Jags Baseball Fall In First Round Of SBC Tournament

May 22, 2014 · By · Filed Under Baseball · Comments Off on Jags Baseball Fall In First Round Of SBC Tournament 

The #7 seed Jaguars fell to the #2 seeded UT-Arlington Mavericks 8-4 on Wednesday night in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Eddie Stanky Field.

Mavericks righty Daniel Milliman (6-0) allowed three unearned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and five walks in the win. USA’s Ben Taylor (3-5) took the loss in 3 2/3 innings while allowing four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and four walks. Matt Bell threw 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and allowed just one hit while striking out three with only two walks.

The Mavericks led the Jags 4-0 entering the bottom of the fifth, but would double their lead in the inning after the leadoff hitter would get on base after being hit by a pitch, then moved to second on a bunt single. A walk would load the bases before Travis Sibley delivered a three run double down the left field line. An RBI double would score Sibley to increase the lead to 8-0.

In the top of the sixth, the Jags loaded the bases with two outs after a leadoff walk by Connor Hawthorne. Cameron Cummings would reach base on a fielding error by Sibley followed by Davis Knapp drawing a walk. Drew LaBounty would hit a two-out two-run single down the right field line to drive in Hawthorne and Cummings. DeGallier would double down the left field line to score Knapp and cut the Mavericks lead to 8-3.

In the top of the ninth, the Jags would plate their last run on a two-out RBI single by Hayden Jones.

USA will return to action on Thursday when they face #3 seeded Arkansas State at 12:30pm in an elimination game. ASU fell to #6 seeded Troy in the first round 4-3 in 13 innings prior to the Jagaurs game against UT-Arlington.

At 9:00 AM #5 seed Western Kentucky will face off against #8 seed UL Monroe in an elimination game.

Jaguar Softball Opens Regional Play Against USC Upstate On Friday

May 15, 2014 · By · Filed Under NCAA, Softball · Comments Off on Jaguar Softball Opens Regional Play Against USC Upstate On Friday 

USA-SoftballThe Jaguar softball team moved up one spot in the polls ahead of the start of Regional Play on Friday. The #21/22 ranked Jaguars will open against #24 ranked USC Upstate on Friday at 3:30pm on ESPN3 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The host, #2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, are hosting their 10th consecutive regional tournament and will open against SIU-Edwardsville at 6pm on Friday.

This will be the first meeting between the Jaguars and USC Upstate. The Jags enters with a 40-12 record while the Spartans, located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, enters with a 45-7 record and were eliminated by Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament.

This is the Jaguars third regional tournament appearance in as many years. They have reached the finals of each of the Regionals they have participated in over those three years as well.

Last season, the Jags hosted their first-ever regional and faced #19 Florida State after defeating Mississippi State in an elimination game. They ulitimately lost to the Seminoles 8-7 in eight innings.

The Jags lost to the Crimson Tide earlier in the season and look to revenge that loss and finally knotch a win against the Tide for the first time in program history.

Go Jags!

Jags Close Out Regular Season At Troy

May 15, 2014 · By · Filed Under Baseball, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Jags Close Out Regular Season At Troy 

USA Baseball begins their final regular-season series this evening at Troy. They get underway at 6pm today, Friday and Saturday. The first two games can be streamed through the Jaguars All-Access. The finale on Sunday will be broadcast by the Sun Belt Network on CSS and WatchESPN.com. It will also be covered on 105.5FM WNSP and WNSP.com.

The Jags (21-29, 10-16) are in the midst of a five game losing streak while Troy (22-29, 9-17) enters after losing six of their last seven games and 10 of its last 12.

The Jags look to stay in the top eight of the Sun Belt Conference standings as only the top eight of the ten conference teams will make the Sun Belt Conference Tournament that will be held at Eddie Stanky Field in Mobile, Alabama.

The two schools split a pair of games to open conference play earlier this season in Mobile.

USA’s James Traylor (1-2) will get his first start of the season in the series opener while the Trojans will start Shane McCain (4-4) for the 14th time this season. Locke St. John (6-2) will start game two while Troy’s Tanner Hicks (2-9) will get the start, he threw a complete-game shutout in the conference opener earlier this season at Eddie Stanky Field. Neither team has announced starters for the series finale.

Campbell Named To All-District Team; Hallford To Watch List; Golf Begin NCAA Play

May 14, 2014 · By · Filed Under Baseball, Golf, NCAA, Softball, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Campbell Named To All-District Team; Hallford To Watch List; Golf Begin NCAA Play 

newjagsmallUSA Softball’s Hannah Campbell, a senior, became the first Jaguar softball student-athlete in program history to earn Capital One Academic All-District honors as announced on Tuesday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The left-handed pitcher from Satsuma, Alabama earned first-team honors with a 3.47 GPA in Exercise Science which she just received her degree in.

She is currently ranked third in the nation in ERA with a 0.92 mark and walks allowed per seven innings (0.76) to lead the Jaguar pitching staff, which also leads the nation in overall ERA with a 1.28 mark.

She was drafted third overall in the 2014 National Pro Fastpitch Draft by the Akron Racers in March and will join them in August to become the first Jaguar softball player to move into the professional level and the first female student-athlete to be drafted professionally in program history.

First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America ballot where first, second and third team All-America honorees will be chosen later this month.

District 4, the district that Campbell was selected to, includes the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.

USA Baseball’s Brandon Hallford was named to the 2014 Gregg Olson Award watch list on Tuesday.

The award is named after the former Auburn All-American right-hander and presented by Toolshed Sports is awarded annually to college baseball’s breakout player. Olson became one of the top collegiate players in the nation after an initial season filled with only mixed success then went on to become a two-time All American, a first round draft pick, American League Rookie of the Year and MLB All-Star.

Hallford is one of 80 student-athletes named to the initial watch list which will be narrowed down to a list of semifinalists on May 30. The winner of the award will be named in Omaha, Nebraska during the College World Series held June 15-26.

In 16 appearances this season, he has a 3-2 record with seven saves while striking out 27 with 15 walks in 36 innings pitched. He is tied for third in the Sun Belt Conference in saves on the season as the team enters the final regular-season series of the year.

The South Alabama Men’s golf team begin playing in the NCAA East Regional on Thursday in their second-consecutive NCAA appearance.

Last year Tyler Klava led the Jags at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Baton Rouge as he tied for sixth place individually and won a playoff on the first hole to advance to the NCAA Championship and finish in the top half of the field.

Both Lane Hulse and Blake Kelley tied for 17th place by shooting a 224 while Michael Garretson shot 230 over the three days. They propelled the Jaguars to a sixth place finish in the team standings and just two strokes off of a playoff for the final spot in the national championship.

Track And FIeld SBC Championship Results

May 13, 2014 · By · Filed Under Sun Belt Conference, Track and Field · Comments Off on Track And FIeld SBC Championship Results 

SunBeltSecondaryLogo_2013The South Alabama Men’s and Women’s track and field teams finished third and fifth respectively in the Sun Belt Conference Championships in San Marcos, Texas over the weekend.

The men’s team gathered 132 points finishing behind first-place UT-Arlington (145 points) and runner-up Western Kentucky (138 points). This seasons finish was a two-place, 52.5 point improvement from last season’s finish in the championships.

The women earned 87.5 points with first place Western Kentucky finishing with 173 points.

Jan-Louw Kotze defended his men’s discus title with a 56.20m throw on his fourth try, which was over three meters longer than the next-closest measure in the 19-man field and earned 10 points for the team.

Freshman Michael Pienaar earned All-Conference honors Friday in the 10,000 meter run and followed that up with two more on Sunday with first place in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 3:49.93.

Freshman Kaitlyn Beans finished first place with All-Conference honors in the women’s triple jump with a 13.19m jump on her fourth attempt which set a new Jaguar record and the top jump of the conference this season. She improved on her personal best by more than seven-tenths of a meter.

A total of six Jaguar student-athletes earned conference championships on the weekend with Leah Hixon in Women’s Javelin, Renaldo Frechou in men’s hammer throw, and Noelle Jones’ heptathlon.

Connor Smith earned All-Conference honors for the second-consecutive season with a 5.02m pole vault to earn runner-up in the event.

Justin Housley earned All-Conference honors in the 800-meter run where he finished third with a time of 1:55.39.

Ravaughn Pope earned All-Conference honors after finishing third in the 110-meter hurdles and setting a person record with a time of 14.17 seconds, the second fastest time in Jaguar history.

In total, the Jaguars had 18 All-Conference performances with contributions from 17 different student-athletes, broke two school records and also broke a pair of conference-championship-meet records.

Jaguar Baseball Swept By #3 Ranked Louisiana-Lafayette

May 12, 2014 · By · Filed Under Baseball, NCAA, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Jaguar Baseball Swept By #3 Ranked Louisiana-Lafayette 

USABaseballThen #3 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns swept USA over the weekend to further improve their season record to 46-7 overall and 23-4 in conference play.

Friday night’s game was postponed due to rain which made for a double-header on Saturday.

In the first game, the Jags fell 5-2 as Cajun’ right-hander Austin Robichaux allowed only two unearned runs on two hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in seven innings.

In game two of the double-header on Saturday, ULL loaded the bases against USA’s Kevin Hill on a pair of singles and a walk before Greg Davis delivered a grand-slam home run to put the Cajuns up 4-0 early.

An RBI double in the fourth inning put the Cajuns up 5-0 then a two-run home run put the Cajuns firmly ahead 7-0 in the fifth inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Jags were down 7-0 when Drew LaBounty drew a walk, followed by a single by Andrew Tindell which was followed by another walk to DeGallier. Cummings then delivered with an RBI single to right-center to score the first run of the game. Cole Gleason then delivered a two-run single to score Tindell and DeGallier to cut the lead to 7-3.

Wojciechowski hit a single to score Cummings. Hawthorne walked to load the bases and put the tying run on base. Jones grounded out to shortstop for the first out of the inning but it scored Gleason to cut the lead to 7-5. Davis Knapp then hit a sacrifice fly to center which scored Wojciechowski and cut the lead to just one run. LaBounty hit a two-out RBI single to center which tied the game at 7-7 but the Jags could not muster any more damage the rest of the game.

In the top of the ninth, after a single and a stolen base, Greg Davis delivered a two-out RBI single to right field for the eventual game winning run.

The Cajuns completed the sweep on Sunday with a 13-3 win. Hunter Soleymani took the loss in 2 2/3 innings after allowing six runs on eight hits with one strikeout.

The Jags go on the road for their final series of the regular season when they play Troy on Thursday through Saturday, each game scheduled for 6pm in Troy.

With three games left, Lafayette is secure in the #1 seed with a 23-4 record. Arkansas State currently holds onto second with a 17-10 record, followed by Texas State at 3rd with a 16-11 record, followed by UT-Arlington in fourth with a 15-11 record, currently fifth is Western Kentucky with a 13-13 record, followed a three way tie for sixth between Georgia State, South Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe all at 10-6. Troy is just outside of the top-eight in ninth place with a 9-17 record and UALR is right behind them in 10th with a 9-18 record.

The top eight schools will play in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to be held at Eddie Stanky Field on May 21 through May 25.

Jaguar Softball To Play In Tuscaloosa Regional This Weekend

May 12, 2014 · By · Filed Under NCAA, Softball, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Jaguar Softball To Play In Tuscaloosa Regional This Weekend 

NCAA_LogoThe South Alabama Jaguar Softball team, fresh back after their loss in the SBC Championship game, found out the next step in their postseason plans on Sunday. They will be playing in the Tuscaloosa Regional this weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

This is the third consecutive season the Jaguars will participate in the National tournament and the second in three years they will be playing in Tuscaloosa. In 2012 the Jags advanced to the finals of the regional stage before falling to Alabama, who eventually won the Women’s College World Series title.

South Alabama (40-12) will open on Friday against USC Upstate (45-7) at 3:30pm Central. This will be the first meeting between the two schools. USC Upstate has been ranked in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls for the last five weeks and for a total of six weeks this season. They broke their previous Division I school record of 42 wins this season.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

The #2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide won its fourth SEC regular-season title in the last five years and has been the #2 seed in three of the last four years. The Jags are 0-9 all-time against the Tide and 0-6 in Tuscaloosa with their most recent loss being a 3-0 loss on April 2. In 2012 for the Tuscaloosa Regional, the Jags bookended a 5-2 loss to the tide with 4-3 and 10-1 wins over Georgia Tech to earn a spot in the championship game against the Tide again, but lost 6-0.

The Jags are 0-1 all time against SIU-Edwardsville after falling to them 2-1 last season in the Bulldog Classic in Starkville, Mississippi. The Jags then reeled off a 12-game winning streak afterwards. SIUE are 30-21 on the season and earned an automatic berth after defeating Murray State 12-1 in six innings to claim the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title.

South Alabama’s head coach Becky Clark spoke about her team’s placement in the 2014 Regionals, “Everyone always asks, ‘Where do you want to go, and who do you hope you’ll get?’ I don’t get caught up in all that. [The selection committee] tells you where to go, and you go there and compete. We’re very grateful to be in the postseason, and we look forward to getting back on the field and competing.”

She continued, “We play [Alabama] during the regular season every year, because we know there’s a chance we’ll see them in a regional tournament. It helps from the standpoint that we’ve already played them on their field this year, and that’s why we make the trek up there for a midweek. They always have a great crowd and atmosphere. We know it’ll be the same this year. The crowd this past weekend at ULL [for the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Tournament] was loud and passionate, and we know we’ll get the same thing in Tuscaloosa. We’re looking forward to it.”

The Oregon Ducks earned the #1 seed overall in the 64-team tournament. Alabama will play SIUE in the first round of the Tuscaloosa Regional taking place this weekend, May 17-19.

Auburn will play in the Minneapolis Regional facing North Dakota State and in the same regional as #16 seed Minnesota and Green Bay. The #8 seed Florida State Seminoles will host the Tallahassee Regional with Fordam, South Caroline and South Florida attending.

SBC Tournament winner Louisiana-Lafayette will host the Lafayette Regional on May 16-18. The #6 seed Ragin’ Cajuns will open against Texas Southern while Texas will play Mississippi State in the first round.

For a full rundown of the entire 64-team field and regional locations, visit the NCAA Website here.

Jags Fall In SBC Championship Game 4-1

May 12, 2014 · By · Filed Under NCAA, Softball, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Jags Fall In SBC Championship Game 4-1 

USA-SoftballThe #12 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns ended the #22 ranked South Alabama Jaguars chance at a three-peat at Sun Belt Conference Tournament Champions on Saturday with a 4-1 win.

The Jags and the Cajuns both scored runs in the first inning before Farish Beard retired 11 straight ULL batters. But then in the sixth inning after back-to-back singles, Shelbi Redfearn lifted Beard’s pitch over the left field wall for a three-run homer.

The Cajuns rebounded after falling to the Jags in eight innings the day before on a two-run homer by Blair Johnson. They then defeated ULM to earn the right to face the Jags again in the winner-take-all Championship game.

Three Jaguars were named to the 2014 SBC Softball All-Tournament team. Senior Hannah Campbell, Sophomore Emily Messer and Freshman Amanda Minahan. Two from UL-Monroe Samantha Hamby and Miyuki Navarrette, Olivia Watkins from Western Kentucky and four from UL-Lafayette in CHristina Hamilton, Shelbi Redfearn, Samantha Walsh and Most Outstanding Player Lexie Elkins.

Ragin’ Cajuns Eliminates ULM; Advances To SBC Championship Game

May 10, 2014 · By · Filed Under NCAA, Softball, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Ragin’ Cajuns Eliminates ULM; Advances To SBC Championship Game 

2014-SBC-Championship-SB

The top seed in the SBC Tournament won the elimination game between themselves and #6 seed UL-Monroe 14-6 in game 9 of the 2014 Sun Belt Conference tournament and to advance to the SBC Championship game.

ULL will face #2 seeded South Alabama again who snapped the 13-game winning of the Cajuns earlier in the day by a score of 4-2.

The Cajuns (43-8-1) are now tied with the Jaguars 2-2 in the season series after they won the regular-season series 2-1.

After taking a two-run lead in the second inning, the Warhawks responded with a five-run second inning with two RBI singles followed by a three-run homer. But in the top of the third the Cajuns would respond back with their first of what will be 12 unanswered runs.

The Warhawks would only manage one run in the bottom of the seventh inning but not could not manage any more as they were eliminated from the tournament.

This set ups another meeting between the top two teams in the Sun Belt on Saturday at 3pm. The game will be televised on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app.

2014SB_champbracket_Day4

Jags Defeat Top Seeded UL-Lafayette In Extra Innings; Advances To SBC Championship Game

May 10, 2014 · By · Filed Under NCAA, Softball, Sun Belt Conference · Comments Off on Jags Defeat Top Seeded UL-Lafayette In Extra Innings; Advances To SBC Championship Game 
Blair Johnson's two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning gave the Jaguars the winning margin over top seeded UL-Lafayette to advance to the championship game as they attempt to win their third-consecutive SBC Tournament Title. | photo by: sunbeltsports.org

Blair Johnson’s two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning gave the Jaguars the winning margin over top seeded UL-Lafayette to advance to the championship game as they attempt to win their third-consecutive SBC Tournament Title. | photo by: sunbeltsports.org

A pair of two-run home runs by Amanda Minahan and Blair Johnson pushed #2 seeded and #22 ranked South Alabama Jaguars past #1 seeded and #12 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette 4-2 to advance to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship game.

Hannah Campbell tossed a complete game as she struck out three with one walk and allowing two runs, only one earned, on 12 hits to improve to 17-5 on the season while lowering her ERA to 0.93.

South Alabama (40-11) is on the cusp of earning their third-consecutive SBC Tournament title after they snapped ULL’s 13-game winning streak while holding the Cajuns to their lowest run total in 39 games.

Lafayette was the first on the board in the bottom of the second inning when Shelbi Redfearn scored on a one-out, bases loaded passed ball after back-to-back singles and a walk. But Campbell prevented any further scores by forcing consecutive pop-ups.

Over the next five innings the Cajuns would strand five runners to the Jaguars two. The Jaguars would threaten to tie in the sixth inning after Emily Messer singled, then advanced to second on a Kaitlyn Griffith sacrifice, then advanced to third on Stephanie Pilkington’s groundout to second base. This brought up Blair Johnson with two-outs but a fly out down the right field line would end the inning.

USA was finally able to break their shutout when Amanda Minahan lifted a one-out pitch over the left-center wall for a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning to take a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh inning the Cajuns were threatining with three-consecutive no-out singles with the last tying the game at 2-2. A fourth single loaded the bases before Campbell forced two popups and a foul out to survive and force extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, the same scenerio occured that happened in the sixth inning. Messer singled, moved to second on a Griffith sacrifice, advanced to third on a Pilkington groundout to bring up Johnson. But this time the junior smashed a two-out pitch over the right-center wall for a two-run homer to take a 4-2 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, Campbell fielded a grounder and threw out the runner at first base to end the game.

Christina Hamilton fell to 23-3 on the season after giving up four runs, all earned, on six hits.

Minahan and Messer accounted for four of the Jaguars six hits as they led the Jaguars at the plate by both going 2-for-3 and combining for two runs and two RBI. Johnson went 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI, the winning margin in extra innings. Chloe Rathburn was 1-for-4 with Gwen Jones pinch-running for her which eventually scoring the Jaguars first run on Minahan’s home run.

They advance to the championship game to face Lafayette again after they eliminated #6 UL-Monroe in game 9.

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