Mobile Courant

CLEARWATER, Fla. | The South Alabama softball dropped a pair of contests Friday on the opening day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic held at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex.

In game one of the day, the Jags (0-2) fell in extra innings, 4-2 to Louisville (1-0), while Northwestern (1-0) rallied back in the top of the seventh to pick up an 8-5 win.

Mackenzie Brasher and Meredith Keel combined for eight hits in the two games, while also scoring three runs and driving in a pair. 

Jenna Hardy struck out 12 batters in her 9.2 innings of work in the circle.

POSTGAME QUOTES
South Alabama head coach Becky Clark
- On the first day: "We were in both games against two good teams today. There were some bright spots, and you see that it is there, but we were unable to put it all together. Our goal tomorrow will be to put all facets together and finish."

Game 1 – (RV) Louisville 4, South Alabama 2 (8 inn.)

Tied 1-1 after seven complete, Louisville posted three runs in the top of the eighth to retake the lead, with the big blow coming on Sarah Gordon's two-run double down the left field line.  South added a run in the bottom half to trim the deficit to 4-2 on a Meredith Keel sacrifice fly, but that was all the Jags were able to push across.

Keel reached base safely in all three of her plate appearances as she had a pair of hits, a walk, a stolen base and a RBI.

Scoring Summary
•    3rd Inn |Hanna File singled down the right field line, advanced to second on a throwing error by 2B; Korbe Otis scored, unearned. (0-1, UL)
•    3rd Inn | Victoria Ortiz reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to second on a throwing error by ss; Keel out at second ss unassisted; Mackenzie Brasher scored, unearned. (1-1, USA)
•    8th Inn | Taylor Roby doubled to left field, RBI; Otis scored (1-2, UL)
•    8th Inn | Gordon doubled down the left field line, 2 RBI (1-1 KB); Vanessa Miller scored, unearned; Mia Forsythe scored. (1-4, UL)
•    8th Inn | Keel fly out to left, sacrifice fly, RBI, Bailey Welch scored (2-4, USA)

Postgame Notes
•    Hardy struck out eight batters in four-and-two-thirds inning of work in the circle, surrendering just one unearned run
•    Of the six total runs scored in the contest, five were unearned
•    With her two-hit performance, Keel posted the 25th multi-hit game of her career, moving her into a three-way tie with former Jags Kaitlyn Griffith (2012-15) and MC Nichols (2017-20) for 22nd on the career list in the category
•    With her base hit, Brasher has now had a hit in each of her last three outings, dating back to last season
•    The meeting with Louisville was the first between the two clubs since 2018 and just the second in the all-time series

Game 2 – No. 6 Northwestern 8, South Alabama 5

South Alabama took a one-run lead into the top of the seventh, but sixth-ranked Northwestern posted its second four-run frame of the contest to rally back and defeat the Jaguars 8-5. Jordyn Rudd singled to left to tie the game at 5-5 with her fourth RBI of the game.  Cady then followed with a 2-run double to right center and Cuchran singled back up the middle to plate the next three runs.

Sasha Willems drove in three with a bases-clearing double in the Jag fifth and Mackenzie Brasher had a pair of hits and a RBI of her own in the loss.

Jaguars took a 1-0 lead as they pushed across an unearned run on Odalys Cordova's single to center and a two-base Wildcat fielding error, but sixth-ranked Northwestern answered back with a four spot of its own the next half inning to take the lead.

With two outs, Brasher battled back to work the count full after getting behind 0-2 with two outs in the bottom half of the fifth and then dropped in a single in shallow center to cut the deficit in half (4-2). Willems then delivered the big blow as she cleared the bases with a two-out double to left to give South the 5-4 advantage.

Scoring Summary
•    4th Inn | Cordova singled to center field, advanced to second on a fielding error by centerfield; Willlems, scored, unearned. (1-0, USA)
•    5th Inn | Rudd tripled to center field, 3 RBI (0-0); Angela Zedak scored; Skyler Shellmyer scored; Grace Nieto scored (1-3, NU)
•    5th Inn | Maeve Nelson singled through the left side, RBI; Rudd scored (1-4, NU)
•    5th Inn | Brasher singled to center field, RBI; Gabby Stagner scored. (2-4, USA)
•    5th Inn | Willlems doubled to left field, 3 RBI (0-2 FF); Keel scored; Brasher scored; Marley Sims scored (5-4, USA)
•    7th Inn | Rudd singled to left field, RBI; Shellmyer scored (5-5, NU)
•    7th Inn | Hannah Cady doubled to right center, 2 RBI; Nelson scored; Rudd scored (5-7, NU)
•    7th inn | Nikki Cuchran singled up the middle, RBI; Kansas Robinson scored (5-8, NU)

Postgame Notes
•    Of Northwestern's 10 hits, six came in two-out situations, while the Wildcats were also 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position
•    All four of Northwestern's runs in the top half of the fifth came with two outs
•    Four of South's six hits also came with two outs, after the Jags were 0-for-9 in the category in the opener 
•    Brasher was 2-for-4 at the plate to extend her hit streak to five games and record the 31st multi-hit game of her career
•    Brasher is now tied with Kristian Foster (2015-18) and Haleigh Lowe (2015-18) for 14th in the category
•    The meeting versus Northwestern was the first in the series since Feb. 15, 2014

Up Next
•    The Jaguars will continue play at the NFCA Leadoff Classic with a pair of games on Saturday when they take on St. John's at 12:30 pm (CT) and 12th-ranked Tennessee at 3 pm (CT).

FOLLOW THE JAGS
For complete coverage of South Alabama Softball, follow the Jags on social media @SouthAlabamaSB (Twitter), /SouthAlabamaSB (Facebook), @SouthAlabamaSB (Instagram) or visit the official home of South Alabama athletics at usajaguars.com. 

Original source can be found here.