South Alabama Sports – Weekend Roundup
Softball
The #12 ranked Jaguar softball team earned their second sweep of a Sun Belt opponent over the weekend when they hosted Louisiana-Monroe.
The weekend began with a double-header on Saturday with a 2-0 win despite being helt hitless for the first time in 119 games, which dates back to March 24, 2012 when Florida Atlantic no-hit the Jaguars yet USA still picked up a 3-1 win as well.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Kaitlyn Griffith got on base when she was hit by a pitch. She then stole second and third bases to get into scoring position. Then Chloe Rathburn lifted a sacrifice fly which allowed Griffith to score and take a 1-0 lead over the Warhawks.
In the next inning, Emily Messer drew a walk, then stole second base to get into scoring position. Then Stephanie Pilkington grounded out but allowed Messer to round third base and baited a throw to third base from the Warhawk third baseman. She dashed home on the putout attempt and scored to give the Jaguars their 2-0 margin of victory.
Hannah Campbell tossed her fourth shutout of the season and shrunk her ERA to 0.65 and improved her season record to 10-2.
In game two, USA put up 11 hits and scored runs in four of the six innings they batted in. They started out quickly with a run in the bottom of the first when Pilkington led off with a single to center field. Then she scored on the first of two doubles in the game by Griffith.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Jags opened a big lead that started with Blair Johnson and Amanda Minahan scoring on Griffith’s second double of the game to take a 3-0 led. Rathburn then reached on a fielder’s choice which allowed Griffith to score. Chloe would score when Taylor Rodgers was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 5-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Griffith drove in another run to make it 6-0 Jags.
The Jags ended their scoring for the day with a lead off solo homer to center field straight into a 20-mile per hour wind to put the Jags up 7-0.
The Warhawks ended their shutout after Farish Beard was relieved by McKinnon, who began by striking out her first batter, but allowed back-to-back singles, with the second allowing the runner to score. She then forced a groundout and a pop out to end the game.
Beard improved her record to 16-1 on the season and lowered her nation-leading ERA to 0.43.
The Jaguars ended the series on Sunday with a 7-0 shutout thanks to a trio of Jaguar pitchers. Offensively the Jags churned out 11 hits in the game to extend their winning streak to 13 games.
The Jags got started early again with three runs in the bottom of the first inning get off on the right foot. Stephanie Pilkington lead off the game with a walk, then Blair Johnson hit an RBI single through the right side to drive her in. Rathburn later hit a one-out, two run single to drive in Minahan and Johnson for the 3-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the second, back-to-back singles prompted the Warhawks to yank out their starter Samantha Hamby, who no-hit the Jaguars in the first game on Saturday. Jessica Colliver would pitch the Warhawks out of the inning without any further damage.
In the bottom of the third, she would walk Rathburn which would lead to the Jaguars fourth run of the game when Gwen Jones came in to pinch run for her. She would steal second then score on Alex Breeden’s RBI single to center field.
In the bottom of the fourth, Pilkington would lead off the inning with a single, then Minahan followed with a double. Johnson would drive in Pilkington with her second RBI single of the day. Colliver would be relieved by Haylie Wilson which Rathburn would lift a sacrifice fly to right field off of to allow Minahan to score. Johnson would score when Amanda Herron’s singled up the middle to put the Jags up by their winning margin 7-0.
Campbell would pitch five innings with six strikeouts and five hits allowed. Kaleigh Floore would walk three to load the bases before she was relieved by Farish Beard in one out remaining in the game. Beard of strike the last batter out to finish the game.
Pilkington led the Jags at the plate by going 5-for-8 with four runs cored and one RBI.
With the sweep, the Jags improve to 29-3 overall and a perfect 7-0 in conference play.
The Jags will travel to Tuscaloosa to face the #5/7 ranked Crimson Tide on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6pm.
Baseball
The Jaguar baseball team had their friday evening game postponed until Saturday due to field conditions with the rain.
UT-Arlington came out hot on Saturday with two runs in the top of the first inning. They would score two more runs before the Jaguars got on the board in the bottom of the third inning on Cole Gleason’s two-out RBI single to make it 4-1, Mavericks.
The Jags would fall 8-3 in the first game.
UTA would strike first in the second game by taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. But the Jags would take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth before the Mavericks answered with the equalizing run in the top of the fifth.
Multiple run innings in the seventh and eighth inning would let the Mavericks clinch the series with a 6-2 win.
The Jags didn’t fare any better on Sunday when the Mavericks earned the series sweep with a 6-1 win.
The Jags fall to 13-13 on the season and 3-5 in conference play. The Mavericks improve to 12-16 overall and 4-5 in SBC play.
USA Baseball VS UT-Arlington Postponed
Due to weather, South Alabama has announced their game this evening against UT-Arlington has been postponed. They will play a double-header on Saturday with the first game starting at 3pm at Eddie Stanky Field.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Preview
Baseball
The Jaguars will host a three game series against Sun Belt newcomers UT-Arlington this weekend beginning tonight at 6:30pm if the weather permits. Game two on Saturday is set for 3pm and will be televised by the Sun Belt Network and also will be available on WatchESPN.com. The final game of the series will get underway at noon on Sunday.
All three games will be streamed from the University website as well as broadcast on 105.5 FM WNSP and WNSP.com.
Softball
The Lady Jaguars will also be hosting a three game weekend series against Louisiana-Monroe starting with a double-header on Saturday starting at 1pm with the second game set to start at 3pm. They will wrap up the weekend series on Sunday with a 1pm start.
Football
The Jaguars will have their annual Red-Blue Spring Game on Saturday at 11am at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Though this will not be their final spring practice. Gates will open to the parking lot around 8am.
Track and Field
On Thursday, the men’s track and field team set three new school records at the 87th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
Senior Connor Smith earned individual honors in the Section ‘B’ men’s pole vault with a 5.20m vault which was good enough to break his own all-time Jaguar best by 1/10 of a meter and to lead the field of 16.
Garrett Schumacher toppled his own record in the decathlon by finishing with 6,991 points to claim 11th overall. He entered Thursday with 3,644 points through five events. He then set new personal records in the pole vault (4.80m), discus throw (40.51m) and 100-meter hurdles (15.94m).
Freshman Renaldo Frechou set a new record in the hammer throw for the third time this season. His throw of 63.27m on his sixth and final attempt put him 5th in the 25 man field.
Bobbie Williamson also put up a career-high measure of 59.53m in the women’s hammer throw which was good enough for second place all-time in the Jaguar history books.
They will continue today in Texas with Jan-Louw Kotze in discus and Tyler Agee in the 110-meter hurdles.
USA Baseball Wins 5-4 On Walk-Off Single Over Nicholls State
The Jaguar baseball team defeated Nicholls State 5-4 Tuesday night at Eddie Stanky Field on Davis Knapp’s bases-loaded, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Nicholls State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Justin Holt hit a two-out, three-run double down the left field line after the bases were loaded on consecutive walks and a one-out single.
The Jags responded with three runs in the bottom of the second inning when Cole Jarman and Cameron Cummings got on base with back-to-back one-out walks. Andrew Tindell then reached on a fielding error by the second baseman which allowed Jarman to score from second base to cut the lead to 3-1. Drew LaBounty then hit an RBI single to right-center shave another run off the lead. Knapp then tied the game two batters later with a two-out RBI single to right center which scored Tindell from second base.
In the top of the third, the Colonels regained the lead by one run after Keith Cormier would get on base with a one-out walk. He could then be diven home by an RBI single to right field. Though they threatened by loading the bases on starter Matt Bell, but Hunter Soleymani entered in relief and pitched out of the jam without allowing another run.
In the bottom of the fourth, LaBounty would hit a two-out single to center field, then advance to third on a single to right field by Ballew and eventually tie the game on a throwing error by the catcher on a stolen base by Ballew to knot the game at 4-all.
In the bottom of the ninth, Cummings and Tindell both reached base on back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. Both advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt by LaBounty then Knapp would take a 1-0 and hit it through the left side of the infield to drive in Cummings for the winning run.
The Colonels fall to 13-13 on the season as the Jaguars improve to 13-10 on the season.
Jaguar right-hander Ben Taylor earned the win on two scoreless innings of relief while striking out three and walking one. Knapp went 2-for-5 in the game with two RBI to lead the Jags.
USA will host UT-Arlington for a three-game SBC series this weekend starting at 6:30pm on Friday.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Update
Softball
The USA Softball team swept their first conference series of the season against UT-Arlington over the weekend.
The first two games were both shortened by the mercy rule with 9-0 and 8-0 wins.
Farish Beard and Hannah Campbell both tossed shutouts and combined to only allow three hits. Actually the Jags outhit the Mavricks 19-3 on Saturday.
Kaitlyn Griffith and Amanda Minahan led the Jags at the plate with four hits each. Amanda Herron, Blair Johnson and Stephanie Pilkington all had three RBI each.
In the first game Beard shrunk her nation-leading ERA to just 0.35 after allowing only one hit and no runs against the Mavricks. She struck out 11 batters for her seventh shutout of the season.
Campbell was seventh in the country in ERA and also saw hers shrink further to 0.72 as she allowed two hits with four strikeouts and no walks in her shutout.
On Sunday, the Jags needed an extra inning to finally put away the Mavricks to earn their weekend sweep with a 2-1 win. The Jags outhit the Mavricks 7-3 but committed four errors.
Blair Johnson led the Jags at the plate by going 3-for-4 and scoring the game-winning run when Amanda Herron hit a two-out double in the bottom of the eighth inning. Herron ended the weekend with a team-high four RBI.
Gwen Jones scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh inning when UTA’s shortstop’s routine throw to first sailed into the visitor’s dugout.
Beard struck out seven in six innings and allowed one run before Hannah Campbell came in for relief. Campbell tossed a shutout to move to 9-2 on the season after striking out one and no walks to earn the win.
The Jags will play at Troy on Tuesday before returning home to host Louisiana-Monroe for a three game weekend series on Saturday and Sunday.
Baseball
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South Alabama Sports Weekend Preview
Softball
The #13 ranked Jaguars will host UT-Arlington for a three game weekend series on Saturday and Sunday at Jaguar Field.
The Jags (22-3) are on a six game winning streak after going 3-0 last week with Hannah Campbell’s second career perfect game, a 9-0 run-rule win over New Mexico State and a 5-1 win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
USA pitchers currently leads the nation with an overall ERA of 0.95 with Farish Beard leading the NCAA with a 0.38 ERA and Campbell with a 0.76 ERA as well.
The Jaguars are undefeated at home so far this season, going 6-0. Last season they were 8-3 at home in conference play and 17-3 overall. They clinched the second overall seed in the conference tournament and won the 2013 SBC Championship to win the conference tournament title for the second consecutive year.
This will be the Jags first time to face UT-Arlington who are 14-15 on the season and batting .283 and are 1-3 on the road. This is also the Mavricks first season playing in the Sun Belt Conference.
They will face off at 1pm and again at 3pm on Saturday before wrapping up the series at noon on Sunday.
Baseball
The 10-9 Jags will be in Little Rock, Arkansas to face UALR in a three game weekend series. The Jaguars are 10-9 on the season and 1-1 in conference play and are coming off of a 9-0 loss to #6 LSU on Wednesday.
UALR is also 10-9 on the season and 0-3 in conference play as they were swept by Arkansas State last weekend in Jonesboro, Arkansas. They have lost six of their last eight games but defeated #30 Oklahoma 11-2 on Wednesday in Norman, Oklahoma.
USA’s Kevin Hill will make his fourth start of the season tonight at 6pm. UALR lefty Travis McDonald (2-1) will bring his 1.95 ERA to the game against the Jaguars who are batting .235 as a team.
Locke St. John (2-0) will make his sixth start of the season at 4pm on Saturday and no starter has been named for Sunday’s 1pm game.
All three games can be heard locally and online on 105.5 WNSP and WNSP.com or live streamed video can be purchased at UALRTrojans.com.
Track and Field
After two straight contests at home, the Jaguar men and women are in Tuscaloosa for the Alabama Relays, which started on Thursday. Events start today at 2pm with women’s javelin throw and running events begin at 5pm. Saturday at noon will open with the women’s discus throw.
The Jags won the Battle of I-65 last weekend over Samford and Alabama State and look to continue that momentum this weekend against even stronger competition. Live results can be found here.
USA Baseball Faces #6 Ranked LSU Tigers This Evening
Tonight the Jaguar baseball team will take on the #6 ranked LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Jags leads the all-time series against the Tigers with a 24-14 record. They first met in 1971 and have not met again since 1997 NCAA South Regional in Baton Rouge where the Tigers defeated the Jags twice in regional play and advanced to the College World Series.
USA’s Matt Bell is scheduled to make the start for USA. He is 2-2 on the season with a 5.13 ERA in 26.1 innings pitched with eight walks and 18 strikeouts. LSU lefty Cody Glenn (1-1) will start for the Tigers. He has a 4.79 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched with three walks and 11 strikeouts.
LSU comes into the game after dropping two of their last three games against #3 Vanderbilt.
South Alabama is batting .239 as team with one home run and three steals in 13 attempts. USA is led at the plate by sophomore infielder Hayden Jones, who is hitting .296 with four doubles and seven RBI. Junior infielder Bud Collura is batting .277 with one double and six RBI.
The game can be heard on 105.5 FM WNSP.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Roundup
Baseball
Troy righty Tanner Hicks pitched a complete game shutout on Friday night to lead the Trojans over South Alabama 5-0 in the opening game of the series.
Hicks allowed only six hits while striking out five and walking one to even his record for the season at 2-2.
USA righty Kevin Hill tossed 6 1/3 innings allowing three earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts and four walks. Cameron Carleton and Dillon Buhrkuhl combined to pitch 2 2/3rds scoreless innings in relief.
In game two the Jags evened the series but needed an extra inning to do so. Cole Gleason hit a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 10th inning to give USA the 2-1 win to even the series.
In the bottom of the 10th, Bud Collura singled up the middle and then advanced to second on a wild pitch to set up Gleason for the game-winner.
Brandon Hallford earned the win with 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. He did not allow a hit while striking out one. Locke St. John threw 7 2/3 innings and allowed only one run on seven hits with five strikeouts and no walks but got the no decision.
The third game, which was scheduled as a double-header on Saturday due to weather concerns, was suspended in the bottom of the fourth inning on Saturday due to heavy rains. It was scheduled to resume at 1pm on Sunday, but was cancelled due to inclement weather. There is no word about a possible makeup date.
South Alabama will travel to Baton Rouge on Wednesday for a 6:30pm game agaisnt LSU.
Softball
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USA Baseball Wins Fourth Consecutive Game With 5-1 Win Over USM
Matt Bell tossed 6 1/3 innings while allowing one run on two hits as he led the Jaguars over Southern Miss 5-1 in Hattiesburg Wednesday night.
Bell picked up his second win of the season as he struck out four and walked two to help the Jaguars extend their winning streak to four games. Brandon Hallford threw 1 2/3 perfect innings of relief with three strikeouts to earn his fourth save of the season.
Bell retired the first six batters before walking the leadoff batter in the third inning. A couple batters later Nick Dawson hit a two-out single to give USM a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning Drew LaBounty led off with a single to center field then advanced to second when Davis Knapp got on base on a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Bud Collura moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt towards third base. Hayden Jones then hit a single to right field to bring both runners home to take a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the ninth, leading 3-1, the Jags added two more insurance runs.
The 9-7 Jaguars will begin Sun Belt play this weekend when they host Troy in a three game series at Eddie Stanky Field. Game one’s first pitch is scheduled for 6:30pm on Friday.
Jags Fall To 8th Ranked Bulldogs In Starkville
The #8 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs shut out the Jaguars for a 3-0 win on Wednesday night in Starkville, Mississippi. Three MSU pitchers combined for the shutout and allowed eight hits throughout the night.
USA righty Matt Bell took the loss after pitching four innings allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts with no walks. Hunter Soleymani pitched three scoreless innings with a walk and a strikeout in relief. Dilon Buhrkuhl pitched one scoreless inning in releif and also only walked one batter while striking out one as well.
All three Jaguar pitchers combined to hold the Bulldogs hitless after the third inning as Bell retired the final six batters he faced in the game before giving way to the relievers.
The Jags threatened in the bottom of the first inning when it loaded the bases on back-to-back one-out singles by Bud Collura and Hayden Jones followed by Erik Hindmon being walked. But Cole Gleason struck out to end the inning.
In the bottom half of the first inning two Jaguar errors led to two Bulldog runs. Jake Vickerson reached base on a fielding error at first to lead off the inning. He then advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt at first by Bell. Alex Detz the followed with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to drive Vickerson in. Wes Rea singled to left center field to move Detz to third base then Brett Pirtle singled to left center as well to drive in Detz for a 2-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the third inning Detz would score the final run of the game with a leadoff homer to right field.
The Jags threatened again in the top of the fourth inning when Adam Ballew drew a walk to lead off the inning. Matt Bolger hit an infield single to short then Drew LaBounty’s sacrifice moved both players in to scoring position. But MSU was able to pitch out of it with a strikeout and an inning ending flyout to left field.
Jags attempted to get something going in the eighth inning when Davis Knapp led off with a pinch hit single to right field. HIndmon followed with a single up the middle. But a flyout by the next batter would be followed by a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning.
USA (5-7) will host Southern Illinois for a three-game series this weekend at Eddie Stanky Field.