LAFAYETTE, La. – Third-seeded Georgia State scored six unanswered runs to pick up a 8-3 victory over sixth-seeded South Alabama Wednesday evening in the second round of the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championships held at Lamson Park.

UP NEXT
- South Alabama (29-26) will next take on the loser of the top-seeded Texas State / fifth-seeded Troy game at 3 p.m. Thursday in an elimination game.

Date: 5/9
Place: Lamson Park (Lafayette, La.)
Final Score: (3) Georgia State 8, (6) South Alabama 3
Records: Georgia State (31-23), South Alabama (29-26)

SCORING PLAYS
-1 Inn. — USA, 1-0 —Kamdyn Kvistad single to center (RBI), scoring Kaleight Todd from second
-1 Inn. — USA, 2-0 —Lyric Cabral single to left (RBI), scoring Kristian Foster from third
-1 Inn. — GSU, 2-1 —Megan Litumbe single to right (RBI), scoring Ivie Drake from second
-1 Inn. — GSU, 2-2 —Kristen McMonigle (unearned) scores one a E9 fielding error
-2 Inn. — USA, 3-2 —Brittani Reid solo home run to left (RBI)
-3 Inn. — GSU, 3-3 —Reagan Morgan infield single RBI), scoring Drake from third
-3 Inn. — GSU, 5-3 —Skylar Mosel single up the middle (2 RBI), scoring Litumbe from third and Arden Jobe from second
-3 Inn. — GSU, 6-3 —Kristin Hawkins bunt single (RBI), scoring Raegan (unearned) from third
-4 Inn. — GSU, 8-3 —McMonigle home run to right (2 RBI), scoring Drake from first

KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME
-After allowing four runs in the bottom of the third, South Alabama had a chance to answer back in the top of the fourth loading the bases with two outs, but Georgia State's Kinsley Jennings (13-11) was able to get Hannah Smith to pop out to first to end the inning and keep the Jaguars off the scoreboard.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
-Kvistad was 2-for-3 at the plate for South Alabama and drove in a run, while Todd also had two hits in her four at-bats and scored a run.
-B. Reid recorded her eighth home run of the season and Cabral drove in a run for the Jags as well.
-Foster walked twice and Dayla Gulledge also reached base twice in the game with a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
-Drake – the Sun Belt Player of the Year – walked her first three plate appearances and scored three runs, while Litumbe was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a run scored and a RBI.  
-McMonigle had a two-run home run and scored twice.
-Reagan and Hawkins also drove in a run, while Mosel plated two with a single.
-Jennings pitched 6.1 innings of relief to get the win allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out five.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Georgia State starter Amanda Chance lasted just two-thirds of an inning after allowing two runs on three hits.
-Alexis Reid (11-11) took the loss, allowing six runs (four earned) on four hits, while walking four and striking out four.  All four of her strikeouts were looking.
-The top of Georgia State's lineup combined to register four hits, drove in three runs and scored six of the Panthers' eight runs.
-GSU scored multiple runs in the first, third and fourth innings
-Georgia State was 2-for-2 with the bases loaded, while South Alabama was 0-for-2 in the contest in those situations.

GAME FACTS
-South Alabama went out in front with two runs on three hits in the top of the first.  Todd reached on an infield single to start the game and then moved into scoring position with her 18th stolen base of the season.  Foster then walked with one out and like she did in the first game of the day, Kvistad gave the Jaguars an early 1-0 lead with a RBI single to center to score Todd.  Cabral came up with a big two-out hit to plate the second run of the inning when the freshman dropped in a single in shallow left to bring around Foster.  Dayla Gulledge was then hit by a Chance pitch to load the bases, but Jennings entered in relief got a strikeout looking to end the frame.
-Georgia State answered back with a pair of runs, one of which was unearned.  A. Reid struggled with her control at the start of the game and walked Drake and McMonigle to lead off the frame.  Litumbe then lined a ball to right for a single, scoring Drake from second.  The Panthers scored another run on the play as the ball was misplayed by B. Reid in right allowing McMonigle to come all the way around to score and Litumbe to end up at third.  A. Reid though would settle down and retire the next thee Panther batters to end the frame and leave Litumbe stranded at third.
-The Jaguars retook the lead with two outs in the second when B. Reid drilled her eight home run of the season deep over the wall in left (3-2).  South put two more runners on as Foster walked and Kvistad singled following the B. Reid blast, but Jennings was able to get out of the inning as Hannah Smith's fly ball was tracked down at the wall by Litumbe.
-GSU came right back in its half of the third with a four-run inning go back in front, 6-3.  The Panthers loaded the bases with one out after a full-count walk to Jobe.  Morgan then brought in the first run of the inning with an infield single to score Drake (walk).  Mosel then had the big hit of the frame as she lined a single back up the middle to plate Litumbe, who had doubled, and Jobe.  The final run of the inning for the Panthers came two batters later as Hawkins dropped in an infield single that the Jaguar defense was unable to make a play on, allowing Raegan to score.
-South Alabama threatened in the fourth as MC Nichols and Todd singled to begin the inning and Kvistad walked with two outs to load the bases, but Jennings kept the Jaguars off the scoreboard as she got Hannah Smith to pop out to first to end the frame.
-Drake walked for the third time to lead off the bottom of the fourth and the Panthers extended their lead to 8-3 one batter later as McMonigle homered to right, her first of the season.  
-After running into the bases-loaded jam in the fourth, Jennings closed strong, retiring 10 of the final 11 Jaguar batters that she faced.

NOTES
-The game versus the Panthers marked the third time the two programs have met in Sun Belt Conference tournament play.
-Georgia State now holds a 2-1 advantage in the three postseason meetings between the two clubs.
-Three of B. Reid's home runs this season have now come at Lamson Park.  She also had two in the regular season series versus Louisiana.
-B. Reid also became the 10th South Alabama player in program history to hit a home run in the Sun Belt Conference tournament
-Like game one of the day for the Jaguars, two of the three runs scored by South came with two outs.
-Kvistad's two hits gave the Jag freshman her 10th multi-hit game of the season
-The multi-hit game extended Todd's team-best tally to 18 games.  It was also the 62nd of her career.
-Of South Alabama's 32 home runs this season, 21 have been solo shots.  The Jags have also recorded 13 two-out home runs this season.
-The four-run third was the 12th "Big Inning" allowed by South Alabama this season.  The Jaguars are now 0-10 in games when allowing four or more runs in an inning.  It was the third time this season and opponent has score four or more runs in the third inning.
-The eight runs allowed by the Jaguars were the most runs given up in a Sun Belt Conference tournament game since USA surrendered 10 against Louisiana in a 10-0 loss to the Ragin' Cajuns on May 13, 2011.
-With her strikeout of McMonigle to lead off the bottom of the fourth, Brown tied former Jag Farish Beard for fourth place for single-season strikeouts and passed Beard with a strikeout of Morgan to end the inning.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the game: "I thought we got off to a good start.  Things go shaky for us in the middle and we never could recover.  Sometimes there are smart walks and sometimes there are bad walks.  We just gave up too many free bases.  Georgia State capitalized on those and came up with the big hit.  We had some bobbles defensively behind our pitchers and committed two errors that fed into that.  As good as we were in game one today against Georgia Southern, we came out in game two and weren't great.  The defensive plays we made in game one weren't there for us against Georgia State.  We didn't make the pitches where we needed to and we didn't have the at-bats when we needed to have them.  There's not magic formula for us, we just have to play better than the other team and we didn't do that tonight against Georgia State.  This time of year when you do that, you get beat.  Georgia State is a good team with a lot of offense, and we knew that going in.  Tomorrow, we will have to have some better at-bats."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_Jags. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Bullpen Club, the softball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  Members have access to purchase parking passes and receive Jaguar Softball gear.  All donations to the Bullpen Club go directly to support the South Alabama softball program.  For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/bullpenclub

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