Tyler Klava Tied For Individual Lead At SBC Championships After First Round
The Junior shot a 4-under par 68 in the opening round to tie for the lead. He shot 6-under on the par 5’s with two birdies and two eagles. | Photo: usajaguars.com
After shooting an opening round 4-under-par 68 on the opening day of the Sun Belt Championships, Tyler Klava is tied for the individual lead and helping the Jaguars to a third place standing as a team.
Klava was 6-under on the par-five holes at Grand Bear Golf Club, a 7,072-yard par-72 course in Saucier, Mississippi. He carded birdies on holes 2 and 5 and eagled holes 11 and 15.
Blake Kelley shot an even-par 72 as the Jaguars stand at 5-over-par 293 group score. Texas-Arlington leads the after shooting a 2-under 286 while Georgia State finished the first round with an even-par 288.
Lane Hulse shot 1-under on the back nine to shoot a 76 on the day. He had a boey and a double bogey on the front nine.
Michael Garretson shot a 79 with two of his three birdies on the day coming on the back nine on holes 11 and 15.
Stuart Smallwood of Texas State is tied with Klava for the lead in the individual standings with two of his three birdies on the day coming on the back nine. Klava and Smallwood were two of the nine golfers out of the 50 in the field to finish under par on the day.
Day two will get underway at 8am this morning with spit tees. The Jags will begin play at 8:45am on the first hold alongside Georgia State for the second day in a row and they will be joined by Texas-Arlington as well.
Illegal Pitch Calls Against Farish Beard To Be Examined By SBC Officials
Junior Farish Beard (17-5) was charged with eight illegal pitch calls in the first inning of the first game of a double-header on Saturday against Georgia State. Conference officials will review the video this week. | Photo usajaguars.com
During the Jaguar softball team’s opening game of the Saturday double-header, Farish Beard was on the receiving end of eight illegal pitch calls in the first inning of the Jaguars game against Georgia State. Those calls were critical in the game as on each illegal pitch call, the runners advance a base which scored their only two runs of the game.
First base umpire Destinee Robinson called all eight illegal pitches against Beard and the Jaguars. Eventually Hannah Campbell came in as relief and shut down the Panthers for the rest of the game, but the Jaguars could only manage one run to fall to the Panthers 2-1 in the game.
The illegal pitch call was because Robinson said that Beard’s foot came off the mound before the pitch was thrown.
Beard returned to the mound in game two with Robinson behind home plate umpiring and pitched all nine innings of the game and was not called for an illegal pitch in the game.
Since the call is a judgement call made by an official, the likelyhood that it is appealable is very slim, but the Sun Belt office is aware of it and almost certainly going to review the video.
Head coach Becky Clark said after the double-header, “You’ve got a pitcher who has thrown 117 innings (this season) and hasn’t had that called all year, and you get it called eight times in one inning.”
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Review
Baseball
After capturing the opening game, the Jags fell in the next two games as Western Kentucky won the series two games to one.
In game one the Jags overcame a three-run deficit over the final three innings to earn a 13-10 win over the Hilltoppers.
The Jags opened up with one run in the top of the first inning. WKU answered in the bottom of the first inning with two runs to take the lead. USA would regain the lead two two runs in the fourth inning.
WKU would retake the lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to go ahead 5-3. WKU would add another run in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 6-3 lead.
Then the Jags would shave a run off of the Hilltopper lead with a run in the top of the seventh inning. Three more runs in the top of the eighth would put the Jags ahead 7-6 going into the final frame.
The top of the ninth saw the Jags explode for six runs to go up 13-6, but Western Kentucky would not give up as they plated four runs in the bottom of the ninth before the Jags finally ended the game.
In game two WKU would even the series after they scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 7-2 win over the Jaguars.
Righty Kevin Hill would throw 6 1/3 innings and only allowed four hits before WKU finally put their first run on the board.
The Jags fell in the final game on Sunday 6-3 as WKU clinched the series with a 6-3 win over USA. With the game tied at 2-2, WKU would break the tie in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs.
The Jags fell to 17-22 overall and 7-10 in Conference play. They will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Auburn for a midweek game.
Softball
The 19th ranked Jaguars run-ruled Georgia State 8-0 in five innings in the first game on Friday. Freshman Amanda Minahan went 2-for-3 with three RBI, a walk and a run scored. That was her fourth game of the season where she recorded three-RBI in a game. Junior catcher Alex Breeden also went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
In game two, the opening game of a double-header on Saturday, the Jags fell to the Panthers 2-1. USA was outhit 5-4 in the game. But the bizarre thing about the game was starter Farish Beard being called for eight, yes eight, illegal pitches in the first inning by the first base umpire. That led to the Panthers only two runs of the game as each illegal pitch advanced the runners a base. Hannah Campbell came in for relief and shut down the Panthers but the damage was already done as the Jags could only muster one run the rest of the game.
In game three, the Jags and Panthers were scoreless through the first five innings before both teams scored a run in the sixth inning to keep the tie game going into extra innings. But in the bottom of the ninth inning Minahan walked and Emily Messer singled to set up Stephanie Pilkington to hit a two-out single to the left center gap to score Minahan to end the game with a 2-1 win.
They will travel to Baton Rouge to face LSU on Wednesday for their final non-conference game of the season.
Men’s Golf
The Jaguar Men’s Golf Team will play in the Sun Belt Conference Championships beginning on Monday in Saucier, Mississippi. They have a pair of top-5 finishes as they head into the championships and have shot par or better four times in the last three events.
The will get underway at Grand Bear Golf Course Monday as Michael Garretson has recorded five rounds of par or lower in his last three outings including a 6-under 66 to open the LInger Longer Invitational on March 22. He enters with a 72.45 stroke average to lead the Jaguar team. Fellow junior Tyler Klava enters with a stroke average of 72.83, which is fourth in the conference.
Men’s Tennis
The 2nd seeded Jaguar men’s tennis team fell to top-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette in the finals of the Sun Belt Championships on Sunday. The Jags defeated 3rd seeded Georgia State 4-0 on Saturday to advance to the finals.
Women’s Tennis
The lady Jags fell in the Sun Belt Conference finals to top-seeded Georgia State 4-1 as their run for the Conference crown ended. The Panthers will claim the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as the Jags season likely ends with a 16-3 mark.
USA Men’s and Women’s Tennis Honored At SBC Awards Banquet
Men’s Tennis
At the SBC Awards Banquet held in New Orleans on Thursday, South Alabama Junior Daniel Leitner was named the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year and was named to the All-Conference team.
Freshman Tuki Jacobs, senior Sayann Vaezzadeh, junior Manuel Belda and sophomore Gerhard Gruindelingh were also named to the All-Conference team.
Leitner and Jacobs were named to the first team in singles, Vaezzadeh was named to the second team in singles, Belda and Gruindelingh were named to the second team in doubles. This is the most All-Conference honorees by the program since five were named in 2001.
Women’s Tennis
The USA Women’s Tennis team had four named to the All-Conference team. Freshman Laura Valkova was named to the First Team All-Sun Belt Conference team with freshman Monica Mitta was named to the second team for doubles and for singles. Junior Emily Newton and sophomore Michaela Meszorosova were named to the doubles second team.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Preview
Baseball
The Jaguar baseball team is in Bowling Green, Kentucky this weekend to face the Hilltoppers in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. The Jags enter the game looking to snap a three-game losing skid and looking to hold onto the eighth and final spot in the SBC Championships.
USA (16-20, 6-8) lead the all-time series against WKU 84-51 dating backing to 1983. They will send out the current SBC Pitcher of the Week Locke St. John (4-1) for his 10th start of the season in game one this evening. The lefty allowed only three hits with two strikeouts in seven innings in combination with the Jags bullpen to toss a shutout.
WKU (19-18, 7-8) will start Justin Hageman (4-1) who was named the SBC Pitcher of the Week on March 24.
Jaguar righty Kevin Hill (2-4) will make his eighth start in game two and Hunter Soleymani (0-1) will make his fourth start in game three on Sunday.
USA’s pitching staff is tied for second in the conference with an ERA of 3.73. WKU’s pitching staff is ranked eighth in the conference with an ERA of 4.91.
Softball
The #19 ranked Jaguar softball team will host Georgia State for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Jaguar Field. This is the last full conference series they will host this season.
They will get underway this afternoon at 4pm for the first game of a double-header and concluding with their third game on Saturday in respect to Easter Sunday. The Jags (32-8) are looking to regain their early season spark in time for the Sun Belt Championships coming up. They took game two of the three game series last weekend against conference leader Louisiana-Lafayette but lost the series 2-1.
Georgia State in currently fourth in the SBC Standings with a 7-5 conference record.
USA Softball Drops In Polls
The South Alabama softball team fell in the polls for the second straight week after going 2-2 last week and dropping two of three to conference leader Lousiana-Lafayette.
The Jags (32-8, 9-4 SBC) fell from #15 to #19 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 and fell from #16 to #20 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball top 25 poll as well. They are currently third in the conference standing behind ULL (11-1) and Western Kentucky (8-3).
The Ragin’ Cajuns overtook the Jaguars in the polls to become the highest ranked team from the Sun Belt as they rose to #17 in both polls. The Jags remain the second-highest ranked team in the state of Alabama as the Crimson Tide fell from #3/#2 to #7/#6 in the ESPN.com and USA Today polls respectively. Auburn ranks #23 and #24 in the USA TOday and ESPN.com polls respectively.
The Jags will host Georgia State at Jaguar Field this weekend with a double-header scheduled for Friday beginning at 4pm and concluding with their third game on Saturday at noon prior to Easter Sunday.
USA Basketball Signs One; Announces Departure Of Two
The Jags announced three changes to the Men’s Basketball roster on Wednesday.
First, they announced that they signed junior college transfer John Brown, a 6’4″ forward from Olney, Illinois Central College. He is the first of four expected spring signees. He joins three players who signed with USA in the early signing period in November.
Brown will be used at the wing/small forward position but could play power forwardin a smaller lineup.
Brown averaged 16.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 32 games with Olney. He shot 51.8 percent on field goals and 63.5 percent at the free throw line. As a freshman he averaged 10.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
On the same day as their announcement of the addition of Brown, they also announced two players will leave the program.
Forward Mychal Ammons and guard Aakim Saintil will both be leaving the program. Ammons, a 6’6″ 225-pound Vicksburg, Mississippi native, would have been a senior next season, has hired an agent with the intention of playing professional overseas. Ammons was the third leading scorer last season with 9.3 points per game and second in rebounds with 7.2 per game. He averaged 27.9 minutes per game and shot 43.9 percent from the floor, 37.1 percent from 3-point range and 64.4 percent from the free throw line. He also added 35 blocked shots, 13 steals, and 44 assists.
Saintil, a 6′ 160-pound Roselle, NJ native, would have been a sophomore next season, wanted to transfer closer to home to be near his mother who is ill. Coach Graves said that he wants to transfer to a Division I school in the northeast or, if nothing is available, wants to transfer to a junior college for a year in hopes of being recruited by different schools in the northeast.
Saintil averaged 22.7 minutes per game and averaged 6.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. He shot 32.9 percent from the field, 27.1 percent from 3-point range and 73.9 percent from the free throw line. He also recorded 32 steals and 57 assists (second on the team).
With two open scholarships, coach Graves wants to add another guard who can handle the ball and add depth in the backcourt. They will probably look towards the JuCo route in order to add experience.
Ryals Brings Home Top 5 Finish And All-SBC Honors
Senior Ashleigh Ryals shot 5-over par 77 in the final round of the SBC Championships to earn a top-5 finish and All-Sun Belt Conference honors. | Photo: usajaguars.com
Jaguar senior Ashleigh Ryals shot a 5-over 77 in the final round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship at Steelwood Country Club to earn a top-5 finish and All-Sun Belt Conference Honors on Wednesday.
Ryals 77 gave her a 9-over total of 225 to finish tied for fifth place. The front nine saw her shoot a 4-over 40 before a 1-over card for the back nine.
Elisa Axelsen shot the lowest round for a Jaguar on Wednesday with a 3-over 75. She played the front nine at 3-over and then shot even-par on the back nine to finish tied for 12th in the final standings.
Ingrid Hagen shot a 6-over 78 to finish tied for 19th which also tied fellow Jaguar Caroline Beebe. Cariane Wright shot an 8-over 80 to finish 22nd in her first career SBC Championship.
The Jags as a team finished third after a third-round total of 308 for a three-day total of 922.
Troy’s Fatima Fern Cano finished first in the individual with a +5. Troy also took home the team win.
Troy (896, +32)
Texas State (902, +38)
South Alabama (922, +58)
Arkansas Little Rock (927, +63)
Georgia State (935, +71)
Louisiana Monroe (942, +78)
Arkansas State (955, +91)
Western Kentucky (968, +104)
Jags Baseball Shutout By SLU
The South Alabama baseball woes continue as they drop their third-straight game and their fourth-consecutive non-conference game of the season in a shutout against Southeastern Louisiana.
SLU’s Kyle Cedotal and Gage Pickett combined to shutout the Jags 5-0 at Eddie Stanky Field. Cedotal threw a career-high 7 1/3 innings allowing just three hits while striking out four with three walks. Pickett tossed 1 2/3 innings of relief with three strikeouts and two walks.
Jared Gates (1-4) suffered the loss for the Jaguars after tossing 5 2/3 innings and allowing just one run on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
SLU (24-13) got on the board in the top of the second inning after a leadoff single and stolen base put the runner on second base. Then a two-out RBI single by would drive the runner home.
In the top of the seventh, SLU would score two more runs after a one-out walk would put the first runner on base. A single through the left side of the infield would advance the runner to third base on a hit-and-run. A wild pitch by Matt Bell would bring home the runner on third. Then a two-out RBI double down the right field line would score the second run for a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning.
Then in the top of the eighth, SLU would load the bases with one out on back-to-back singles and a walk. An RBI single to center would score two runs for a 4-0 lead. Then one batter later they would score the final run of the game on an RBI groundout to shortstop.
The Jags fall to 16-20 on the season and will travel to Western Kentucky this weekend for a three game series.
The Jags are fighting to stay in the top eight of the SBC Baseball standings so they can not only host the SBC Championships, but also participate in them. Currently the Jags sit in the eighth and final spot with a 6-8 conference record ahead of Georgia State (5-10) and UALR (3-12).
1. UL Lafayette (34-4, 14-1)
2. Arkansas State (20-16, 10-5)
T3. Texas State (19-17, 8-7)
T3. UT Arlington (16-20, 8-7)
T5. Western Kentucky (19-17, 7-8)
T5. UL Monroe (16-22, 7-8)
7. Troy (19-18, 6-8)
8. South Alabama (16-20, 6-8)
9. Georgia State (17-20, 5-10)
10. Arkansas-Little Rock (13-20, 3-12)
Ryals Assumes Lead After Second Round At SBC Championships
Senior Ashleigh Ryals shot 3-over par 75 in the second round of the SBC Championships to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the SBC Championships on Wednesday. | Photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Ashleigh Ryals took over the lead in the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Tuesday after shooting a 3-over par 75 at Steelwood Country Club in Loxley, Alabama.
The senior started 5-over through the first seven holes before rebounding with birdies on holes 8 and 9 to close out the front nine. She then recorded an even-par 36 on the back nine after a bogey at 11 followed by a birdie at 12.
Elisa Axelsen played the front nine at even-par after a birdie at the third. Four bogies on the back nine would put her at 4-over for the day and moving her up to 13th place.
Carianne Wright posted a 10-over par 82 and is tied for 22nd place.
Caroline Beebe shot an 8-over 80 in the second round after going 4-over on the front nine and the back nine. Ingrid Hagen shot a 7-over par 79 for a two-round total of 158 for both of them.
Troy continues to hold onto the top spot with a two-round total of 600 and +24 for the tournament. Texas State is second with a 606 total for the two rounds and +30 for the tournament. The Jags are in third place with a two-round total of 614 for a +38 for the tournament. ULM moved up to fourth place and four shots behind the Jags with a two-round total of 618 for a +42 for the tournament.
UALR is in fifth place (623, +47), Georgia State is sixth (626, +50) with Arkansas State and Western Kentucky tied for seventh (632, +56).
Ryals (148, +4) holds a one stroke lead going into the final round today with ULM’s Alison Knowles and Troy’s Brooke Spinks tied for second place (149, +5), four tied for fourth place two strokes back at +6 and two tied for eighth place at three strokes back at +7. Elisa Axelsen is the next-highest Jaguar at 13th place and six strokes back.
The final round begins this morning with Hagen teeing off at 8:55am, followed by Beebe at 9:04, Wright at 9:13, Axelsen at 9:22am and Ryals at 9:31am.