MOBILE, Ala. — The South Alabama softball team went 3-1 at the South Alabama Invitational at Jaguar Field over the weekend, finishing with a walk-off win over Jacksonville on Sunday. The South Alabama baseball team lost all three of its games in a weekend round-robin tournament, and the Jaguar men’s basketball team fell at Georgia Southern.
Chattanooga Wins Opener
Chattanooga beat South Alabama 3-1 on Friday night behind left-hander Cori Jennings, who allowed seven hits and four walks.
The Jaguars took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Emily Messer walked, moved to second on an illegal pitch and scored on Chloe Rathburn’s single.
The Mocs took control in the top of the fourth when Criket Blanco hit a two-run homer after a one-out walk to Nicole Osterman. Osterman added a solo home run in the sixth.
South Alabama threatened in the fifth when Messer drew a one-out walk and Amanda Minahan singled, but two groundouts ended the inning. The Jaguars stranded five runners over the final three innings.
Devin Brown took the loss, allowing three earned runs on three hits with nine strikeouts and a season-high-tying five walks in 5 1/3 innings. Kalen McGill pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one hit with one strikeout.
Griffith Ties School Records
South Alabama earned two run-rule wins Saturday, beating Ball State 14-6 after a six-run sixth inning and blanking Sam Houston State 8-0 in five innings.
Kaitlyn Griffith tied school records against Ball State, going 3-for-3 with two home runs, six RBI and three runs scored. She added a seventh RBI in the nightcap.
Stephanie Pilkington was 4-for-6 on the day with three RBI and three runs. Sophomore Amanda Minahan went 3-for-6 with three runs scored, Amanda Herron drove in four runs and Blair Johnson scored three times.
Freshmen McGill (4-0) and Brown (5-2) earned the wins against Ball State and Sam Houston State, respectively.
Walk-Off Win Over Jacksonville
South Alabama closed the tournament Sunday with a 5-4 win over Jacksonville. Senior Alyssa Linn led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and advanced to second on an error, and Lowe singled through the left side to bring Linn home with the winning run.
McGill earned the win. Pilkington went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, Rathburn was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Messer was 1-for-5 with a run.
South Alabama (11-3) plays Samford on Wednesday before traveling to Columbia, S.C., for the Carolina Classic, where the Jaguars will face Charleston Southern, Tennessee State, Marshall and South Carolina.
Baseball Drops Three
The South Alabama baseball team lost 8-0 to Maryland on Friday night, 7-0 to Arkansas on Saturday night and 7-5 to Central Florida on Sunday.
The Jaguars play at Alabama State in Montgomery on Tuesday.
Basketball Falls at Georgia Southern
South Alabama lost 80-74 at Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga., as the Eagles used a 10-0 run late in the second half to pull away. Georgia Southern improved to 19-6 overall and 12-4 in the Sun Belt.
South Alabama fell to 9-19 overall and 7-10 in league play. The Jaguars are tied with Arkansas-Little Rock for sixth place in the conference, one game ahead of Appalachian State at 6-10. Only the top eight teams qualify for the Sun Belt Conference tournament, which begins March 12 in New Orleans.
South Alabama has three regular-season games remaining, beginning Thursday at the Mitchell Center against Louisiana-Monroe, which is in a three-way tie for first place in the conference at 12-4.
