South Alabama Sports – Weekend Update
Baseball
The South Alabama baseball team had a tough weekend in their round-robin tournament by going 0-3 in their three games played.
Friday night USA lost to Maryland 0-8, then to Arkansas Saturday night 0-7 and then to Central Florida 5-7 on Sunday to end the weekend. They will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday in Montgomery against Alabama State.
Softball
The Jaguar softball team finished the weekend 3-1 in four games in the South Alabama Invitational at Jaguar Field.
Tennessee-Chattanooga defeated USA on Friday night 1-3 on left hander Cori Jennings’ who allowed seven hits and four walks. The Jags jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning but left five runners stranded through the final three innings.
The Mocs took control of the game in the top of the fourth inning on Criket Blanco’s two-run shot after a one-out walk put Nicole Osterman on base. In the top of the sixth, Osterman his a solo homer for an insurance run.
Devin Brown took the loss after allowing three runs, all earned, on three hits. She struck out nine with a season-high-tying five walks in 5 1/3 innings. Kalen McGill pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief with one strikeout and one hit.
Emily Messer drew a walk to get on base in the bottom of the first. She advanced to second on an illegal pitch. Chloe Rathburn then singled to drive in Messer.
The Jags threatened in the fifth after Messer drew a one-out walk followed by Amanada Minahan’s single, but a pair of groundouts ended the threat.
On Saturday, the Jags earned run-rule victories in both games they played. USA defeated Ball State 14-6 after a six-run sixth inning.
In the nightcap, the Jags defeated Sam Houston State 8-0 in five innings.
Stephanie Pilkington went 4-of-6 on Saturday with three RBI and three runs scored. Kaitlyn Griffith tied USA records against Ball State after going 3-for-3 with six RBI, three runs scored and a pair of home runs. She added a seventh RBI on the day in the nightcap.
Sophomore Amanda Minahan was 3-of-6 on the day with three runs scored. Amanda Herron had four RBI while Blair Johnson scored three runs.
Freshmen Kalen McGill (4-0) and Devin Brown (5-2) earned the wins on Saturday against the Cardinals and the Bearkats respectively.
On Sunday, USA finished off the weekend tournament with a 5-4 walkoff win against Jacksonville University.
Senior Alyssa Linn lead off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single. She advanced to second on a fielding error. Lowe singled through the left side to score Linn from second base to win the game.
McGill earned the win from the pitchers circle. Pilkington added to her weekend numbers by going 2-of-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Rathburn went 2-of-4 with an RBI and Messer was 1-of-5 with a run scored.
South Alabama (11-3) will face Samford University on Wednesday before departing for Columbia, SC for the 2015 Carolina Classic where the Jags will face Charleston Southern, Tennessee State, Marshall and South Carolina over the weekend.
Men’s Basketball
The Jags could not hold off a late run by Georgia Southern in Stateboro and lost 74-80. A 10-0 run late in the second half turned the game around for the Eagles as they improve to 19-6 overall and 12-4 in SBC play.
South Alabama falls to 9-19 overall and 7-10 in SBC play. The Jags currently are in a tie for sixth place in the conference with Arkansas-Little Rock with Appalachian State one game behind them at 6-10 in SBC play.
Only the top eight teams will participate in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament starting March 12 in New Orleans, LA.
USA has only three more regular season games remaining starting by hosting Louisiana-Monroe on Thursday at the Mitchell Center. ULM is in a three-way tie for first in the conference with a 12-4 record in SBC play.