South Alabama Sports – Weekend Roundup
Baseball
South Alabama won the series in their first time facing Texas State 2-1.
In the first game, the Jags and the Bobcats went to the 13th inning before Drew LaBounty delivered a one-out RBI single to left field breaking the deadlock in the top of the inning to lead the Jaguars to a 5-4 win in the first game.
Ben Taylor earned the win (3-1) with 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief with only three hits, one walk and a career high six strikeouts.
The Jags had to rally to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning as they were trailing by one run. Justin Cullifer reached on a throwing error to lead off the inning. A sacrifice bunt by Matt Wojciechowski moved pinch runner Cole Jarman to second. LaBounty then hit a two-out RBI single to right field to score Jarman and tie the game at 4-4.
In game two Texas State’s Austen Williams threw a complete-game shutout to lead the Bobcats over the Jaguars 2-0.
Williams (4-1) only allowed four hits while striking out seven and only issuing one walk. USA’s Kevin Hill (2-4) also pitched a complete game in the loss. He allowed two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and four walks. Over the final five innings he only allowed two hits.
On Sunday, the Jaguars clinched the series with a 7-2 win.
USA scored in each of the first three innings of the game then added three more runs in the top of the ninth inning to secure the win.
Cole Gleason got on base with a two-out walk. He was followed by Hayden Jones’ single that bounced off of Bobcat pitcher Lucas Humpal. Mojciechowski then singled through the right side to score Gleason for an early 1-0.
The Jags added to their lead in the top of the second when Drew LaBounty led off the inning with a single to right field. He advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Tindell. Adam Ballew would drive Labounty in on a one-out RBI sincle to right field.
In the top of the third, Connor Hawthorne doubled down the left field line with two outs. LaBounty would drive him in with an RBI double to left center field as the Jags took a 3-0 lead.
Texas State would cut the lead to 3-2 and threatened more, but Hunter Soleymani worked himself out of the jam by inducing a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Ballew would drive in a run on a fielders choice in the sixth inning where Hawthorne would score from third base for the Jags to take a 4-2 lead.
The final runs of the game started when Ballew reached by being hit by a pitch and Cole Cummings reaching on a fielders choice. Gleason would hit a two-run double to the right center gap to score Ballew and Cummings. Wojciechowski would ground out to second for the second out of the inning, but it allowed Gleason to score for the final score of 7-2.
The team will travel to Thibodaux, Louisiana on Wednesday for a 6pm match-up with Nicholls State before a weekend series against Arkansas State at Eddie Stanky Field.
Softball
The #11 ranked Jaguars also faced Texas State over the weekend in San Marcos, Texas but the Bobcats took series 2-1 after splitting Saturday’s double-header.
In the opening game the Jags won 8-0 as Amanda Minahan went 2-for-4 with a record tying two home runs in a game while scoring three runs and three RBI. Stephanie Pilkington was 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
Hannah Campbell earned her 12th win of the season after striking out seven with no walks and only five hits for her fourth shutout of the season.
Freshman Holly McKinnon pitched 2/3 of an inning and struck out both batters she faced to end the game.
In game two the Jags fell 4-1 as the Bobcats jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. The Jags scored their only run when Chloe Rathburn’s triple drove in Blair Johnson, who led off the inning with a walk. Kaitlyn Griffith was hit by a pitch and Amanda Herron walked to load the bases but the Jags could not push any more runs across the plate.
On Sunday, the Jags stranded 10 runners in their 4-3 loss to Texas State.
The Jags fall to 30-6 overall and 8-2 in conference play. Texas State improves to 21-20 overall and 4-5 in conference play.
Three lead changes in the game would begin when TSU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
The Jags would respond in the top of the fourth when freshman Taylor Rodgers hit a two-run homer for a 2-1 lead, but it would be short lived.
Three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning would put the hosts ahead 4-2.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Jags would have runners on the corner, but could not produce a run. In the top of the seventh, Blair Johnson would lead off the inning with a single. Alex Breeden would reach on a two-out fielding error and allowing Johnson to score, but pinch runner Alyssa Linn would be thrown out at third base to finish the game.
Hannah Campbell took the loss (12-3) after giving up six hits and four runs, all earned, while striking out five and four walks.
The Jags will hope to get back on the winning side on wednesday when they host Mississippi State at Jaguar Field for a 6pm game.
Track and Field
USA men’s and women’s track and field teams broke a school record and earned four wins at the Tiger Classic in Auburn, Alabama.
Renaldo Frechou set the Jaguar record in the men’s hammer throw for the fourth time this season with a 63.87m on his sixth and final attempt. He earned the top individual honor int he 20-man field for the event.
Five Jags finished in the top 10 as Adam Patterson (58.37m) and Jeff Long (56.60m) placed third and fourth whiel Jarrod Kedzior and Jan-Louw Kotze finished ninth and tenth. Bobbie Williamson took third place with a 56.26m throw on her final try.
Noelle Jones won the Javelin with a throw of 44.08m. Ashton Pennington finished second with a throw of 39.97m. Sarah Petty finished fifth with a 37.73m throw. Robert King finished seventh for the men with a 53.05m throw.
Kotze won the discus throw in a field of 21 individuals with a throw of 55.25m.
Joe Gratton won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:35.56 for his first career win in the event.
All of the final results can be found here.