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Photo courtesy South Alabama Softball
Olivia Lackie and her South Alabama teammates needed a win.
The Jaguars opened Sun Belt Conference play at home against preseason favorite Louisiana and the Ragin’ Cajuns swept the three-game series at Jaguar Field.
Then South Alabama went on the road to face Louisiana Monroe in its first Sun Belt road trip of the season.
And Lackie responded.
The senior threw a no-hitter, and the Jaguars took advantage of a ULM error to plate a run in the second inning, which was more than enough for Lackie to secure a 1-0 victory.
It was the fifth no-hitter Lackie has thrown in her South Alabama career and helped spark the Jaguars.
South Alabama posted a 10-2 win in game two of the series and then found a way to beat the Warhawks 5-4 in 13 innings to finish off the sweep.
“I think it was really important for us to kind of regain that confidence with the ULM series and just go out there and compete and give it everything we have,” Lackie said. “And especially that 13-inning game on Sunday, it showed us that we have the grit, and we have what it takes to dig in and just fight until the end, until we can figure it out and figure out how to push a run across.”
Now that the Jaguars have resumed their winning ways in the Sun Belt, they face another significant challenge this weekend as they welcome Texas State, ranked 17th in the Top 25 poll by Softball America, to Jaguar Field.
“I think the key for us is to look within ourselves and figure out how to work together and how to dig in and fight and compete every pitch and battle every pitch and try and win every single pitch that you can,” said Lackie. “Like a lot of the biggest things that for us that we’ve been saying right now is team. Make it about the team and trust your process. So, I think those are like the two biggest keys for us right now.”
And for the Walker, La., native that means trusting the process that has helped her post a 12-5 record and a 1.74 earned run average this season.
“Trusting the process for me means trusting the preparation that I’ve done in the bullpen on practice days, everything that I’ve done to work up to that moment when I’m in the circle. So, it’s just like trusting the work that I’ve done to get me where I am.”
One of the best pitchers in the country is where she is.
Lackie ranks among the NCAA Division I career leaders in nine different categories. Through games of March 25, she ranks second in solo shutouts (30), seventh in strikeouts (789), ninth in strikeouts per seven innings (8.59), ninth in complete games (63), 11th in innings pitched (643.0), tied for 12th in wins (66), tied for 15th in pitching appearances (131), tied for 22nd in earned run average (1.94), and tied for 23rd in saves (9).
She also was ranked as the 10th-best pitcher in the nation by Softball America this season and became the first player in South Alabama history to be named Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year when she earned the honor last year.
And this weekend, Lackie will see a familiar foe in the circle for Texas State in Jessica Mullins. There may not be a better pitching matchup anywhere in the country than in Mobile, Ala., this weekend.
“I think what makes Jessica Mullins good is that she’s got confidence about her. She exudes confidence and even when things aren’t going her way, she’s still very confident. I admire that about her, and even when things aren’t going her way, you wouldn’t be able to tell if you looked out at her on the field and not the scoreboard. So, I think that’s something that I could work on to be better at and it’s awesome that she has figured out.”
Lackie holds a 3-2 advantage in the head-to-head meetings in which both aces appeared in the game. Last season in San Marcos, Texas, Lackie posted two wins against Mullins helping lead the Jaguars to a series win.
Mullins got the better of the matchup in 2022 as she posted a 2-1 record against Lackie, while Lackie had a save against the Bobcats in 2021. Lackie also picked up a victory against Texas State during the 2021 season, but Mullins did not make an appearance in that contest.
Facing off against Mullins, or any of the top pitchers in the Sun Belt, is a challenge that Lackie embraces.
“I always enjoy the challenge and the competition, and I like to see like how I can compete against other great pitchers in the Sun Belt. And when I go head-to-head with other great pitchers, I just it makes me work harder. It makes me want to be better. So, I really appreciate those games where I get to go against other great pitchers like Jessica Mullins or Sam Landry.”
But rising to the challenge is not limited to just the Sun Belt as Lackie and her teammates have defeated Notre Dame, South Carolina, Alabama and Arkansas this season.
“I think that tells us that we don’t think any challenge is too big. We’re willing to go out there and compete with the best of the best and show that we are good enough.”
The Jaguars are certainly good enough and are building an NCAA Tournament resume currently ranking in the top 50 nationally in RPI.
The challenge will not be maintaining the RPI, but rather securing wins in an ultra-competitive Sun Belt Conference.
Six teams, led by Texas State at 11, Louisiana at 18 and South Alabama at 41, are ranked in the top 100 nationally in the RPI.
“I think what makes the Sun Belt so good is obviously we’ve got great pitching from Louisiana to Texas State to South Alabama. There’s a lot of schools in the Sun Belt with really great pitching and Louisiana has great hitters while Texas State defense has been on fire.
“So, there’s multiple things from different teams that come together to make the Sun Belt super hard to play in. And there is not one team that is a cakewalk. There are just gritty teams in the Sun Belt that know how to fight and compete.”
As the Jaguars push towards an NCAA Tournament berth, they can reflect on the joy of reaching the tournament field and the heartbreak of being left out of the tournament.
In 2021, South Alabama earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament after finishing as the runner-up in the Sun Belt Tournament. The Jaguars played in the Gainesville Regional and defeated Baylor behind a two-hit shutout from Lackie in their opening game before dropping games to Florida and South Florida.
“I think it helped because I knew what it looked like to be in a really tough regional. And how hard you have to work for each and every game because no team there is just a cakewalk. So, I think it showed me what it meant to really compete and fight every single game because none of them are going to be given to you.”
Last season, South Alabama posted a 39-14 overall record, had a 20-4 mark in the Sun Belt, advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament and still saw its bubble burst on selection day.
“I think it would mean a whole lot to this team, especially because last year we were on the bubble, and we ended up coming up short and for a lot of us that was really heartbreaking to see our season come to an end because we were unsure.
“We were in a place of not knowing whether or not we were going to go. And so, we are really making an effort this year for us to not be in that position. So, I think getting back into the NCAA regional or just the NCAA tournament would be huge for all of us.”
All three games of the South Alabama-Texas State series can be seen on ESPN+
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