Southern University

GULFPORT, Miss. — Southern University continued its dominant run through the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday at the Gulfport Sportsplex, earning two victories to advance to the SWAC Championship Game for the first time since 2009.
 
The Lady Jaguars opened the day with a 2-0 shutout victory over Texas Southern before rolling past Florida A&M, 8-0 in five innings, later in the afternoon.
 
Southern improved to 37-14 overall and moved within one win of capturing its first SWAC Tournament title since 2003.
 
Game One: Southern 2, Texas Southern 0
Southern once again leaned on outstanding pitching and timely offense to secure a 2-0 victory over Texas Southern in the opening game of the day.
 
Aaliyah Zabala set the tone early, delivering 5.2 scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and striking out five. Jordynn Jennings entered in relief and recorded four outs to preserve the shutout.
 
After three scoreless innings, the Lady Jaguars finally broke through in the fourth. Katiana Maldonado started the rally with a leadoff single before advancing on a sacrifice bunt by Laila Clark. Kira Manganello followed with an RBI single to center field to give Southern a 1-0 advantage.
 
Southern added an insurance run in the sixth inning when Asia George tripled down the right-field line and later scored on a Maldonado RBI groundout.
 
George finished 1-for-3 with a run scored, while Maldonado and Manganello each drove in a run. Abigail Mitchell and Calli Schell also added hits for the Jaguars.
 
Texas Southern threatened in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Southern's defense responded with timely plays, including a crucial inning-ending double play in the sixth, to seal the victory.
 
Game Two: Southern 8, Florida A&M 0 (5 Innings)
Despite battling through two lengthy rain delays, Southern never lost momentum, using a balanced offensive attack and another dominant performance from Zabala to defeat Florida A&M 8-0 in five innings in the semifinal round.
 
The Lady Jaguars totaled 12 hits and took advantage of five Florida A&M errors in the run-rule victory.
 
Southern struck first in the second inning when Ariel Burton scored following a throwing error by the Rattlers. Moments later, the game entered its first weather delay, which lasted nearly three hours.
 
Once play resumed, the Jaguars extended their lead in the third inning behind another offensive surge. Laila Clark singled and Abigail Mitchell doubled to help spark a three-run frame before another rain delay halted action for approximately two additional hours.
 
Mitchell paced the offense with a perfect 3-for-3 performance, adding a double and scoring twice. Clark recorded two hits and scored a run, while Ava Wallace finished with two hits and an RBI. Asia George delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon with a two-run double to center field in the fifth inning.
 
Southern broke the game open with four runs in the fifth inning to secure the run-rule victory.
Zabala dominated yet again in the circle, tossing a complete-game one-hitter while striking out three over five shutout innings to improve to 18-5 on the season.
 
Florida A&M managed just one hit as Southern played error-free defense throughout the contest.
 
Up Next
With the pair of victories, Southern advanced to the SWAC Tournament Championship Game and moved one step closer to an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Lady Jaguars will face Florida A&M in a winner-take-all championship game beginning at 4:00 p.m.
 
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