Six Jags Earn Softball All-SBC Team Honors
South Alabama receives the Sun Belt Conference Academic Award for the second-consecutive season with a team GPA of 3.44. | Photo Credit: twitter.com @Blazinjag
As the 23rd ranked South Alabama Jaguar Softball team prepares to make their appearance in the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Tournament this week, they are looking to retake the conference tournament crown.
The 10th ranked Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns earned the regular season title and the top seed for the tournament after finishing the season with a 20-3 record in conference play. They also defeated the Jaguars last season in the conference finale in Lafayette, LA after the Jaguars two-year reign as tournament title winners in 2012 and ’13.
Ahead of today’s start to the tournament, the conference office announced the All-Sun Belt Conference teams at Bobcat Stadium as part of Family Night. Six Jaguars were named to All-SBC Teams and for the second year in a row the Jags earned the SBC Team Academic Award with a team GPA of 3.44 over the past year, which is higher than their 3.36 GPA from last season.
Freshman right-hander Kalen McGill and sophomore designated player Chloe Rathburn earned first-team honors, while senior pitcher Farish Beard, senior shortstop Kaitlyn Griffith, junior Stephanie Pilkington and sophomore Amanda Minahan, both outfielders, were chosen for Second-Team honors at their respective positions.
McGill finished the regular season with a 16-2 record and a team-leading 1.82 ERA. She also recorded four saves this season which tops the SBC and is currently ranked seventh in the nation in walks allowed per seven innings (0.97) and 17th in saves. She finished with an 8-1 league record and was named SBC Pitcher of the Week twice this season.
Rathburn lead the Jags at the plate with a .387 batting average, 53 hits and 48 RBI and is four RBI away from tying former Jaguar standout Brittany Fowler’s single-season record of 52 which she set in 2011, this is her second time to be named to the SBC First-Team.
Beard finished 6-1 this season in conference play with 53 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched in conference play. She allowed only nine earned runs with three shutouts while holding opposing batters to a .162 average in conference games. She is ranked 15th in the nation in hist allowed per seven innings (4.33). This is her third All-Conference honor of her career.
Griffith set a new single-season home run record when she hit her 12th last weekend against Troy. She also set a Jag record with six sacrifice flies and currently ranks sixth in the country in this category. This is her second All-Conference honor for Griffith.
Pilkington earns her second All-Conference honor as well after leading the Jags in on-base percentage for the entire season with a .485 average with a team-high 28 walks.
Minahan earned her first All-Conference honor after batting .354 on the season with a .555 slugging percentage which is third best on the team, and also with a .418 on-base percentage which is fourth-best on the team. She is tied for second on the team with five home runs. She batted .345 in conference play this season, which is also second best on the team.
The Jags will begin their tournament play on Thursday at 5pm when they face the winner of Game 4 which will be the winner of 6-seed ULM and 7-seed UT-Arlington vs 3-seed Texas State. Below is the full rundown of Sun Belt All-Conference teams.
Sun Belt All-Conference First Team
- P- Randi Rupp, Texas State
- P- Kalen McGill, South Alabama
- P- Jordan Wallace, Louisiana-Lafayette
- P- Jaycee Affeldt, Troy
- C- Lexie Elkins, Louisiana-Lafayette
- C- Ivie Drake, Georgia State
- 1B- Kelsey Vincent, Louisiana-Lafayette
- 1B- Kendall Wiley, Texas State
- 2B- Haley Hayden, UL Lafayette
- SS- Taylor Anderson, Georgia State
- 3B- Callie Alford, Georgia State
- OF- Shellie Landry, Louisiana-Lafayette
- OF- Ashley Christy, Georgia State
- OF- Rochelle Roberts, Louisiana-Monroe
- DP- Chloe Rathburn, South Alabama
Sun Belt All-Conference Second Team
- P- Farish Beard, South Alabama
- P- Alex Stewart, Louisiana-Lafayette
- C- Sarah Warnock, Appalachian State
- 1B- Alexis Cacioppo, Louisiana-Monroe
- 1B- Lauren Coleman, Georgia State
- 2B- Miyuki Navarette, Louisiana-Monroe
- SS- Ariel Ortiz, Texas State
- SS- Kaitlyn Griffith, South Alabama
- 3B- Courtney Harris, Texas State
- 3B- Samantha Walsh, Louisiana-Lafayette
- OF- Taylor Rogers, Georgia Southern
- OF- Amanda Minahan, South Alabama
- OF- Stephanie Pilkington, South Alabama
- OF- Becca Hartley, Troy
- DP- Leandra Maly, Louisiana-Lafayette
Player of the Year
- Lexie Elkins, Louisiana-Lafayette
Pitcher of the Year
- Jaycee Affeldt, Troy
Freshman of the Year
- Ivie Drake, Georgia State
Co-Coaches of the Year
- Beth Mullins, Troy
- Michael Lotief, Louisiana-Lafayette