Jaguar teams combine for 8-0 weekend on the diamond
South Alabama executed a pair of weekend sweeps on the diamonds with the Baseball team sweeping their home series against Brown University and the Softball team sweeping their four games in the 2015 Carolina Classic.
Baseball
The Jags swept the four game series against Brown University at Eddie Stanky field. The first of two games on Saturday saw the Jaguar trailing by as much as 10-2 but battled their way back over the final six innings with a three run ninth inning to send the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the ninth, the Jags Matt Bolger delivered the game-winning hit to center field to score the winning run for the final score of 13-12.
In the first game, the Jags won 9-7 but after the 13-12 win on Saturday, the Jags went on a tear. They won the second of two games on Saturday 7-0 then on Sunday they finished the weekend sweep with a 21-1 walloping.
USA scored eight runs in the fifth inning as they scored the most runs in a game since the 2013 team scored a single-game record of 29 runs against New Orleans. Eight Jaguars recorded at least one hit with freshman Jason Cryar leading the team by going 5-for-6 with four RBI and two runs scored in his first collegiate start.
The Jags will host Southern Miss on Tuesday with a 6:30pm start.
Softball
The Jaguar softball team swept their four-game weekend trip to Columbia, SC. The first game saw Chloe Rathburn high a walk-off double which scored Kaleight Todd from second base in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the win over Charleston Southern. Kalen McGill (6-0) got the win.
On Saturday was a 6-3 win over Tennessee State. The Jags jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning and would go on to score three more runs to take a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Charleston Southern attempted a comeback but only managed three runs before the Jaguars ended the threat and cruised the rest of the way for the 6-3 win. Devin Brown (6-2) earned teh win.
In the first of two games on Sunday, the Jags defeated Marshall University 5-3 but did it in walk-off fashion yet again.
Emily Messer singled up the middle to score Haleigh Lowe and tie the game. Then Kristian Foster delivered a two-run walk-off homer to end the game.
The Jags then turned around and faced the University of South Carolina in the finale. The Jags jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first after Chloe Rathburn doubled to left center field to score Emily Messer and move Stephanie Pilkington to third base. Blair Johnson grounded out to second base scoring Pilkington and advancing Rathburn to third. Kaitlyn Griffith finished the scoring in the inning with a single to right field to drive in Rathburn.
The Gamecocks scored one run in the bottom of the first. USA would add an insurance run in the top of the sixth when Emily Messer singled to shortstop to score Herron for the final score of 4-1.
The Jags will have the week off before returning to the field on Saturday for the first two games of a three-game weekend series to open up the conference schedule against Louisiana-lafayette.
Freddie Roach leaving USA reportedly for off-field position at Alabama
South Alabama assistant coach Freddie Roach has left the Jaguar program, reportedly for a position at the University of Alabama. | Photo: usajaguars.com
Assistant coach Freddie Roach has accepted an unspecified position at the University of Alabama per reports by FootballScoop.com and AL.com. For the past two seasons he coached outside linebackers and defensive ends for the Jaguars.
Alabama currently does not have an on-field coaching position open, so it is likely that he is taking an off-field position.
Roach played linebacker at Alabama from 2002-2005 and returned as an assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2008-2010. He then spent a year at East Mississippi Community College in 2011 serving as the defensive line coach and strength and conditioning assistant at Murray State in 2012. He then came to South Alabama.
South Alabama Assistant Director of Media Relations Brian Fremund confirmed to AL.com that Roach has left the Jaguar staff.
Roach is the only defensive assistant to leave the program this off season. After the conclusion of the regular season, Robert Matthews was dismissed and replaced by former UAB offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent.
After the Jaguars first bowl game, head coach Joey Jones dismissed tight ends coach John Turner and running backs coach Robby Brown. Jones and Vincent brought in former UAB assistant Richard Owens to coach tight ends and former Alabama recruiting coordinator Tyler Siskey to coach the receivers, which shifted Tim Bowen from receivers to running backs coach.
USA Men’s Golf finish 2nd behind #22 Auburn in Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate
Photo: Mike Kittrell al.com
South Alabama Men’s Golf finished the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate with a second consecutive round under-par but it was not quite enough to hold off the top-ranked team in the field as USA finished second.
Daniel Jansen, Michael Garretson, and Tyler Klava led the Jaguar team to their best finish of the season.
Jansen finished with a 4-under 68 and finished one shot behind the individual winners of the tournament with a 4-under-par 212 total. Garretson carded a 70 while Klava carded a 72 to join Jansen in the top 10.
The Jags finished eight strokes behind #22 Auburn, who earned the team title for the third consecutive year. Ole Miss finished five shots behind South Alabama with Michigan State and Louisiana Tech rounding out the top 5.
Jags Rally With Six runs in final three innings to defeat ASU
The South Alabama baseball team traveled to Montgomery and had rally from behind in the final three innings to defeat Alabama State 6-3.
The Jags (5-3) was down 0-3 through six innings but the Jaguars rallied with six runs over those final three innings to earn the win over Alabama State (3-4).
Early in the game USA had a number of opportunities with runners in scoring position, but they could not take advantage.
ASU threatened to add to its run total in the bottom of the sixth, but a strikeout followed by a flyout to center and another strikeout ended the threat.
South Alabama returns to Eddie Stanky Field this weekend to host Brown for a four-game series starting on Friday at 6:30pm.
Kaitlyn Griffith Name SBC Player of the Week
Griffith, a senior from Centre, AL, earned SBC Player of the Week honors after batting .467 with nine RBI, four runs scored and two home runs. She also tied a school game record with six RBI against Ball State with two home runs. | Photo: usajaguars.com
Senior Kaitlyn Griffith of the #22 ranked South Alabama softball team was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Monday. She helped lead the Jaguars to four wins in five games by tallying nine RBI and a .933 slugging percentage.
She batted .467 (7-for-15) in those five games last week with nine RBI, four runs scored, two home runs and a sacrifice fly. She also tied two Jaguar game records in their 14-6 win over 2014 Mid-American Conference Champion Ball State when she has two home runs and a career high six RBI. Griffith’s six RBI in the game was the most since former Jaguar standout Britany Campbell drove in six run against Southeast Louisiana on March 7, 2012.
Griffith also drew a key two-out walk against Nicholls State to load the bases for South Alabama’s go-ahead run.
Through 14 games she has 14 RBI this season and has moved into a tie for fifth in career home runs.
Griffith is the Jaguars second student-athlete to earn weekly conference honors in three voting periods so far this season. Freshman Devin Brown was selected as the SBC Pitcher of the Week on February 9, the first voting period of the season.
South Alabama will host Samford on Wednesday at Jaguar Field with first pitch scheduled for 5pm.
Jaguar Men’s Golf hold One-Shot Lead Going Into Final Round of Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate
Photo: Mike Kittrell al.com
The South Alabama men’s golf team improved by 16-strokes from their first-round total to take a one-shot lead heading into the final day of the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate.
Daniel Jansen, Michael Garretson and Tyler Klava each shot 70 or better over the second 18 holes on Monday with Matt Sheehan and Ally Purdy both shooting a 74 as the jags posted a 5-under-par 283 in the second round.
The Jags are one shot ahead of 22nd ranked Auburn and Ole Miss with the three schools scheduled to play together in Tuesday’s final round at Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course. They will begin at 10am with a shotgun start, two hours later than originally scheduled.
Team Scores:
1) South Alabama 299-283—582 (+6);
T2) Auburn 291-292—583;
T2) Mississippi 292-291—583;
4) Memphis 302-285—587;
5) Louisiana Tech 294-294—588;
6) Michigan State 302-288—590;
7) Middle Tennessee 300-296—596;
8) Texas State 303-294—597;
T9) Davidson 307-298—605;
T9) Southern Mississippi 302-303—605;
T11) Mississippi State 309-298—607;
T11) Kentucky 309-298—607;
13) Western Kentucky 318-294—612;
14) Belmont 311-303—614;
15) Illinois State 321-302—623.
Individual Leaders:
1) Tyler Saunders, TXST 72-66—138 (-6);
2) Matt Gilchrest, Aub 74-67—141;
3) Blake Morris, Miss 73-69—142;
T4) Ben Robinson, Tech 71-72—143;
T4) Thomas Perrot, Mem 74-69—143;
T6) Daniel Jansen, USA 75-69—144;
T6) Mitch Rutledge, Mich St 76-68—144;
T6) Ashton Van Horne, BU 74-70—144;
T9) five individuals with 145.
South Alabama Scores:
T6) Daniel Jansen 75-69—144 (E);
T9) Michael Garretson 75-70—145;
T9) Tyler Klava 75-70—145;
T34) Matt Sheehan 74-77—151;
T40) Ally Purdy 78-74—152.
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.
South Alabama Sports Weekend Preview
Preview of weekend sports for South Alabama athletics. There are plenty of games happening this weekend on campus. Come out and cheer on the Jaguars.
Men’s Basketball
With just four games left in the regular season the Jaguars are sitting in sixth place in the conference standings, which is key as only the top eight are invited to participate in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans.
South Alabama (9-18, 7-9 SBC), coming off a 79-51 loss to Georgia State, will face the top two teams and the bottom two teams in the conference standing to finish out the regular season over these next four games. The first opponent is second-place Georgia Southern (18-6, 11-4 SBC) in Stateboro, GA. on Saturday.
Softball
The #22 ranked South Alabama softball team, fresh off of their seventh consecutive win at Nicholls State on Wednesday, will host the 2015 South Alabama Invitational at Jaguar Field this weekend.
The Jags (8-2) will host Chattanooga, Ball State, Sam Houston State and Jacksonville for the weekend. They will face UT-Chatanooga on Friday at 6pm. On Saturday they will face Ball State at 1:30pm then Sam Houston State at 6pm. Then finish out the weekend slate against Jacksonville University at 1:30 on Sunday.
Baseball
The Jags baseball, who are undefeated through their first four games of the season after defeating Auburn 7-4 on Tuesday, will host three top-25 teams over the weekend at Eddie Stanky Field.
The round-robin format tournament will have the Jags, #13 Maryland, #16 Arkansas and #22 Central Florida all play three games in three days.
Arkansas and UCF will start at 2pm on Friday, followed by Maryland and South Alabama at 6:30pm.
On Saturday Maryland will face UCF at 2pm followed by USA and Arkansas at 6:30pm. Maryland and Arkansas will play at 10am on Sunday with USA and UCF starting at 2pm.
Jaguar Baseball Defeats Auburn 7-4
Junior Austin Bembnowski threw eight scoreless innings in relief to lead the Jaguar baseball team a 7-4 win over Auburn at Eddie Stanky Field Tuesday night and to a 4-0 record so far this season. He retired 13 of the first 14 Tigers he faced, and allowed only three hits and two walks while striking out six.
Auburn lept out to a three run lead in the top of the first inning as Jaguar starter Jared Gates walked the first two batters of the game. Both baserunners moved up one base on a sacrifice bunt by Jordon Ebert. Then Bo Decker hit a two-run double down the left field line to go up 2-0. Cody Nulph hit an RBI single through the right side of the infield to plate Decker for the 3-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the first, the Jaguar loaded the bases with one out after a single by Garrett DeGallier. Cole Gleason reached base after being hit by a pitch, then Daniel Martinez got on base on an error by the Tiger center fielder. Jared Barnes’ sacrifice fly to center field would score the only Jaguar run of the inning to make the score 3-1 through one inning.
Auburn would answer with a run in the top of the second after Kyler Deese led off the inning with a walk. He would later score on a wild pitch by Bembnowski to make the score 4-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Jaguars finally answered with a pair of runs after Barnes and Connor Hawthorne reached on consecutive leadoff singles. Ryan Raspino would advance the runners on a groundout to third. Then Adam Ballew hit a two-run single to left field to cut the Tiger lead down to 4-3.
South Alabama would then add four more runs over the next two inning as they went on to win.
Barnes went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored to lead the Jaguars offensive attack. Ballew also finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. COllura had two hits with an RBI and a run scored. Rapino also had two hits and a run scored.
Auburn righty Keegan Thompson (1-1) allowed six runs on eight hits and a walk through 5 1/3 innings to take the loss. Bembnowski (1-0) earned the win.
“It was tough falling behind early like that,” head coach Mark Calvi said. “But our guys kept fighting and we put some good at-bats together. They kept playing hard and we got back into it. We had one strikeout tonight, which was outstanding. We made them (Auburn) work for everything, and made them field every ball.
“Bembnowski was really good; he settled the game down for us. I didn’t plan to use him that long. It was going to be a long-relief role but he kept going out there and getting back in on offense. He’s an extremely strong kid, and he was ready to go out there and compete.”
South Alabama (4-0) will return to action this weekend they host Arkansas, #13 Maryland and Central Florida at Eddie Stanky Field as part of a round-robin tournament. The Jags will open the weekend tournament against #13 Maryland on Friday at 6:30pm.
USA Sports go 8-1 In Weekend Games
South Alabama had a successful weekend slate of home games this past weekend by going 8-1 in all four sports played on campus this weekend.
Men’s Basketball
The Jaguar men’s basketball team used a fast start to hold on against Texas-Arlington 97-91. USA held a 20-point lead at halftime but the Mavericks outscored the Jags 62-48 in the second half, as the Jags committed 14 of their 20 turnovers in the second half, but were unable to overcome the deficit.
The Jags improve their overall record to 9-17 and their conference record to 7-8. Texas-Arlington fell to 14-10 overall and 8-6 in conference play.
Sophomore Ken Williams led all scorers with a career-high 29 points with a personal best eight rebounds. He connected on six of 10 three-point attempts, five of them made in the first half. He was also 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.
They travel to Georgia State on Thursday to take on the Panthers for a 6pm tip.
Softball
The #24 ranked Lady Jaguars completed a four-game sweep of the Mardi Gras Invitational.
The weekend began on Friday with a 5-4 win over Oklahoma State. The game was decided in the bottom of the seventh when Stephanie Pilkington drew a bases-loaded walk to end the game.
On Saturday, the Jags scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first and third innings then were able to cruise to the 4-1 win over Lipscomb. Freshman Kalen McGill earned her second win of the season (2-0) where the recorded three strikeouts an no walks. She only allowed a single earned run on four hits with her ERA holding at 0.51.
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