Jags Baseball Host Nicholls State Tonight
The South Alabama baseball team look to improve their 24-9 record against Nicholls State tonight at Eddie Stanky Field.
The Jags took two of three from FIU over the weekend and fell to #17 ranked Mississippi State a week ago.
Andrew Fonzi will take the mound for the Jags for his fourth start of the season. He has allowed three earned runs or less in all three of his previous starts with eight strikeouts and four walks in 12 innings pitched.
Nicholls State enters the game on a three game skid after Texas A&M-Corpus Christi swept the Colonels. They have lost six of their last seven actually as they enter the game with a 15-18 record overall.
The Jags lead the Sun Belt Conference in several statistical categories such as runs scored with 233, RBI with 207, hit by pitch with 41 and sacrifice flies with 19. They are also tied with Louisiana-Lafayette for tops in the league with 335 hits.
First pitch is set for 6:30pm.
Graves Announces Archey As First Hire To Staff
South Alabama’s new head basketball coach Matt Graves officially named the first hire for his staff on Monday. Graves announced that the former Butler coordinator of basketball operations Darnell Archey has joined his coaching staff.
Archey, a New Castle, Indiana native, was a four-year letterwinner at Butler between 1999-2003 and has served on the staff the past four seasons. He has five years of coaching experience at the high school level including three as a head coach before being hired by his alma mater Butler. While a high school coach he taught two McDonald’s All-Americans and future all-conference players in the ACC and Big 10 Conferences.
Prior to joining the Butler staff, Archey was a head coach at Park Tudor (Indiana) High School from 2008-09. During his one season there, the coach a player who was ranked the number 2 point guard and number 19 overall by recruiting service Rivals.com.
As a player at Butler, Archey set several school records and played on three NCAA Tournament teams. He finished his career as their all-time leading three-point shooter, which he now ranks third at, with 217 while setting a new record for free throw percentage in a season at 97.3 percent and for a career with 95.1 percent.
His incredible mark at the free throw line set a NCAA record of 85 consecutive conversions set over parts of three seasons starting on February 15, 2001 and ending on January 18, 2003.
Archey brings more NCAA Tournament experience to Graves’ staff.
South Alabama Sports Weekend Update
Baseball
The South Alabama Jaguar baseball team had a chance to sweep Florida International, but the Golden Panthers took the final game to prevent the sweep.
In game one on Friday, Jarron Cito worked a season-high 7 2/3 innings in the 8-1 win. He scattered nine hits and only allowed one run while striking out five with three walks.
Jeff DeBlieux led the Jags by going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. He was one of seven Jags to record hitsw in the game.
In game two the Jags clinched the series with a 6-5 win over FIU. Four Jaguars pitched in the game with Jacob Noble tossing 4.2 innings allowing eight hits and four runs, three of them earned, and three walks.
Brandon Boyle earned the win in two innings of relief allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Kyle Bartsch pitched a perfect nineth inning for his seventh save of the season. Dylan Stamey pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings with four strikeouts.
Cole Billingsley led the Jags by going 2-fo-4 with a triple, a walk and three RBIs.
In the final game, FIU used a four run fourth inning to down the Jags 7-4 at Eddie Stanky Field. FIU took a 2-0 lead early in the top of the first inning on a two-out, two run double down the right field line.
In the top of the fourth the Panthers added their first run on a leadoff homer to left field. Then an RBI single would double their lead to 4-0, but they weren’t done yet. A two run homerun to left field would put FIU up 6-0.
Tripp Cecil sufferred the loss in 3 1/3 innings pitched where he allowed five runs on four hits with a strikeout and two walks. The Jags tried to rally but the Panthers held on for the win.
The Jags improve their record to 24-9 overall and 7-5 in Sun Belt play with the two wins this weekend. FIU fell to 18-14 and 6-6 in Sun Belt play with their two losses. The Jags are tied with Troy one game out of first place in the Sun Belt. FAU and WKU both have an 8-4 conference record.
The baseball team will be in action on Tuesday when they host Nicholls State at Eddie Stanky Field for a 6:30pm first pitch.
Softball
The South Alabama softball team earned their second conference sweep of the season over Middle Tennessee this past weekend. The #23 ranked Jags used a four run third inning in game one to break open a 1-1 tie. They would knock off the Blue Raiders 9-1 in game one.
In the second game, they eruped for 19 hits and 13 runs to win a run-rule victory over the Blue Raiders 13-3.
Haley Fagan led the Jags on Saturday in the doubleheader by going 6-for-7 with a home run, two runs scored and eight RBI. Julie Moss went 6-for-8 with five runs scored and her second triple of the year.
Meghan COllins hit two home runs, scored three times and drove in four RBI. Brittany Fowler had three hits and scored five runs including her eighth home run to lead the team.
Hannah Campbell and Farish Beard both recorded their 15th win each on Saturday. They combined for 15 strikeouts and no walks while holding Blue Raiders to a .220 batting average. Hannah struck out seven while scattering six hits for her 16th complete game. She only allowed one earned run. Beard struck out eight and allowed five hits and three earned runs.
On Sunday, the Lady Jags used a shutout performance to earn the sweep over MTSU. Alex Breeden went 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored whiel Blair Johnson recorded three RBI on two hits to lead the Jags in the victory.
Julie Moss and Britany Campbell both added two hits each while Kaitlyn Griffith hit her seventh homerun of the year.
Hannah Campbell earned her 16th win of the season with two strikeouts, no walks and inducing two double plays in the game.
The Jags improve to 34-7 overall and 11-3 in Sun Belt play while MTSU fell to 4-33 overall and 1-13 in Sun Belt play. The Jags sit on top of the Sun Belt standings with their 11-3 record with WKU two games back in the win column at 9-3.
The Lady Jags will return to action when they host Florida State at Jaguar Field on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6pm.
Blue Defeats Red In Annual Jaguar Spring Game
Trey Fetner leading the Blue Team to a score just before halftime of the 2013 Spring Game.
The Blue team, lead by Brandon Bridge, defeated the Red team 33-24 in the annual South Alabama Red-Blue JagDay game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Saturday.
Bridge went 10-of-18 for 169 yards and two touchdowns while Trey Fetner found the end zone twice on the ground for the Blue team. Bridge opened the scoring with a 25 yard toss to Kyle Sappington less than three minutes into the game. Bridge would connect with Tryome Bivins for a 44 yard touchdown about midway through the third quarter.
Fetner carried the ball six times for 35 yards in the game with his two touchdowns. He gave the Blue team the lead for good with a one yard scoring run :32 seconds before the halftime break. He also closed out the scoring with a touchdown as time exired.
Blue took the lead early with Bridge’s throw to Sappington. The Red team would even it out on the next possession though. Metheny would completed a pair of passes to Waldon for 20 and 14 yards respectively, both for first downs. Then Metheny would cap it off with a seven yard touchdown toss to Jay Jones to cap off the 10 play, 65 yard drive with under five minutes left in the opening quarter.
Jereme Jones would put the Blue team back on top 14-7 on a 36 yard touchdown reception with less than seven minutes left until the half.
There were three scores in the final three minutes of the first half. Logan Gunn would connect on a 41 yard field goal to draw the Red team within four points of the Blue squad. Then a Desmond LaVelle interception would let Jay Jones cap off a four play, 27 yard drive with a two yard touchdown run to give the Red team it’s first lead of the game at 17-14.
Roster Released For Red-Blue Spring Game
Head Coach Joey Jones speaks to his team after the conclusion of the Jaguars first practice of 2012 preseason camp.
As the Jags finished up their final practice prior to the Jaguars annual Red-Blue Spring Game, they released the roster for Saturday.
The team worked out for about an hour and a half at the practice facility on campus. In addition to working on things for the spring game, the coaches also took the time to instruct the players on drills to focus on between now and the beginning of fall camp.
Coach Jones spoke about how he thought his team did this spring prior to Saturday’s scrimmage. “I thought it was a great spring, our guys came to work,” Jones said. “I’m just proud of their leadership, focus and commitment to building this program at South Alabama. They are doing the right things. We’re a much better team now then we were at the beginning of the spring. That’s not just trying to pump them up, they have really gotten better, we didn’t waste any days.”
Ross Metheny and Jay Jones highlight the offensive backfield for the Red team. But Metheny also has T.J. Glover, Savarez Smith and Corey Waldon as targets on the outside with Wes Saxton at tight end. Melvin Meggs, Drew Dearman, Matt Calcagnini, James Elliot and Darius McKeller will make up the offensive line.
The Red teams defense include Romelle Jones, Alex Page and Montavious Williams on the line with Desmond LaVelle and Maleki Harris backing them up at linebacker. Charles Harris, David Hawkins, Alonzo Long and Darrius Morrow in the secondary among others.
The Blue squad has Brandon Bridge and Trey Fetner as their two quarterbacks with Kendall Houston and Julien Valentin as running backs. Jereme Jones and Bryant Lavender highlight the receiver corps which includes Cameron Broadnax and Jake Howton. The offensive line includes Chris May and four redshirt freshmen from last season Daniel Aust, Steven Foster, Clay Machen and Joseph Scelfo.
Defensively, the blue squad is highlighted by linebackers Clifton Crews, Bryson James and Enrique Williams. Terrell Brighan, Qudarius Ford, Tyrell Pearson and Charles Watson will be in the secondary. The defensive line includes Jesse Kelley, Pat Moore and Will Thompson.
The Red-Blue game will kickoff at 2pm on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The parking lot will open at 10am for tailgating and also the College of Medicine’s Gumbo and Chili Showdown starting at 11am.
After the game there will be a 30 minute autograph and photo session with the players on the field.
USA Softball Sweeps FAU Thursday Evening
After being delayed for a day due to weather, the 23rd ranked Lady Jaguar softball team swept the doubleheader against Florida Atlantic on Thursday behind a big performance by Britany Campbell.
Britany, a senior outfielder, went 4-of-6 with a home run, a double, three runs scored and two RBI to earn a slugging percentage of 1.333. She also registered two putouts, one drew huge applause from the crowd after she leapt over the center field warning track to snag a deep hit that could have put the Owls back in the game.
In game one, the Jags got started quickly as they capped off the top of the inning with double play, one of two that Hannah Campbell would induce in the game. Then the Jags turned around and scored two runs off of two hits. Blair Johnson doubled to left center to drive in the first run by Emily Messer. Then Brittany Fowler singled up the middle to drive Johnson in. Two batters later Kaitlyn Griffith would single to drive in Fowler to give the Jags a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
In the top of the second the Owls would go down in order. Then the Jags would add four more runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-0 lead after two.
Then in the third inning Britany Campbell would double to score Griffith from third. Then Haley Fagan would knock a three-run homer after fouling a ball off her knee earlier in the count.
FAU was unable to plate any runs despite a double and a single in the top of the fifth. The game was called due to the run-rule to make the eighth run-rule victory of the season.
Campbell pitched all five innings only allowing three hits while striking out two Owls. Hannah record this season improves to 14-7.
In game two, Clara Bowen started off a two-run third inning in game two as she singled to lead off the Jags half of the inning. Britany Campbell would follow with a single of her own. Then Messer laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. Then Johnson singled through the left side to drive both runners in for a 2-0 lead.
Two innings later, Bowen and Britany Campbell struck again. Bowen drove a pitch off of the top of the wall in right center field for two more runs. Then Britany finishing off the four run inning with her fifth home run of the season for the 6-0 final score.
Hannah Campbell retired six consecutive Owls in the sixth and seventh innings to secure the win while dropping her ERA to 1.04 to get the save. Farish Beard got the win in the second game to go 14-0 on the season. Beard allowed four hits with five strikeouts in five innings of work.
The Lady Jags will have Friday off before traveling to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to face Middle Tennessee in a weekend series. They kick it off with a doubleheader on Saturday with the first game scheduled to get underway at 1pm. The final game will start at noon on Sunday.
Two Jags Earn SBC Weekly Honors In Track And Field
Two Jaguar Track and Field team members were honored as Sun Belt Conference field athletes of the week as announced by the conference office on Wednesday. Both coming from record-breaking performances last weekend.
Jan-Louw Kotze was chosen an the Men’s field athelete of the week after his discus throw of 57.60m bested the previous school record by more than a meter at Saturday’s Jaguar Invitational and earning him first place. That mark is currently good for sixth in the NCAA Division I East Region and ranks 13th in the nation. He currently sits on top of the Sun Belt ranking in the event as a freshman with his top throw more than four meters better than the next closest individual.
Leah Hixon earned the women’s honor after she set a new school record in the women’s javelin throw with a toss of 46.90m in her first place effort. She ranks seventh in the Division I East Region and 17th nationally in the event. She also holds the top spot in the conference rankings. She also placed fifth in the high jump by clearing 1.59m while also running a leg of the 4×400-meter relay for the Lady Jaguar ‘A’ Team who finished fourth place with a time of 4:07.22. Hixon is a Junior and this marks her second time this season that she has claimed the conference award.
Both teams will travel to Auburn for the Tiger Classic, a two day event beginning on Friday.
Mansa El Selected For WBCA’s “So You Want To Be A Coach” Program At Final Four
With the NCAA Basketball Tournament getting close to the end, a University of South Alabama women’s basketball player will be making an appearance at this weekend’s Final Four being held in New Orleans.
Senior Mansa El was one of just 50 student-athletes from around the country who was chosen last month to participate in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s 11th Annual “So You Want To Be A Coach” program. It’s a three day workshop that is scheduled to begin on Friday in conjunction with the WBCA National Convention in New Orleans.
This program’s mission is to assist female collegiate basketball players who are interested in pursuing a coaching career in women’s basketball. It gives them professional development and career advancement through education, skills enhancement, networking and opportunities for exposure. It also helps to increase awareness regarding the availability of talented female basketball players who want to become a coach.
There are six criteria an applicant must meet in order to be selected. They must have exhausted their final year of basketball eligibility at a four-year institution or graduated in the past year, they want to pursue a career in coaching, be a credit to the sport of women’s basketball both on and off the court, been nominated by their head coach, have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and be able to attend all three days of the program.
They also have to write an essay, submit her resume and have a letter of recommendation sent in for her.
El had to wait for over a month while all of the applications were evaluated and, just before the Sun Belt Tournament, she received the notice that she received an invitation.
El has been a member of the Lady Jaguar basketball team for the last three seasons, starting at point guard for the last two seasons. She is set to earn her degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in May and is looking to pursue a coaching position.
During the three day clinic, the selected participants will see several 45-minute on-court demonstrations that will be presented by some of the leading coaches in the game. They will also attend seminars on a variety of topics such as how to balance a coaching career and live, recruiting, how to hire a staff and preparing for interviews. They will also participate in mock interview sessions on Sunday to use what they ahve learned during the seminar. On Saturday morning, they will assist the WBCA coaches with the NCAA Youth Clinics.
Commissioner Benson Released Statement On WKU Departure Announcement
After Western Kentucky announced that they entered into an agreement with Conference USA to join the league on July 1, 2014, Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson released a statement.
“Today’s announcement that Western Kentucky University has accepted an invitation to join Conference USA is not a surprise given the communication that I have had with university officials and the rampant speculation over the past several months,” Benson said in the statement released by the conference office.”
“I have long understood the implications of the move and what it means for the Sun Belt Conference. In fact, the Sun Belt Conference has been preparing for this possibility for quite some time and with the support and guidance of the Sun Belt Conference board of directors, I will continue to make recommendations on what options the Sun Belt Conference has in terms of future members and divisional structure.”
“I remain confident that we have numerous options and that there are universities that have a strong desire to be members of the Sun Belt Conference. Last week’s additions to the Sun Belt of Appalachian State and Georgia Southern as all sports members and Idaho and New Mexico State as football-only members gives proof that there are universities that want to join the SBC and be part of its dynamic future.”
In 2013 the Sun Belt football season will consist of eight football teams. South Alabama, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisana-Monroe, Troy and Western Kentucky along with newcomers Georgia State and Texas State.
Currently the 2014 membership will include Appalachian State and Georgia Southern, who will be in the final year of their two-year transition from FCS to FBS. It will also include Idaho and New Mexico State as Western Kentucky will leave for C-USA.
Texas-Arlington and Arkansas-Little Rock both are Sun Belt members but do not sponsor football. Two top mentioned potential replacement schools for WKU have been James Madison and Liberty.
A timeframe for announcing any new members to the Sun Belt Conference is not known. Though it is known they intend to go to divisional play in football, which will require one more school who sponsors football in order to do so. That would pave the way to holding a conference championship game. This could happen as soon as 2014 unless the seemingly ever moving target of conference expansion continues to plague the Sun Belt.
Jags Fall To #17 Mississippi State At Home
The South Alabama baseball team fell to the #17 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs Tuesday night by a score of 6-4 at Eddie Stanky Field.
The Jags opened the scoring with sac fly to left field in the bottom of the third inning. The Jags held onto the 1-0 lead until the top of the fourth inning. MSU loaded the bases in the top of the fourth when Jaguar pitcher Matt Bell balked home the tying run before inducing the inning ending groundout to first base.
In the top of the fifth inning the Bulldogs took the lead on a wild pitch by Bell. They would then extend their lead to 3-1 with an RBI groundout. In the top of the sixth, the Bulldogs would add another run to their lead when a ball was mishandled in right field.
The Jags responded in the bottom of the seventh inning when they were facing a 4-1 deficit. They took advantage of two Bulldog errors on the way to tying the game.
But in the top of the ninth, the Bulldogs got on base on a single and a batter being hit by a pitch to start the inning. A flyout ot right field would advance one runner to third base with one out. A walk would load the bases prior to a two-run single through the right side of the inning for the 6-4 final score.
Matt Bell tied a career high in innings pitched with six, but came away with a no-decision in the game. James Traylor sufferred the loss to fall to 2-3 on the season in two innings of relief.
The Jags will look to break the four game skid when they host Southeastern Louisiana University on Wednesday evening. First pitch is set for 6:30pm at Eddie Stanky Field.