Kristina McCain enters her 16th season with the Jaguar program. She originally joined the staff in 2010 as a volunteer assistant coach, before moving into a full-time role a year later. In August 2021, McCain was promoted to associate head coach, and on September 1, 2023, she was promoted to senior associate head coach on the Jaguar staff.
McCain oversees both the hitter and slapper development, as well as infield defense. She assists Jaguar head coach Becky Clark in all phases of game-day strategy, player development and scouting, and oversees game-day filming. McCain also oversees both official and unofficial recruiting visits, as well as camp coordination.
Since moving into her full-time role in 2011, South Alabama has ranked either second or third in the conference in batting average on four occasions. USA ranked second in the Sun Belt in that category during the 2015 season, and was also second in the league in on-base percentage that same year.
Under McCain, South Alabama has led the Sun Belt in triples (2024, 2016, 2014, 2011), doubles (2013, 2012), hit-by-pitch (2014, 2013) and sac bunts (2013, 2012). During McCain’s time on campus, 19 of South Alabama’s 21 multi-home run games have come during that stretch.
South Alabama has also won three Sun Belt Conference tournament championships (’15, ’13, ’12) during that time and made six NCAA Regional appearances (2012-15, ’21 and ‘24) reaching the regional final on five occasions.
Over the course of her tenure at South Alabama, several Jaguars have ranked among the Sun Belt Conference’s best at the plate. USA has also had total of 40 position players earn all-Sun Belt accolades during her time with the program with 20 garnering first-team honors and 20 taking home second-team honors. South has also had 21 SBC player of the week selections during McCain’s time with the program, with Gabby Stagner and Mackenzie Brasher doing so during the 2024 season.
South Alabama lead the SBC in triples with 14 and the club’s .970 fielding percentage was tied for second-best in the conference.
Brasher - who earned all-SBC honors for the fourth time in her career - led the Sun Belt Conference and finished tied for 22nd nationally in stolen bases with 28. The Orange Beach, Ala., set program career marks in games played (231), starts (224) and stolen bases (87), while finishing her time in Mobile ranked second in hits (225), third in runs scored (144) and in the Top 10 in batting average during the 2024 campaign.
Gabby Stagner also set the new single-season home runs mark at South with 15, and ranked among the conference leaders as she was tied for fourth in triples (3), tied for fifth in doubles (14), slugging percentage (sixth, .694), OPS (seventh, 1.081), 10th in RBI (46). Olivia Branstetter also ranked fourth in the league in hit by pitch with nine.
For the third-straight season, South had a player reach double figures in sacrifice hits as Bailey Welch had 10, which were tied for third most in the SBC.
Victoria Ortiz and Meredith Keel were each named first-team all-league during the 2023 campaign, while Mackenzie Brasher took home second team honors. Ortiz (second team) and Keel (third team) also earned NFCA all-South Region honors.
Ortiz capped off her stellar career at the plate as she became the program’s all-time leader in extra-base hits (81), doubles (46) and career multi-RBI games (37), while ranking second in home runs and third in RBI. Ortiz also neared some single-season marks as she batted .349 with 22 extra-base hits and drove in 49 runs, the most by a player since the 2015 season.
Ortiz set a single-season reached base safely mark as she reached in 29-straight. The mark is second overall only to Brittany Fowler’s 34-game stretch, which covered the end of the 2012 season and the start of the 2013 campaign. Keel was close behind as she batted .342 and scored a team-high 43 runs, tied for seventh most in a season. The slap hitter at the top of the Jaguar lineup also drove in a career-high 30 runs and recorded three home runs.
Stagner nearly tied the program’s single-season doubles mark as she recorded 16, which were tied for the most in the SBC and the most by a Jag since the 2019 season. Stagner also became the first player in program history to record three grand slams at South in her career during the year. Sasha Willems and Marley Sims each recorded 10 sacrifice hits, which tied for sixth most in a season, and as a club, the Jags recorded 35 sacrifice hits.
Three players earned all-Sun Belt honors for the Jags in 2022; Brasher and Caroline Nichols were named first team, while Keel received second-team honors. Brasher was also named third-team all-South region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Led by Keel’s five, South Alabama recorded 14 triples during the 2022 campaign. The 14 triples tied the 2013 team for second most in a single season, while they were also second-most in the Sun Belt.
Ortiz led the club in 2022 with 26 extra-base hits, including 12 home runs and 12 doubles, while establishing a new single-season slugging percentage (.750) mark for the program.
Stagner earned Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honors after helping South sweep it’s conference-opening series at UTA where she recorded a pair of grand slams. Stagner drove in nine and recorded 10 total bases versus the Mavericks, and became just the fourth player in program history to record two for her career and the first to do so in back-to-back games.
Five of Stagner’s six home runs, 15 of her 21 hits and 20 of her 25 RBI came in league play during the year. Of her 25 RBI, 12 came with two outs, which were most on the Jaguar roster.
Kamdyn Kvistad concluded her Jaguar career as the program’s home run leader (36), while ranking second in RBI (128), third in multi-RBI games (31) and fifth in both hits (172) and extra-base hits (63).
During the 2021 season, Keel became the 10th position player to earn NFCA all-region honors after the Jag third baseman ranked 10th in the SBC in hits (54). Kvistad also tied for fourth in the SBC in home runs (11) and tied the program’s career home run as she hit her 28th versus Texas State in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Championships.
In 2019, the Jaguars posted some impressive offensive numbers as the club nearly tied the single-season mark for doubles, recording 76 and finishing one shy of the mark set by the 2012 squad. South also saw a power surge in its line up ending the season with 53 home runs, second-most in a season at USA.
South hit two or more home runs 12 times during the season with a season-high four in the series finale against Georgia State on April 13 and series finale at UL Monroe on April 20. The Jags also hit three on three occasions – vs. Mercer (Feb. 17), vs. Savannah State (March 2), at UL Monroe (4/19) and at UL Monroe (4/20). Nine players recorded at least one home run with eight of those finishing the season with three or more.
The Jaguars ranked second in the Sun Belt in doubles and third in home runs, batting average (.291), hits (388) and slugging percentage (.523).
Kennedy Cronan led the way with 11 long balls, which were tied for fourth-most in the SBC, tied two other players for second-most in a season and tied a freshman mark. Cronan also earned third-team NFCA all-region honors, marking the ninth-consecutive season in which a Jaguar has earned all-region accolades from the organization.
Brittani Reid and Ortiz also had impressive individual offensive seasons as the duo led the Sun Belt in doubles (17), and set the single-season program mark in that category. Both Reid and Ortiz earned Community Coffee Player of the Week honors during the season and were both named first-team all-league at year’s end, extending South’s streak of first-team honorees to six straight seasons in which one player on the Jag roster has done so.
Kaleigh Todd earned first-team honors for the third-straight season – one of only three players in program history to do so – during the 2018 season, while Haleigh Lowe picked up second-team honors. Todd also earned third-team all-South Region honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association for the second straight year.
Todd finished the 2018 campaign ranked second in the Sun Belt in batting average (.388), while her 69 hits were third-most in the conference. Todd also ranked among the league leaders in stolen bases (18 – T-fourth), on-base percentage (.432 – seventh) and sacrifice bunts (7 – T-ninth). Todd had a 14-game hit streak during the season, which was tied for the fifth longest in program history, while her 23-game reached base safely streak was tied for fourth longest.
Lowe hit .304 during the season – making her just the second player in program history to hit .300 or better all four years of her Jaguar career as she joined Brittany Fowler (2010-13). Lowe set individual personal single-season highs in hits (42), runs (20), doubles (7), triples, home runs (4), total bases (67) and RBI (31).
Lowe’s three triples in ’18 were tied with fellow Jag teammate Brittani Reid for third-most in the SBC, while B. Reid and Kamdyn Kvistad not only led the club with eight home runs apiece, but that total also tied for ninth in the conference. It marked the first time since the 2013 season that two players have combined to record 16 or more home runs in a single season. As a team, South Alabama was third in the Sun Belt in triples with eight. The 32 home runs hit by the Jaguars during the season were the most since hitting 37 during the 2015 season. The Jags had a power surge towards the end of the season, homering in 14 of their final 27 games, recording 26 in those contests.
During the 2018 season, Kvistad (3/27) and Lowe (4/24) earned Community Coffee Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honors. Todd also set new program marks in hits (231), batting average (.374), stolen bases (75) and multi-hit games (63). Todd also became the fifth player in program history to join the professional ranks as she was the 33rd overall selection by Moh-BEEL! USA in the Inaugural American Softball Association Draft.
Kvistad also became the first player in program history to record three home runs in a single game as she did so with a pair of solo shots and a two-run shot in game two of a doubleheader at Coastal Carolina on April 28. Katelyn Gruich also had a pair of home runs against Southern (4/11).
During the 2017 season, Todd ranked among the Sun Belt leaders in batting average (second – .398), triples (third – 4), hits (third – 74), stolen bases (third – 19), runs scored (seventh – 43) and on-base percentage (10th – .454). Her hit total also ranked 35th in the NCAA and ranked as the second-highest number in a single season, while her triples were third for a season. She set junior marks for batting average, at-bats, hits, triples and her 43 runs scored were third-most for that class.
Minahan blasted a team-high eight home runs moving her into a tie for third on the career list with 25. Her 114 career runs driven in were also fourth-most on the program lists.
Along with Todd’s first team nod in ’17, Kristian Foster and Amanda Minahan each captured second-team accolades. Todd was also selected to the NFCA all-South Region third team.
In 2016, Emily Messer (.429) and Todd (.415) ranked second and third, respectively, in batting average in the league. Their averages set new single-season best at USA and the duo was the first Jag hitters since Tara Donaldson (.401) in 2007 to hit above .400 in a season. Messer also ranked in the top 30 nationally in that category, while Todd was 53rd.
Todd and Messer also ranked fourth and fifth in on-base percentage with a .495 and .487 clip. Messer’s 76 hits were tied for most in the conference and also set a new program best, while Todd’s 68 hits were fourth-most in a season at USA and ranked seventh in the SBC.
Following her senior season, Messer was selected as the 31st overall pick in the 2015 National Pro Fastpitch Draft by the Akron Racers – the first Jaguar position player to be drafted.
During the 2015 season, Kaitlyn Griffith became the program’s single-season home run leader as she recorded 13.
McCain was also part of the Jaguar coaching staff which was selected as the NFCA Coaching Staff of the Year during the 2013 season.
McCain joined the program after two seasons coaching both Mortimer Jordan (Ala.) High School and the Birmingham Vipers. While at Mortimer Jordan, McCain helped lead the team to the 2009 Alabama class 5A state championship and a 2010 5A runner-up finish.
McCain also spent time as an assistant coach for the Birmingham Vipers club team, where she helped lead the 16-and-under team to a 13th-place finish at nationals and the 18-and-under team to a seventh-place finish.
The Birmingham, Ala., native graduated from Gardendale High School before attending Auburn University, where she lettered three years and received a freshman all-Southeastern Conference nod in 2004 and second-team all-SEC and all-South Region honors in 2006.
McCain finished amongst Auburn’s top 10 all-time in seven statistical career categories, including batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.457), on-base percentage (.440), hit-by-pitches (14), runs scored (129), hits (163) and stolen bases (30). She also finished in the top 10 of five single-season categories – batting average, on-base percentage, stolen bases, walks, and runs.
McCain graduated from Auburn in 2011 with a bachelors’ degree in art and criminology.
