South Alabama Set To Add Four To USA Hall of Fame
Four former Jags are set to be inducted into the South Alabama Athletics Hall of Fame. Three of them are former All-Americans and another is a nationally ranked women’s tennis player.
Former Jaguar baseball players P.J. Walters and Juan Pierre, former men’s tennis player František Babej and Cindy Summers will be the four added to the 57 former players who are currently in the South Alabama Athletics Hall of Fame.
The first weekend in November will be the school’s Hall of Fame weekend with a formal ceremony on Saturday, November 3 at 10 a.m. at the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center on campus. They will then be recognized at Ladd-Peebles Stadium during halftime of the Jaguars game versus Florida International.
P.J. Walters lettered for the Jaguars from 2004-2006 and earned Freshman All-American accolades from Collegiate Baseball his first season with the Jags after posting a 10-1 records with 119 strikeouts in 117 innings. As a junior, Collegiate Baseball named Walters a second-team All-America while Baseball America named him a third-team honoree. He led the Sun Belt with 166 strikeouts, which was the second highest total in school history, as he earned an 11-3 mark. Walters owns the career record with 404 strikeouts and 410.1 innings pitched. He is also second all-time with 31 wins.
Juan Pierre’s only season as a Jaguar saw him lead the Sun Belt with 95 hits, 77 runs and 54 stolen bases and earning conference player-of-the-year and being named first-team all-league. The 54 stolen bases ranked 5th nationally. American Baseball Coaches Association named him to the second-team All-American team and was also named to the third team All-America team by both Collegiate Baseball and the National College Baseball Writers Association. The Jags won the regular-season title with a 42-19 overall record and went 2-2 at the NCAA South I Regional. Both losses were by one run to eventual National Champion USC.
Babej lettered for the Jags in 2004 and 2005 while earning All-America honors in singles from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association both of those seasons. In his first season with the Jags, Babej became the first Jaguar player to ever reach the semifinals of the NCAA Championships. He ended the season ranked 17th in the country in singles and 49th in doubles in 2003-2004. He would end his senior season ranked 16th in the final rankings after winning his first two NCAA singles matches. He would end his senior year with a 32-3 record with a 26-match winning streak.
Summers earned numerous Sun Belt Conference honors during her time as a Jaguar. She lead the Lady Jags to four consecutive league championships from 1994-1997. She was also included in the Sun Belt Conference 30th Anniversary All-Time Women’s Tennis Team. She was selected the MVP of the conference championships in both 1996 and 1997 while earning all-league honors in singles three times and doubles on three occasions as well. In 1996 she would finish ranked 34th nationally in singles and 40th in doubles. At the end of her senior year she was ranked 57th nationally in doubles and 65th nationally in singles.