Jags Baseball Up Record to 9-0 With Win Against Jacksonville State
The Jags baseball team upped their record to 9-0 this season as they defeated Jacksonville State 8-3 Wednesday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field. Matt Bell pitched five innings allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts. The three runs came on a three-run homer allowed in the first inning. But Bell would settle in and retire 14 of the final 15 batters he faced.
Every Jaguar starter got a hit in the game, five of them recorded multiple hits.
USA struck early with two runs in the top of the first inning on a two-run double by Jordan Patterson. Nick Zaharion would single later in the inning to score Patterson. Whitt Dorsey singled to center field to score the Jags final run of the inning to take a 4-0 lead.
The Gamecocks would cut the lead to 4-3 but would be shut out the rest of the way as the Jags cruised to the 8-3 win.
“We scored four in the first on five hits and that was good to see, because there wasn’t a lot offense yesterday,” Jaguar head coach Mark Calvi explained. “Then we gave up a three-run home run, but credit Matt Bell for coming back. He threw up zeros his next four innings, and we got every leadoff hitter out except for the ninth inning. He did what he had to do. He bent a little but didn’t break, and gave us a chance to score some runs. And we were pretty good out of the bullpen again.”
“We have to be good,” Calvi explains. “It gets tougher from here. College of Charleston is going to be good. We face a really good pitcher on Friday. They have some good arms and have some hitters returning, so we need quality starts. We need our starters to get us into at least the sixth (inning). We’ve used the bullpen a little and they have done a great job, but I want to see our starters get into the sixth or seventh inning and have a full cupboard for Saturday and Sunday.”
South Alabama will play College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. this weekend for a three-game series. The Cougars enter the game 3-4 and on a three game losing streak in the Auburn Tournament with close losses to Indiana State, Auburn and Middle Tennessee State.
USA Baseball Ranked 30th; Earley Named SBC Player Of The Week
More good news for the South Alabama baseball team announced on Monday. They are ranked 30th in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 Weekly Poll. On Monday, they were one of the then 11 unbeaten teams in the Top 30.
Through the first seven games, the Jags are batting .345 with 73 RBI and had an on-base percentage of .470 so far this season. The pitching staff has an ERA of 2.71 with 78 strikeouts with only 20 walks.
Also senior outfielder Nolan Earley was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week by the conference office. He batted .700 with three doubles, eight RBI’s and scored seven runs and eight walks in four games last week.
This was Earley’s first time to be honored as Player of the Week.
The Jags improved to 9-0 on the season after Nolan Earley broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the eighth inning with a two-out, two run double for a 3-1 win over Jacksonville State University. Jacksonville State fell to 3-6 on the season. South Alabama and Jacksonville State will play again today with first pitch scheduled for 3pm.
South Alabama Athletics Weekend Update
Men’s Basketball
The Jaguar Men’s basketball team defeated North Texas at the Mitchell Center on Saturday night 69-57. Four Jags scored in double figures with Javier Carter earning his third career double-double on Senior night.
The Jags started their conference home schedule with a loss, but ended it against North Texas with seven consecutive wins. This improved the Jags to 16-10 overall and 13-5 in Sun Belt Conference play. UNT fell to 11-19 and 6-13 in Sun Belt play.
Senior Wendell Wright set a new career high in scoring with 10 points and a season best five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Mychal Ammons led all scorers with 18 points. Augustine Rubit was held to nine points, but came down with 15 rebounds.
The Jags never trailed in the game.
USA continues to hold onto second place in the conference with a 13-5 record, one game ahead of Arkansas State who clinched the western division title with a 12-6 Sun Belt record.
The Jags basketball team travels to Western Kentucky for a Thurday night tip-off set for 7pm. It will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Women’s Basketball
The Lady Jaguars defeated North Texas 65-61 behind Mansa El’s 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in her final game at the Mitchell Center.
The trio of seniors, Mansa El, Camille Reynolds and Mary Nixon combined for 44 points to lead the way for the victory.
The Lady Jags improve to 15-12 overall and 8-10 in Sun Belt play. They are fifth out of six schools in the Sun Belt’s Eastern division, one-half game behind FAU for a tie for fourth place and in eihth place overall in the conference.
The Lady Jags will travel to Western Kentucky and play the Lady Toppers on Wednesday night with tip-off set for 7pm.
Baseball
The Jags set a new school record Friday night at Eddie Stanky Field by defeating former conference foe University of New Orleans 29-6 after a 13 run eighth inning.
Their Saturday game was rained out, but they were able to get in a double-header on Sunday which the Jags sweeped with more modest scores of 4-1 and 5-2.
The Jaguars baseball team improved their record to 7-0 on the season. They will return to action on Tuesday and Wednesday when they travel to Jacksonville, Alabama to face Jacksonville State University for a two-game mid-week series. First pitch for Tuesday’s game is set for 6:30pm at Rudy Abbot Field.
Softball
The Lady Jags traveled to Jacksonville, Florida for the Jacksonville University Tournament. They went 4-0 before their final game was cancelled due to field conditions.
The Jags earned their seventh run-rule win of the season when they defeated Mount St. Mary’s 12-2 in 5 innings in the early Friday game. They then turned around and faced host school Jacksonville University and came away with a 7-0 win.
On Saturday, the Jags had another two game schedule. Their first was against Seton Hall which they earned their eighth run-rule win of the season with an 8-0 win in 6 innings. Their late game on Saturday was against Delaware which they won in a 1-0 decision.
The Lady Jags will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Tuscaloosa for a make-up game against the University of Alabama. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00pm.
Track and Field
USA had two all-conference performances in the first day of the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships on Sunday. They also had a new school record set on the first day.
Nick Farrell came in first place and earned all-conference honors in the men’s pole vault when he cleared 5.00m. While his teammates William Henley and Connor Smith finished as part of a three-way tie for fifth place by vaulting 4.70m.
Briana Aiken also earned all-conference honors in the women’s long jump when she set a new school record of 6.01m. She finished in third place.
Complete results can be found here on the Jaguar Athletics website.
Day two will begin on Monday at 9am.
South Alabama Baseball Sweep Stephen F. Austin
The South Alabama Baseball team completed a three-game sweep to open the season against Stephen F. Austin State University over the weekend.
In the season opener, the Jags rallied in the ninth inning to squeak out a 7-6 win. Then back-to-back double-digit run games with a 10-0 shutout on Saturday and a nine-run eighth inning for a 13-4 win on Saturday.
In the bottom of the ninth inning on Friday night Brent Mitchell hit a two-run single down the left field line to tie the game. Then one batter later, Robby Campbell would hit a sacrifice fly to score the winning run for the 7-6 decision.
On Saturday, Jacob Noble struck out seven batters and only allowed two hits in 5 2/3rds shutout innings during this Jaguar debut. Brandon Boyle would strike out three more and only allow one hit to help lead the Jags to the 10-0 shutout on Saturday.
South Alabama broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the eighth with a nine-run explosion to earn the weekend sweep.
The Jags will face Alabama State at Eddie Stanky Field on Wednesday evening at 6:30pm. They will then host former Sun Belt Conference foe University of New Orleans for a three game series next weekend.
USA Baseball Chosen To Finish 3rd In Conference, Put Three On All-SBC Team
In a vote by the Conference head baseball coaches, South Alabama was selected to finish third in the 2013 Sun Belt Conference preseason poll. USA finished one spot ahead of in-state rival Troy.
The Jags and the Trojans were the only schools with three players each selected to the preseason All-Conference team. Logan Kirkland, Whitt Dorsey and Jordan Patterson represent South Alabama on the preseason All-Conference team.
Florida Atlantic was voted to finish first with five first-place votes and 89 total points, while their in-state rival Florida International was voted to finish second in the conference with one first-place vote and 85 points overall. South Alabama finished with 67 points.
Florida Atlantic won the conference regular season title last season with a 32-22 record overall and a 19-8 record in Sun Belt play. They return six starters, four of them pitchers, from last year’s team.
Kirkland is a redshirt sophomore from Grand Bay, Alabama. This is his second consecutive preseason All-Confernece honor. He was also named a Freshman All-American after the 2011 season while playing in six games and hitting .333 with a double and two RBI last season before an injury ended his season early.
Dorsey, an Auburn, Alabama native, was named to the team as a designated hitter after batting .337 with 12 doubles, two home runs and 31 RBI’s last season as a Junior. He was selected first-team All-SBC honor as a designated hitter after last season.
Patterson was named to the preseason All-Conference team as a utility player. He also earned a selection to the second-team All-SBC as an outfielder, but will move to first base this season as well as contributing as a pitcher. He batted .323 with 15 doubles, a team-leading eight home runs and tied for a team-leading 44 RBI.
All Sun Belt Conference teams will open up the season on Friday with all 10 schools in action. The Jags will open up at 6:30pm when they host Stephen F. Austin at Stanky Field for a three game series.
Jaguar Baseball Begins Fall Practice This Week
The South Alabama Jaguar baseball team will hold an intrasquad game on Friday at Eddie Stanky Field to kick off their first day of fall practice. The game will begin at 3:30pm.
The Jags will have two weeks of individual and four-on-one workouts. Similar to last fall, they will hold intrasquad games every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday during their workout period. They will scrimmage at 11am on Saturday morning then an intrasquad game on Sunday at 11:30am.
The Jags have several returning players this year with key positions being filled by some newcomers to the program. But head coach Mark Calvi says that there will be competition at all positions. Returners are bigger and stronger but the most important thing that the Jags need to improve is on their quality of pitching and pitching depth.
Last season the Jags opened fall practice without definite one, two or three pitchers or a closer. They only returned around 30 innings of experience in their pitchers. This season coach Calvi estimates they are returning around 350 innings of experience. Plus some JuCo transfers that coach Calvi are quite excited about.
The intrasquad games will be very beneficial to the coaching staff as they evaluate players and see how they react in game-like situations.
Additionally, an emphasis on offseason conditioning is paying off. “Our guys appear to be much stronger,” he said. “[Associate strength and conditioning] Coach [Jon] Hersel has really worked hard in putting his workouts together to make the guys better. And there is a competitive balance. You want the workouts to be very competitive, but you also don’t want to cross the line where someone gets hurt.”
“But I think coach Hersel has done that,” Calvi continued. “Our guys are flexible, and the key to strength and conditioning is you want to keep your players on the field performing at their best. There is that balance, and I think Jon has struck a good balance of getting their work in, yet, have them at peak-ability on the field. I’m very pleased with the way the strength and conditioning part of the program has been going.”
The date for the annual Red and Blue World Series, the final intrasquad game of fall practice, has not yet been set.
Jaguar Baseball Announce Walk-On Tryouts
Head baseball coach Mark Calvi and his staff announced that the Jags baseball team will be holding walk-on tryouts on Wednesday, September 5 beginning at 3pm at Eddie Stanky Field.
Anyone who wants to tryout will need to be present for a pre-participation exam which will include medical clearance, complete sickle cell requirements and proof of medical health insurance before they will be allowed to participate in the workout.
You can find these forms here.
For further information, contact USA baseball director of operations Andrew Carden at 251.460.6876.
Go Jags!
Erdmann Appointed To NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament Selection Committee
USA Director of Athletics Dr. Joel Erdmann.
The University of South Alabama Athletics Director Dr. Joel Erdmann has been appointed to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament selection committee. Dr. Erdmann will begin his first term with the committee on September 1, 2012 and runs through September 1, 2016.
Committee members are selected by geographical location to assure equal representations across the nation. THeir responsiblities are the oversight of the College World Series which is held in Omaha, Nebraska each year and the continual exposure of the sport nationally. They also select and seed the field for the NCAA Tournament each spring.
Erdmann was notified of his appointment to the committee this past spring but had to go through a lengthy process to become a member. He was first nominated to be on the 10-member Sun Belt Conference committee, then in conjunction with a nomination, each potential candidate must then submit a justification as to why they would be qualified to server on the committee. They must also list any applicable past experience in a role or some type of knowledge or expertise in the sport that would be beneficial.
Erdmann has previously served on both the NCAA Division II Football Committee while at the University of North Alabama during 2006-2007 academic year. He also co-chaired the NCAA Division II Football Southeast Region Advisory Committee during his time with UNA. he was also an assistant coach at USA in 1996-1997 and a graduate assistant before that for the Jags during the 1992 season.
“I’m very humbled and honored to be nominated and selected to be on the committee,” Erdmann stated. “I think part of the benefit is to try and make sure the game itself is healthy and the championships are healthy and good. Any time a person can represent a university and a conference, that’s also a benefit and has some intangible benefits to it. I’m looking forward to serving on the committee. I think it will be a great experience. It’ll be a bit of work and a lot of time, but it’ll be well worth it.”
South Alabama Set To Add Four To USA Hall of Fame
Four former Jags are set to be inducted into the South Alabama Athletics Hall of Fame. Three of them are former All-Americans and another is a nationally ranked women’s tennis player.
Former Jaguar baseball players P.J. Walters and Juan Pierre, former men’s tennis player František Babej and Cindy Summers will be the four added to the 57 former players who are currently in the South Alabama Athletics Hall of Fame.
The first weekend in November will be the school’s Hall of Fame weekend with a formal ceremony on Saturday, November 3 at 10 a.m. at the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center on campus. They will then be recognized at Ladd-Peebles Stadium during halftime of the Jaguars game versus Florida International.
P.J. Walters lettered for the Jaguars from 2004-2006 and earned Freshman All-American accolades from Collegiate Baseball his first season with the Jags after posting a 10-1 records with 119 strikeouts in 117 innings. As a junior, Collegiate Baseball named Walters a second-team All-America while Baseball America named him a third-team honoree. He led the Sun Belt with 166 strikeouts, which was the second highest total in school history, as he earned an 11-3 mark. Walters owns the career record with 404 strikeouts and 410.1 innings pitched. He is also second all-time with 31 wins.
Juan Pierre’s only season as a Jaguar saw him lead the Sun Belt with 95 hits, 77 runs and 54 stolen bases and earning conference player-of-the-year and being named first-team all-league. The 54 stolen bases ranked 5th nationally. American Baseball Coaches Association named him to the second-team All-American team and was also named to the third team All-America team by both Collegiate Baseball and the National College Baseball Writers Association. The Jags won the regular-season title with a 42-19 overall record and went 2-2 at the NCAA South I Regional. Both losses were by one run to eventual National Champion USC.
Babej lettered for the Jags in 2004 and 2005 while earning All-America honors in singles from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association both of those seasons. In his first season with the Jags, Babej became the first Jaguar player to ever reach the semifinals of the NCAA Championships. He ended the season ranked 17th in the country in singles and 49th in doubles in 2003-2004. He would end his senior season ranked 16th in the final rankings after winning his first two NCAA singles matches. He would end his senior year with a 32-3 record with a 26-match winning streak.
Summers earned numerous Sun Belt Conference honors during her time as a Jaguar. She lead the Lady Jags to four consecutive league championships from 1994-1997. She was also included in the Sun Belt Conference 30th Anniversary All-Time Women’s Tennis Team. She was selected the MVP of the conference championships in both 1996 and 1997 while earning all-league honors in singles three times and doubles on three occasions as well. In 1996 she would finish ranked 34th nationally in singles and 40th in doubles. At the end of her senior year she was ranked 57th nationally in doubles and 65th nationally in singles.
Jags Baseball Host The Alabama Crimson Tide
South Alabama Baseball to host the University of Alabama Tuesday, April 3rd at 6:30 PM!
The South Alabama Jaguars will host the Alabama Crimson Tide at Eddie Stanky Field Tuesday, April 3rd in a SEC versus Sun Belt Conference match up. First pitch is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Get your tickets early at the Mitchell Center ticket office Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. or by calling 461-1USA to avoid long lines the night of the game. You can also purchase your tickets at the Eddie Stanky Field ticket windows on game day up to one hour prior to first pitch.
Take advantage of the new outfield decks in right center field called “Jaguar Alley.” You may purchase $5 tickets as you enter the outfield deck area from Gamma Drive (behind the scoreboard) and park in the Gamma Parking lot just down from Eddie Stanky Field. The decks are available for general public on a first come, first serve basis until deck tickets run out. The deck area opens at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
Upcoming Home Games:
Tuesday, April 3
Jags vs. Alabama @ 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 17
Jags vs. Southern Miss @ 6:30 p.m.
For more information please call 461-1USA or visit www.usajaguars.com.