USA Softball Continues To Rise In Polls Ahead Of SBC Play
The Jaguars continue to inch their way up the polls. This week they move up one spot in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll to #13 and they moved up three spots in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll also to the #13 spot.
USA went 2-0 over this past weekend winning by a combined score of 14-1, including a 5-1 win over host Oklahoma State. But their Sunday rematch against the Cowgirls was cancelled due to weather.
The Jaguars have been led by the powerful duo in the pitchers circle, senior Hannah Campbell and junior Farish Beard.
Beard, a Fairhope native, ranks first in the country in NCAA stats with a miniscule ERA of only 0.38. Her hits per game (7 innings) is the lowest in the country at 1.98. She is third in the county in strikeouts per seven innings at 11.5 and 17th in total strikeouts with 122 this season.
Hannah Campbell, a Satsuma native, is seventh in the country in ERA with a similarly small 0.76 ERA and is sixth in the nation in walks allowed per seven innings at 0.67. She is tied for 34th in total strikeouts with 102.
Farish is 13-1 on the season with nine complete games under her belt and has pitched 74.1 innings. Campbell is 7-2 on the season with nine complete games while pitching 83 innings. Campbell also recently pitched her second career perfect game when they defeated Nicholls State.
They have also gotten help from the plate with Pilkington batting .329 with 12 RBI, Kaitlyn Griffith batting .318 with two home runs and 11 RBI. Amanda Minahan batting .297 with two home runs and 10 RBI, Chloe Rathburn batting .288 with 5 home runs and 16 RBI, Blair Johnson batting .250 with two home runs and 14 RBI and Alex Breeden who has five home runs and 15 RBI. But they also do well with defense as a host of players have a perfect fielding percentage and a number more with over a .900 fielding percentage.
Now with their tournament portion of their schedule over with, the 22-3 Jaguars have turned their focus on their conference schedule which begins on Saturday at Jaguar Field. They will host Texas-Arlington for a double-header on Saturday beginning at 1pm and game two scheduled for 3pm. Then their Sunday game is scheduled to get started at noon.
The only other Sun Belt team in the top 25 is Louisiana-Lafayette who are #20 in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll and #22 in the ESPN.com/USA SOftball Top 25 poll. The University of Alabama sits and #9, four spots ahead of the Jaguars.