South Alabama Sports – Weekend Update
Softball
The USA Softball team swept their first conference series of the season against UT-Arlington over the weekend.
The first two games were both shortened by the mercy rule with 9-0 and 8-0 wins.
Farish Beard and Hannah Campbell both tossed shutouts and combined to only allow three hits. Actually the Jags outhit the Mavricks 19-3 on Saturday.
Kaitlyn Griffith and Amanda Minahan led the Jags at the plate with four hits each. Amanda Herron, Blair Johnson and Stephanie Pilkington all had three RBI each.
In the first game Beard shrunk her nation-leading ERA to just 0.35 after allowing only one hit and no runs against the Mavricks. She struck out 11 batters for her seventh shutout of the season.
Campbell was seventh in the country in ERA and also saw hers shrink further to 0.72 as she allowed two hits with four strikeouts and no walks in her shutout.
On Sunday, the Jags needed an extra inning to finally put away the Mavricks to earn their weekend sweep with a 2-1 win. The Jags outhit the Mavricks 7-3 but committed four errors.
Blair Johnson led the Jags at the plate by going 3-for-4 and scoring the game-winning run when Amanda Herron hit a two-out double in the bottom of the eighth inning. Herron ended the weekend with a team-high four RBI.
Gwen Jones scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh inning when UTA’s shortstop’s routine throw to first sailed into the visitor’s dugout.
Beard struck out seven in six innings and allowed one run before Hannah Campbell came in for relief. Campbell tossed a shutout to move to 9-2 on the season after striking out one and no walks to earn the win.
The Jags will play at Troy on Tuesday before returning home to host Louisiana-Monroe for a three game weekend series on Saturday and Sunday.
Baseball
The USA Baseball team took two out of three over the weekend at Arkansas-Little Rock.
The first game saw the Jags put up season-highs in hits and runs in their 9-6 win. USA faced a 5-0 deficit through five innings before the Jaguar bats came alive in the top of the sixth to score six runs.
In the top of the sixth inning, Cole Gleason hit a bases-loaded two-run single up the middle to score Andrew Tindell and Adam Ballew to put the Jags on the board finally. Then Bayden Jones followed with an RBI single to left-center field to further cut into the Trojan lead at 5-3. Matt Wojciechowski then added a single through the right side of the infield to load the bases for the second time in the inning. Matt Bolger singled to left field to drive in Gleason and cutting the Trojan lead to just one run. A batter later the Jags would tie the game with a bases-leaded RBI single by Cameron Cummings through the right side of the infield. Tindell then reached on an RBI fielders’ choice to shortstop giving the Jags a 6-5 lead.
In the top of the seventh, Adam Ballew and Davis Knapp reached base on consecutive singles to lead off the inning. A groundout by Gleason would move both of the runners into scoring position then Hayden Jones lifted a sac fly to center field to score Ballew for a 7-5 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, UALR cut the Jaguar lead by a run with a two-out solo home run to center field. But in the top of the ninth, Gleason would deliver a two-out RBI single followed by Jones doubling to right-center to score Gleason to end the games scoring.
Kevin Hill earned the win after pitching seven innings and allowing five earned runs on nine hits. He also had eight strikeouts and three walks. Brandon Hallford earned the save with 1 1/3 scoreless innings with three walks and a strikeouts for his fifth save of the season.
On Saturday, the Jags clinched the series with four-run fourth inning and 13 hits to earn a 6-5 win.
Adam Ballew led the Jags on Saturday by going 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Matt Wojeichowski finished 3-for-4 with a run scored.
Locke St. John improved to 3-0 on the season after pitching five innings and allowing four runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts and four walks. James Traylor earned his second save of the season with two scoreless innings with four strikeouts and one walk.
On Sunday, the Jags fell in the series finale 10-0. UALR took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning with a one-out two-run homer. They threatened again but Matt Bolger threw Hayden Martin out at home. A solo homer in the bottom of the fourth would extend the lead to 3-0.
In the bottom of the fifth the Trojans scored five runs to take an 8-0 lead. They would score one run each in the bottom of the sixth and the bottom of the eighth.
The Jags improve their overall record to 12-10 and 3-2 in conference play. They will host Nicholls State on Tuesday at Eddie Stanky Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:30pm.
Track and Field
Phoebe Dawson established a new all-time school record in the women’s discus throw with a 47.91m toss on her fourth attempt in the Alabama Relays. It was good enough for a fourth place finish in the event.
Patrick Rohr took the top honor in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:20.16. The next closest was 39 seconds off his mark.
Renaldo Frechou hammer throw of 62.08m earned a school record for him.
Noelle Jones took the top spot in the women’s heptathlon on Friday with 5,328 points.
Tyler Agee and Ravaughn Pope earned top-10 finishes in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. Jan-Low Kotze earned ranked second in the NCAA in men’s discus and earned a sixth place finish with a throw of 55.16m.
The Jags will travel to Austin, Texas on Wednesday for the Texas Relays.