
-USA-
