USA-SLU Game Rescheduled
The University of South Alabama baseball team has rescheduled their game against Southeastern Louisiana which was rained out on April 3 due to heavy rain and thunderstorms.
The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday, May 7 with first pitch set for 6:30pm at Eddie Stanky Field.
South Alabama Vying To Be Regional Host
South Alabama’s baseball and softball teams are having a very good season so far this year. With their regular season games dwindling the postseason is looming large both teams could potentially host regional tournaments over the next several weeks.
Athletic Director Joel Erdmann announced on WNSP that the University has put in a bid to host a regional tournament for softball and he said that they would also put in a bid for a baseball regional tournament. He indicated that, if the Jags can finish in the top 16, USA should be able to host a regional.
SouthEasternBaseball.com is projecting South Alabama to host a regional. They also project South Florida, Mississippi State and Southern Miss to be in this regional.
The website also has three other Sun Belt schools in the postseason. They have Troy as a #2 seed at the regional at Florida State, Florida Atlantic as a #3 seed in Nashville for the Vanderbilt regional and Louisiana-Lafayette as a #2 seed at the LSU regional.
USA Re-Enters Baseball America And Collegiate Baseball Top 25 Polls
The University of South Alabama baseball team returned to the Baseball American and Collegiate Baseball rankings on Monday after a weekend sweep of ULM to extend the Jags winning streak to seven games.
The Jags are ranked 20th by Baseball America and are ranked 25th by Collegiate Baseball and are the only Sun Belt schools to be ranked in either poll. They are also on top of the Sun Belt standings.
They do not have any midweek games between now and the end of the regular season so they can rest up for postseason play. The Jags next series will be this weekend when they host Middle Tennessee State for a three-game SBC series at Eddie Stanky Field.
Jaguar Baseball Sweeps ULM
The South Alabama Jaguar baseball team extended their winning streak with a sweep of Louisiana-Monroe on the road over the weekend.
On Friday, Jarron City allowed five runs on nine hits while striking out eight with only two walks in seven innings to earn the win over the ULM Warhawks, 10-8. Dylan Stamey struck out four and allowed two runs on three hits with two walks in 1 2/3 innings to earn his third save of the season.
Jordan Patterson went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and an RBI while scoring one run to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Jeff DeBlieux went 2-for-4 with a homerun, two RBI and two runs scored. Dustin Dalken also hit a homer for the Jaguars.
On Saturday Hunter Soleymani pitched 6 2/3 innings of relief and only allowed one run on two hits to lead the Jaguars to the 9-6 win. He struck out three and only walked two batters to earn his first career win as a Jaguar.
With the Warhawks leading 5-3, the Jags exploded for six runs in teh fifth inning to take a 9-5 lead. The Warhawks would only manage one run the rest of the way.
Then on Sunday, Jacob Noble allowed one earned run on five hits with two strikeouts and three walks in five innings of work to get his fifth win of the season as the Jags won 7-2.
Jordan Patterson threw two shutout innings and allowed only two hits while striking out three with two walks to earn his second save of the season. Cole Billingsley, a freshman, pitched two shutout innings and allowed only one hit with a walk and a strikeout in his first appearance on the mound as a Jaguar.
Eight of the Jaguar starters recorded hits in the final game of the series with Zaharion going 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI, a walk and two runs scored. Patterson also finished the game going 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a walk and three runs.
After this weekends series the Jags improved their record to 34-12 on the season and 15-6 in Sun Belt play. The Jags will return to the field this weekend when they host Middle Tennessee State for a three game SBC series at Eddie Stanky Field. Game one is scheduled for 2pm on Friday.
The weekend series extends the Jaguar winning streak to seven games as they extend their lead in the Sun Belt standings to two full games. Western Kentucky was swept by Arkansas-Little Rock over the weekend and fell from second place to a tie for fifth place. The Jags (15-6 SBC) holds a two game edge on Troy (13-8 SBC) with three Conference series left in the season, including a three game regular season finale against Troy which could decide the regular season title and the #1 seed for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
USA Baseball Travels To Monroe This Weekend
After taking two of three from Western Kentucky and sweeping Jacksonville State, the Jags head to Monroe, Louisiana to take on ULM in a three game Sun Belt series.
Jarron Cito is set to take the mound for the Jags tonight with first pitch scheduled for 6pm. Saturday’s game is scheduled for 3pm and will be broadcast on the Sun Belt Network and can be seen on ESPN3.com or WatchESPN.com.
South Alabama enters the weekend with a 31-19 record overall and a 12-6 record in Sun Belt play. They enter the weekend in first place in the conference after winning two of the three games against Western Kentucky last weekend. The Jags have a five game winning streak coming into their game against ULM and winning their last three SBC series.
ULM enters the weekend with a 16-26 record overall and 5-13 in Sun Belt play which is tied for last place in the Sun Belt. They also rank last in the conference in team batting average and ERA.
All three games can be heard on WNSP 105.5FM in Mobile and wnsp.com worldwide. Game video will be streamed online at ULMWarhawks.com for a fee.
Jag Baseball Sweep Two Game Series From Jacksonville State
South Alabama swept two games from Jacksonville State on Tuesday and Wednesday at Eddie Stanky Field.
The Jags trailed in the first game on Tuesday 6-2 through 5 1/2 innings before the Jags began their comeback. In the bottom half of the inning they cut the lead in half, then in the bottom of the seventh the Jags plated five runs to take the lead by a score of 8-6.
In the bottom of the eighth inning the Jags scored an insurance run for the final score of 9-6.
Jaime Dennis threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings with only two hits and a pair of strikeouts to get his first win of the season. Kyle Bartsch got the final two outs in the game to earn his 11th save of the season.
Jeff DeBlieux went 4-for-6 with a double, an RBI and a run scored to lead the Jags at the plate.
On Wednesday the Jags defeated the Gamecocks again by a score of 6-5 to sweep the two game series.
South Alabama used a six-run first inning to take the early lead, then held on for the win.
In the top of the second inning, JSU scored two runs to cut the Jaguar lead to 6-2. They added another run in the top of the third inning on a Sac fly to cut the lead in half.
JSU would push two more runs across in the top of the fourth inning but the Jags fought hard to preserve the one run victory.
Tripp Cecil threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief and allowed only three hits while striking out three and issuing one walk.
South Alabama Sports Weekend Update
Baseball
After a setback in the first game against Western Kentucky, South Alabama rebounded to win the next two to clinch the series.
On Friday night, the Hilltoppers used a five run sixth inning to defeat the Jags 10-8. Tanner Perkins allowed two runs on six hits while striking out four with only one walk in six innings of work for the ‘toppers.
Jarron Cito took the loss in five innings of work by allowing seven runs on six hits with one strikeout and three walks.
On Saturday, the Jags used a four-run sixth inning to defeat the ‘toppers by a score of 6-3 to even the series and set up the rubber match on Sunday.
After five-and-a-half innings, the Jags and ‘toppers were tied at 1-1, but three hits and four runs later the Jags were in control at 5-1.
Matt Bell went 5 1/3 innings while only giving up two hits, one run, three walks and five strikeouts but got a no decision in the game. James Traylor came in and pitched 2/3rds of an inning of shutout, no hit ball while picking up the win. Dylan Stamey pitched two innings and allowed six hits, two runs, two walks and two strikeouts.
But Kyle Bartsch pitched a perfect ninth inning to pick up the 19th save of his career and to become the school’s all-time saves leader.
On Sunday, the Jags clinched the series with a 7-5 win over the Hilltoppers at Eddie Stanky Field. After the weekend series the Jaguars improved their overall record to 29-12 (12-6 SBC) while Western Kentucky fell to 21-19 overall for the season and 11-7 in Sun Belt play.
After WKU scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game up at 5-5. But the Jags responded in the bottom of the inning to plate two runs for the final margin of 7-5.
Jacob Noble pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks. James Traylor picked up his second win on 2/3rds of an inning of work with one hit and one walk. Kyle Bartsch pitched two shutout innings with two walks and two strikeouts to earn his 10th save of the season and 20th save of his career.
With the series win, the Jags take a one game lead in the Sun Belt Conference standings. Troy, FAU and Western Kentucky are all tied for second place one game behind the Jags in the standings.
The Jags will host a two-game midweek series against Jacksonville State University on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Softball
The lady Jaguar softball team swept another conference opponent as the Jags earned two run-rule decisions against Louisiana-Monroe in Louisiana.
On Saturday, the Jags won both games of the doubleheader by a combined score of 25-1. The Jags combined the for 21 hits with six home runs to win the games by scores of 11-1 and 14-0.
Haley Fagan led the Jags on Saturday by going 6-for-7 with two home runs, four runs scored and five RBI. Her slugging percentage was 1.714 and had a on-base percentage of .857. Plus the freshman extended her team-leading RBI stat to 43 and now takes the team lead in home runs.
Brittany Fowler extended her on-base streak to 23 consecutive games to tie her career high for this mark. She went 4-for-5 with two RBI and four runs scored.
Hannah Campbell and Farish Beard both earned their 18th win of the season on Saturday. Hannah struck out four with only three hits, no walks and one earned run. Beard pitched three shutout innings in the second game while striking out five with only one hit and a walk.
On Sunday, the Jags blanked the Warhawks in a run-rule shorted finale to the weekend series by a score of 8-0. This was the first time in school history that the Jags swept a weekend series all by mercy-rule wins.
The lady Jags scored four runs in the top of the first inning with three consecutive singles by Fowler, Blair Johnson and Fagan. Fowler would score on Fagan’s base hit while the other two baserunners would score on a wild pitch and throwing error. Alex Breeden would get an RBI single to push Griffith across the plate.
Farish Beard pitched four innings to earn her 19th win of the season. She struck out seven and only allowed one hit and one walk. Hannah Campbell pitched two innings while striking out four with only one hit herself.
The Jags will round out the regular season when they play Troy three times this week. The first will be on Wednesday at Jaguar Field in Mobile then the final two games will be in Troy, Alabama in a doubleheader on Saturday on May 4th.
The Sun Belt Championship will begin on May 8th and will be hosted in Troy, Alabama. South Alabama continues to hold onto the top spot in the Sun Belt Conference with a 16-3 record ahead of Western Kentucky who has a 15-3 record in Sun Belt play. The Jags run their overall record to 40-7 on the season.
The Lady Jaguars are #17 in RPI, is ranked #20 in the USA Today coaches poll and is ranked #21 in ESPN.com poll.
Jags Fall To #6 Florida State 2-0
South Alabama’s Payton Gardner went six innings and allowed only one earned run on five hits with seven strikeouts and only one walk in the 2-0 loss to #6 Florida State on Tuesday evening at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee.
The Seminoles scored the only two runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning as they improved to 31-6 on the season. The Jags brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth inning, but a popup down the left field line ended the game. The Jags record falls to 27-11 on the season.
Bud Collura went 3-for-4 to lead the Jags at the plate, but they could not manufacture runs against the ‘noles. FSU’s Peter Miller pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings with four strikeouts and only one walk. Bobby Coles threw a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his eighth save of the year for FSU.
The Jaguars return to action this weekend at Eddie Stanky Field when they host Western Kentucky for a key Sun Belt Conference series. The Jags and the Hilltoppers are both atop the SBC Baseball standings.
Zaharion Named SBC Player Of The Week, FSU Game To Be Broadcast On ESPN3
South Alabama Jaguar outfielder Nick Zaharion was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on Monday by conference officials. Zaharion hit .533 with three doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and five runs scored in the last four games including the weekend sweep of Arkansas State.
He reached base in each of the four games and recorded multiple hits in two of them. He also drove in multiple runs in three of the four games while tying a career high five RBI in Saturdays 20-2 win over ASU.
This is the second time Zaharion has been named the SBC PotW, previously it was on March 26 of last season.
For the season, he is batting .345 with three doubles, four home runs, 18 RBI and eight runs scored in nine Sun Belt games this season with a slugging percentage of .862.
It was also announced on Monday that the Jags game against #5 Florida State will be broadcast on ESPN3 from Tallahassee. First pitch is scheduled for 5pm Central at Dick HOwser Stadium. Along with ESPN3, the game will be broadcast on 105.5 FM WNSP and WNSP.com.
South Alabama Sports Weekend Update
Baseball
The South Alabama Jaguar baseball team swept their series against Arkansas State over the weekend by a combined score of 30-5. The Jags improve their record to 27-10 and 10-5 in SBC play. Arkansas State falls to 19-17 overall and 6-9 in SBC play.
Jarron Cito started for the Jags on Friday evening and earned the win behind a four-run fourth inning as the Jags won 6-2. City only allowed two runs on five hits through seven innings of work while striking out five with only one walk. Dylan Stamey struck out four while walking on in 1 2/3 innings of work to earn the second save of his career.
The Jags pounded ASU into submission on Saturday behind the pitching of Matt Bell. The Jags recorded 21 hits and scored in eight of the nine innings as they won 20-2.
Bell tied a career high in strikeouts with nine while only allowing two runs on five hits with one walk in another career high of eight innings of work.
South Alabama came within one hit of tying a season high for hits in a game. Nine different Jagaurs recorded hits with Jeff DeBlieux going 5-for-7 with two triples, three RBI and two runs scored. Nick Zaharion finished 4-for-5 with two doubles, two home runs, a career high five RBI and two runs scored.
Nolan Earley went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
In the final game of the weekend series, the Jags earned a 4-1 win behind Jacob Noble’s pitching. Noble allowed one unearned run on three hits in seven innings of work. He struck out five without giving up a walk to get his fourth win of the season and his first against a Sun Belt opponent.
Kyle Bartsch earned his eighth save of the season on one inning of work with two strikeouts. He tied former Jaguar Blaine Dollar for career saves at USA with the 18th of his career.
The Jags will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Tallahassee for a midweek game against Florida State.
The Jaguar baseball team is tied for first place in the conference with Western Kentucky with a 10-5 record each. FAU is second with a 9-5 record.
The Jags will host the Hilltoppers this weekend for a key three-game conference series.
Softball
The Jaguar softball team swept the Saturday doubleheader against North Texas. Blair Johnson hit her second game-winning home run of the season as she gave the Jags a walk-off 3-2 win over the Mean Green in the first game.
Hannah Campbell went the distance to earn her 17th win of the season. She allowed seven hits while striking out eight with only one walk in her seven innings of work. She allowed two runs, both unearned though.
THe Lady Jags earned their 11th mercy-rule win of the season when they defeated the Mean Green 12-1 in five innings in the second game of the Saturday doubleheader.
After the dramatics of the victory in the first game, the Jags burst out of the gate with nine hits and 11 runs in the first two innings of the game. Julie Moss hit her sixth home run of the season to give the Jags a 2-0 lead.
Farish Beard earned her 17th win of the season as well on 4 1/3 innings of work where she only allowed two hits and one run behind nine strikeouts and no walks. Jessica Dobson finished off the game with 2/3 of an inning of work where she allowed two hits, one run and a walk with one strikeout to wrap up the game.
The Sunday game was cancelled due to weather. The Jags record improved to 37-7 overall and 13-3 in Sun Belt play. North Texas fell to 18-19 overall and 6-9 in Sun Belt play on the season.
The Lady Jags continue to hold onto first place in the conference by one game in the win column. WKU is 12-3 on the season in Sun Belt play.