Jaguar Baseball Swept By #3 Ranked Louisiana-Lafayette
Then #3 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns swept USA over the weekend to further improve their season record to 46-7 overall and 23-4 in conference play.
Friday night’s game was postponed due to rain which made for a double-header on Saturday.
In the first game, the Jags fell 5-2 as Cajun’ right-hander Austin Robichaux allowed only two unearned runs on two hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in seven innings.
In game two of the double-header on Saturday, ULL loaded the bases against USA’s Kevin Hill on a pair of singles and a walk before Greg Davis delivered a grand-slam home run to put the Cajuns up 4-0 early.
An RBI double in the fourth inning put the Cajuns up 5-0 then a two-run home run put the Cajuns firmly ahead 7-0 in the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Jags were down 7-0 when Drew LaBounty drew a walk, followed by a single by Andrew Tindell which was followed by another walk to DeGallier. Cummings then delivered with an RBI single to right-center to score the first run of the game. Cole Gleason then delivered a two-run single to score Tindell and DeGallier to cut the lead to 7-3.
Wojciechowski hit a single to score Cummings. Hawthorne walked to load the bases and put the tying run on base. Jones grounded out to shortstop for the first out of the inning but it scored Gleason to cut the lead to 7-5. Davis Knapp then hit a sacrifice fly to center which scored Wojciechowski and cut the lead to just one run. LaBounty hit a two-out RBI single to center which tied the game at 7-7 but the Jags could not muster any more damage the rest of the game.
In the top of the ninth, after a single and a stolen base, Greg Davis delivered a two-out RBI single to right field for the eventual game winning run.
The Cajuns completed the sweep on Sunday with a 13-3 win. Hunter Soleymani took the loss in 2 2/3 innings after allowing six runs on eight hits with one strikeout.
The Jags go on the road for their final series of the regular season when they play Troy on Thursday through Saturday, each game scheduled for 6pm in Troy.
With three games left, Lafayette is secure in the #1 seed with a 23-4 record. Arkansas State currently holds onto second with a 17-10 record, followed by Texas State at 3rd with a 16-11 record, followed by UT-Arlington in fourth with a 15-11 record, currently fifth is Western Kentucky with a 13-13 record, followed a three way tie for sixth between Georgia State, South Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe all at 10-6. Troy is just outside of the top-eight in ninth place with a 9-17 record and UALR is right behind them in 10th with a 9-18 record.
The top eight schools will play in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to be held at Eddie Stanky Field on May 21 through May 25.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Rewind
Baseball
South Alabama lost the weekend series against Georgia State two games to one to drop their overall record to 21-26 and their conference record to 10-13.
USA’s Locke St. John threw his first career complete game to lead the Jaguars over the Panthers of Georgia State by a score of 8-1 in the first game of a three game series Friday evening.
St. John (6-1) allowed only one run on four hits while striking out six and only walking one for his sixth win of the season. St. John also retired the final 11 batters in the game and did not allow a hit over the final 17 batters of the game.
His complete game was the first by a Jaguars since Jarron Cito against Florida International over two years ago on April 29, 2012.
In game two the Panthers scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning en route to defeating the Jaguars 7-4.
On Sunday the Jaguars lost the rubber match in a 15-10 game.
Georgia State had 16 hits in the game and was led by Chase Rattfield who went 3-for-6 with a home run, six RBI and three runs scored.
Eight Jaguars recorded at least one hit with six of them collecting multiple hits. Andrew Tindell led the Jags with career highs in hits and RBI going 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Cole Gleason went 2-for-6 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Davis Knapp went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
USA’s Brandon Hallford (3-2) took the loss by allowing six runs on six hits with two strikeouts and and three walks in 2 2/3 innings of relief.
GSU improved to 23-25 overall and 9-15 in conference play.
USA will travel to Louisiana-Lafayette to open a three game series against the #3 ranked Ragin’ Cajuns.
The Jags continue to hold onto sixth place in the SBC standings and are two-and-a-half games back for a tie against Western Kentucky and UT Arlington for fourth place with six conference games left in the regular season before the Sun Belt Conference Tournament takes place at Eddie Stanky Field.
NOTE: Errors were corrected from the original post. In the original version it was reported that USA won the game on Sunday and won the series when they actually lost the game and the series on Sunday. I want to thank twitter user @TinkWMobile for pointing that out to us for us to correct. We strive to accurately report all news and when we are wrong we try to let our readers know about it.
Softball
The 21st ranked Jaguars concluded the regular season on Saturday with a double-header against Troy at Jaguar Field. The Jags split the double header but won the series since they won their earlier match up against the Trojans. They enter the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with the second overall seed.
In the first game on Saturday USA could only manage two hits while the Trojans were able to muster five hits. The Trojans were able to slip a run across the plate in the top of the fifth inning on a fielding error when first baseman Amanda Herron dropped a two-out groundout attempt. That allowed Bria Epps, pinch running for starting pitcher Ashley Rainey, to score from third.
Julie Moss, who has not seen action since breaking her arm against UAB on February 19, pinch hit for Taylor Rodgers in the bottom of the sixth and ended Rainey’s no-hitter with a single to shallow center field. Rainey then retired three consecutive Jaguars to strand Moss on base.
USA loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh after Chloe Rathburn singled, Alex Breeden walked and Amanda Minahan reached on a fielding error. However Herron popped out and Rodgers hit into a fielders choice that forced Breeden out at third.
Hannah Campbell took the loss to fall to 16-5 on the season. She allowed five hits and one unearned run with nine strikeouts and no walks.
In game two the Jags jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first three innings after Breeden hit a two-out RBI single to score Blair Johnson, who reached on a fielders choice. Johnson doubled in the bottom of the third inning to score Pilkington after she drew a leadoff walk.
The Trojans answered with two solo home runs from Erica Davis and Meg Willis in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game a 2-all.
The Jags led off the bottom of the third inning with three consecutive singles by Lin, Rodgers and Messer with Messer’s scoring Linn from second base.
Troy would very nearly tie the game in the top of the fifth after Kacie McAllister reached on a two-out single, would be brought home by Amanda Winters’ double to right field, however a perfectly placed set of throws from Minahan from right field to the relay from Rodgers to Breeden at home plate would tag McAllister out at home plate.
Farish Beard would then retire six of the final seven Trojans to step up to the plate as she allowed two earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. The Jags did commit an error in the game, but it did not result in a run.
The Jags finish the season with an overall record of 38-11 and 15-6 in Sun Belt Play. The Jags will next travel to Lafayette for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament beginning on Wednesday. We will have the tournament bracket up this evening.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Preview
Softball
The 21st ranked Jaguar Softball team will conclude their season with a double-header on Saturday starting at 1pm at Jaguar Field.
The Jags will host Troy on Senior Day with Julie Moss and Hannah Campbell both being honored as the lone seniors on the team this season.
The Jags have locked up the 2nd seed in the Sun Belt Conference championships that get underway on May 7 in Lafayette, Louisiana. ULL locked up the top seed for the Championship as well as they are set to host the Tournament.
Come out and show your support to the seniors and the rest of the team as they finish the season strong heading into postseason play!
Baseball
The Jaguar baseball team will be in Atlanta for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Georgia State.
They will get started at 5pm Central tonight with left-hander Locke St. John (5-1) taking the mound for the Jaguars to face off against fellow lefty Kenny Anderson (4-3).
Game two on Saturday will start at 1pm with right-hander Kevin Hill (3-5) taking the mound against fellow righty Nathan Bates (1-2).
The finale on Sunday will start at noon with Hunter Soleymani (0-2) going against Aidan McLaughlin (1-1).
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Jaguar Baseball Comes From Behind To Defeat Alabama State 12-11
South Alabama faced a four-run deficit going into the eighth inning but a Matt Wojciechowski grand-slam home run pushed the Jags ahead where they would hold on to win 12-11 over Alabama State.
ASU scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 9-5 lead on the Jags. But in the top of the eighth, the Jags got underway when Garrett DeGallier ledoff the inning with a single to right field. Then Drew LaBounty drew a walk, followed by a single to left field by Andrew Tindell would load the bases for Davis Knapp. Hornet catcher Richard Gonzalez attempted to pick off Tindell at first but his throw would float into right field over the first baseman’s head alloweing DeGallier and LaBounty to both score and cut the lead to 9-7.
Knapp would walk to put runners at the corners with no outs in the inning. Cameron Cummings would draw a walk to load the bases. Then Wojciechowski would smash the first pitch over the right field wall for his first grand slam and his first homer as a Jaguar to give USA an 11-9 lead.
With runners on the corners, DeGallier would single to right field to drive in the Jags final run of the game, the seventh run of the inning which is their largest total in a single inning this season.
ASU would score two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but the Jags would hold on and win by one run.
USA improved to 20-24 on the season while ASU fell to 33-17.
Right hander Dillon Buhrkuhl (1-0) earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of relief allowing two unearned runs on one hit with a strikeout and a walk. Brandon Hallford allowed one hit with one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for his seventh save of the season.
The hero of the game, Wojciechowski, went 2-for-5 with a grand-slam homer, four RBI and two runs scored. Hindmon had a career-high three hits as did DeGallier who tied his career high.
South Alabama will travel to Atlanta to face Georgia State in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series this weekend. The first game is scheduled for 5pm Central Time on Friday and can be heard on 105.5 FM WNSP and WNSP.com online.
Jaguar Baseball Face ASU In Final Nonconference Game Of Season
The Jaguar baseball team will play their final non-conference game of the season when they travel to Montgomery this evening to face Alabama State.
First pitch is set for 6pm at Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex and the game will be broadcast on WNSP.com and 105.5 FM WNSP.
USA has won two of it’s last three games to improve their overall record to 19-24 though the Jags are 9-12 in road games this season including a three-game road losing streak.
USA will send righty Matt Sharp (0-0) to the mound in his first career start. He has allowed three runs on one hit with a strikeout and two walks in one inning of work in his only career appearance against Nicholls State on April 9.
ASU enters the game with a 33-16 record overall and coming off back-to-back wins last weekend against Jackson State. They have also won five of their last six games and are 18-7 at home this season.
USA holds a 10-1 record all-time against ASU dating back to 1987. Their only win came earlier in the season when the Hornets shutout the Jags 5-0 at Eddie Stanky Field.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Rewind
Baseball
The Jaguar baseball team took two out of three games over the weekend to win the series against Louisiana-Monroe and to improve their record to 19-24 overall and 8-13 in conference play.
In the first game on Friday evening, the Jags used a four-run fourth inning to propel themselves past ULM by a 7-4 score. ULM took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning after a sacrifice fly scored the first run, then a two-out two-run homer supplied the other two runs.
In the bottom of the second inning the Jags plated their first run on a two-out double to right field by Garrett DeGallier which scored Hayden Jones from second base, he had reached base on a walk earlier in the inning.
The Jags tied the score in the bottom of the third inning after Davis Knapp hit a one-out single to left field. Then one batter later, Cole Gleason hit his first career home run over the left-center field wall.
Then the Jags took control with the four-run fourth inning that put the Jags up 7-3.
ULM’s only other run came in the top of the fifth inning with a solo home run over the left-center wall.
Locke St. John picked up the win to improve his record to 5-1. He allowed four runs on four hits with two strikeouts and an walk in 6 2/3 innings. Ben Taylor struck out four with one walk in 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for this first career save.
The Jags clinched the series on Saturday with a 6-5 win at Eddie Stanky Field.
USA jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Davis Knapp lead off the inning with a single to left field. Cameron Cummings’ sacrifice bunt attempt was fielding by the pitcher but he threw it to center field trying to get the force out at second, which allowed Knapp to advance to third and Cummings to second. Cole Gleason then hit his second home run in as many games.
In the top of the fourth ULM scored their first run of the game after an error let the runner reach base. Then a two-out RBI double to left-center scored the lone run of the inning.
USA answered in the bottom of the fourth inning when Knapp reached on a one-out double to the left-center gap. Cummings advanced him to third on a groundout to second base then Gleason drove him in on an RBI single to left field.
The Jags led 6-4 in the top of the seventh as the Warhawks leadoff hitter reached base on a walk. Later he would score on an RBI single to left field to cut the Jaguar lead to one run. The Warhawks would load the bases later in the inning with a walk and a hit batter, but James Traylor would pitch his way out of the jam with a inning-ending flyout to right field that was caught near the warning track.
Kevin Hill picked up the win (3-5) in 5 1/3 inning of work with three earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts and three walks. James Traylor pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts for his third save of the season.
USA then tried for the weekend sweep. With the Jags down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, Knapp led off the inning with a double to left field. He then moved to third on a single to center field by Cummings. Matt Wojciechowski then walked to load the bases with no outs. Haydent Jones then delivered a bases-loaded two-run single through the left side of the infield to get within one run of the Warhawks.
Connor Hawthorne would draw a walk to load the bases again then DeGallier then hit a fly to left field which scored JOnes to tie the game at 7 heading into extra innings.
ULM would break the tie in the top of the 11th after a two-out fielding error by shortshot Drew LaBounty allowed the runner to score. The Jags was unable to even the score in the bottom half of the inning.
Softball
The 20th ranked Jaguar softball team swept the weekend series against Western Kentucky to improve their record to 37-10 overall and 14-5 in conference play and clinched the #2 seed in the 2014 SBC Tournament which is quickly approaching.
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South Alabama Sports – Weekend Preview
Baseball
South Alabama will host Louisiana-Monroe this weekend for a three-game Sun Belt series at Eddie Stanky Field. They will get underway tonight at 6:30pm with Locke St. John (4-1) taking the mound for the Jaguars in his 11th start of the season. Payton Coddou (0-2) will make only his third start of the season for the Warhawks.
Game two will start at 6:30pm on Saturday with Kevin Hill (2-5) making his ninth start of the season. Then Hunter Soleymani (0-2) will get the start in the series finale on Sunday.
USA is in the midst of a three game losing streak as they have fallen to 17-23 overall and 7-10 in conference play. The Jags are currently holding onto a tie for sixth place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. They are tied with their in-state rivals Troy and two games back from Western Kentucky and UT-Arlington who are tied for fourth place with a 9-9 conference record.
All three games will be broadcast on 105.5FM WNSP and streamed online on WNSP.com.
Softball
The 20th ranked Jaguar softball team look to return to their early season form as they play down the home stretch going into the Sun Belt Conference Championships that begin on May 7.
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USA Baseball Falls To Auburn 6-1
The South Alabama baseball team fell to Auburn by a score of 6-1.
The Jags (17-23) had a 1-0 lead through four-and-a-half innings after scoring on a wild pitch in the first inning. Jared Gates worked himself out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth but walked the leadoff batter to start the bottom of the fifth. He would eventually get to third base with two outs before three-consecutive two-out RBI doubles would give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.
In the sixth, the Tigers would two more runs on a one-out RBI single to right field and a two-out RBI single to right field to take a 5-1 lead.
The final run of the game came in the bottom of the seventh after a leadoff single before the runner would eventually score on a wild pitch by USA’s Matt Peacock.
The Jags will return home to host Louisiana-Monroe over the weekend for a three-game SBC series at Eddie Stanky Field.
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.
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.