South Alabama Sports Weekend Update
Baseball
The South Alabama Jaguars clinched the series against Troy with an 11-10 win on Friday night and a 7-5 win on Saturday but fell in the third game 7-8 as they were unable to complete the sweep in the conference opener.
USA scored seven unanswered runs in the final two innings which included a game-winning home run by Nick Zaharion to bring home the 11-10 win.
On Saturday, Dylan Stamey tossed 4 1/3 shutout innings in relief while Kyle Bartsch pitched a perfect ninth inning as the Jags won 7-5 and clinch the series against Troy on Saturday. Stamey allowed one hit and one walk while striking out a career-high five batters he faced to earn his fourth win of the season. Bartsch struck out one in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season.
The Jags gave up five runs in the seventh inning as they fell to Troy 7-8 in the Sunday finale against the Trojans. The Jags held a 5-3 lead entering the bottom of the seventh inning but an error allowed the Trojans to cut the lead to 5-4. Then a two-run double would put the Trojans in the lead 5-6. Then one batter later a three-run home run would put the Jags up 8-5.
USA would score two more runs in the game but could not manufacture another run to tie the game up. The Jags improve to 17-4 overall over the weekend and 2-1 in Sun Belt play while Troy falls to 12-6 overall and 1-2 in Sun Belt play.
USA will travel to Hammond, Louisiana to take on Southeastern Louisiana University on Tuesday with first pitch set for 6pm.
Softball
The South Alabama softball team won two out the three games over the weekend against #22 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette at Jaguar Field by scores of 7-3 and 8-4.
Senior Brittany Fowler batted .833 with three home runs, four runs scored and seven RBI on Saturday alone. She went 5-for-6 with a slugging percentage of 2.333.
Hannah Campbell and Farish Beard each pitched complete games on Saturday. Hannah struck out two to improve to 10-4 on the season while Beard struck out three and only allowed four hits to improve to 10-0 on the season.
The Jags fell 1-2 in the third game of the series on Sunday as Kaitlyn Griffith hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning to give the Jags an early lead. ULL took the lead for good with a two-run fourth inning.
Ragin’ Cajun pitcher Jordan Wallace struck out 15 Jaguars on the way to the win.
The Jags improve to 23-5 overall over the weekend and 2-1 in Sun Belt play. ULL comes out of the weekend with a 19-11 record overall and 2-4 in conference play.
The Lady Jaguars will host UAB on Wednesday with a first pitch set for 4pm at Jaguar Field. They previously defeated the Blazers 8-2 on March 2 in the Magic City Classic.
Men’s Basketball
The season isn’t quite over just yet. The Jags will participate in the postseason for the first time in five years after accepting a spot in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
The Jags will face the Green Wave of Tulane on Wednesday at Devlin Fieldhouse in Louisiana. Tipoff is set for 7pm.
This is the fifth year for the CIT and it’s 32 team tournament. Previous winners of the tournament are Old Dominion (2009), Missouri State (2010), Santa Clara (2011) and Mercer (2012).
Interim head coach Jeff Price’s tenure on the court with be extended at least one more game. The Jags are in the midst of a coaching search for the head coaching position, which Price is also vying for.
The Jags are 17-12 on the season and went 14-6 in Sun Belt play. Tulane has a 19-14 record overall, it’s best since the 1999-2000 season.
Women’s Basketball
In a bit of a surprise on Friday, Athletics Director Joel Erdmann announced that he had relieved head coach Rick Pietri of his duties after 13 seasons at the helm of the women’s program.
“We will begin a national search immediately and look far and wide and near and far for who the next coach will be,” Erdmann said to AL.com. “It will be very similar to other searches that we have conducted. Obviously, we are looking for someone who has ties to competitive success and winning, while at the same time maintaining their eye on excellence in the classroom and managing a tremendous overall program.”
Pietri, in a phone interview with AL.com was very grateful of former AD Joe Gottfried for hiring a boys’ high school coach in 2000 to take over a women’s program that had struggled for several years. He also indicated that only one of his seasons was not better than the 10 season’s previous to his.
Pietri leaves as the school’s all-time winningest coach with a record of 220-167 and 111-104 record against Sun Belt Conference opponents. He had three 20-win seasons, the most recent in the 2008-09 season.
Erdmann indicated that he hopes to have a new coach hired as soon as possible. Possibly as soon as April.
The Lady Jags went 17-13 overall this season and fell in the first round of the SBC Tournament.
Football
The Jaguar football team will pick up where they left off prior to Spring Break. They will hit the practice fields at the Jaguar Practice Facility around 6am on Tuesday morning.
Jags Basketball Is Waiting To See If Season May Be Extended
The South Alabama’s basketball team’s season may not be over just yet. There is a chance the Jags could play in one of the other postseason tournaments that are held.
The NCAA Tournament is the tournament that all the teams want to invited to, but the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and CollegeInsider.com Tournaments will invite a total of 80 teams to participate in their tournaments.
Also, if the school is invited to participate in one of the tournaments, the school could turn down the opportunity. Some tournaments are on a ‘buy in’ basis so Athletics Director Joel Erdmann said that the decision to participate in one would be made “in the best interest of the program” on several occasions when asked.
Meanwhile, the school is preparing to conduction an national search for the head coaching position that is currently held by interim head coach Jeff Price after Ronnie Arrow announced his retirement back in December.
Price is on the list to be considered for the position and hopes to get a chance to extend the season a little longer. “I think anytime your program has the opportunity to play int he postseason, regardless of what tournament that might be in, it’s something you want to do,” Price said to AL.com. “It’s good for the players and the experience, it’s good for recruiting and I think it’s good for the program. I’m definitely hopeful we’ll get a chance to play again.”
The Sun Belt tournament continues to be a tough conference for high-seeded teams. The Jags, a #3 seed in the tournament, fell to #6 seeded Western Kentucky who then defeated #2 seeded Arkansas State to get into the Sun Belt Championship Game.
The #1 seeded Middle Tennessee State was upset by #4 seeded Florida International in the quarterfinals to earn the right to face Western Kentucky.
Last night, in the championship game, the Hilltoppers held on in a close game all night to earn their second consecutive Sun Belt Championship and their second consecutive NCAA Tournament trip. This leaves Middle Tennessee State ‘On the bubble’ for the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Raiders are hoping for an at-large invitation to the tournament.
USA Weekend Update
Baseball
The University of South Alabama baseball team rebounded from a 15-2 loss on Saturday to the University of North Florida to win the series with a 9-8 win on Sunday at Eddie Stanky Field.
Jaguar pitcher Dylan Stamey tied a career high with four strikeouts and allowed four hits and one earned run in 4 1/3 innings of relief to earn his third win of the season. Kyle Bartsch earned his fourth save of the year after pitching a perfect ninth inning while striking out one batter.
The Jags struck early by taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Then North Florida responded with five runs in the top of the third inning to take the 5-3 lead over the Jags. South Alabama reponded in the bottom half of the inning after Nolan Early hit a three-run homer to put the Jags back on top 6-5. USA would put two more runs over the plate in the inning to lead 8-5 at the end of the inning.
UNF would add two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to get within one of the Jags 8-7. Jags would add another run in the bottom of the 6th and UNF would cut the lead to one run again in the top of the eighth, but would not be able score again after that.
The Jags improve to 14-3 on the season while UNF falls to 11-5.
The Jags will travel to Montgomery to take on Alabama State on Tuesday with first pitch set for 6pm. Then the Jags will travel to Troy to take on the Trojans in a weekend Sun Belt series.
Softball
South Alabama battles hard against #9 UCLA on Saturday, but fell short by losing 2-1. UCLA improved to 20-4 on the season.
The Lady Jags then turned around and split the final day of games in California. The Jags fell to Utah 2-1 in the early game on Sunday before rebounding for a 4-1 win over host Long Beach State in the late game.
Hannah Campbell’s record fell to 9-4 on the season but earned her team-leading third save of the season. Farish Beard improved her record to 9-0 on the season with nine strikeouts in six innings while only allowing three hits and one earned run against LBSU.
The jags will return to action when they open Sun Belt play at Jaguar Field on Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Men’s Basketball
South Alabama had the lead with 25 seconds left in the game against Western Kentucky, but a turnover allowed the Hilltoppers to take the lead and hold on for the 62-59 win.
The Jags had an opportunity with 9.2 seconds left in the game, but a three-point attempt by Barrington Stevens III missed but the Jags kept possession with 0.5 seconds left. A final desperate heave by Augustine Rubit hit the rim twice but would not fall for the Junior.
Rubit finished with a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds. Senior Javier Carter added 11 points, six rebounds and one block. Stevens, Wright and Ammons both added six points.
Sun Belt Tournament
Western Kentucky defeated #2 seed Arkansas State 58-56 on Sunday. Then #1 seed Middle Tennessee fell to #4 seed Florida International 61-57 to fall short of getting to the Sun Belt Championship game for the second season in a row.
The Conference Championship Game will tip off Monday evening at 6pm with #4 FIU squaring off against #6 Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are looking for back-to-back Sun Belt Championships and NCAA Tournament berths.
Jags Face WKU Tonight In SBC Tournament Showdown
South Alabama will face Western Kentucky in the second around of the Sun Belt Tournament Saturday night in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
South Alabama earned a bye in the first round of the tournament with a #3 seeding while #6 seed WKU defeated #11 seed ULM 79-73.
The Hilltoppers hold a 4-3 lead over the Jags in Sun Belt Tournament games. The Jags split the regular season meetings with the ‘toppers with each team winning their home game.
The game is scheduled to tip-off at 8:30pm with radio coverage on WNSP with play-by-play by Lee Shirvanian and streaming video available via the Sun Belt Digital Network.
Sun Belt Tournament Preview
The Sun Belt Conference Tournament begins today in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Middle Tennessee State earned the #1 seed with a 27-4 overall record and a 19-1 record in Sun Belt play.
MTSU has a big bulls eye on their back. Number one seeds in the Sun Belt Tournament have not fared well over the last few years. Even last season MTSU had a similarly impressive record but fell in their first game of the 2012 Sun Belt Tournament to #9 seed Arkansas State. Their record coming into the game was 27-7 (14-2 SBC).
MTSU has been tearing through some of their opponents this season without abandon. They defeated ULM by 41 points, the Jags by 35, Troy by 52 and UALR by 32 all since the beginning of the year. Their only loss was on the road against Arkansas State, who had their number in the tournament last season in Arkansas, 66-60 in overtime.
After their loss last season, they were snubbed by the NCAA Tournament and settled for the NIT. The same could happen this season if they lose their opening game of the tournament, but many think that if they don’t get embarrassed they would get an at-large berth in the tournament. They enter the SBC Tournament with a 16-game winning streak and 10 consecutive win by double digits. Their RPI is #24th in the nation.
The rest of the teams are looking to win the tournament for an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. South Alabama is one of those teams. Augustine Rubit was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year for his performance this season. The Jags will look to use him as they have thei season to advance in the tournament.
MTSU will face the winner of the #8 seed UL-Lafayette and #9 North Texas who tip off at 6:30pm this evening. While the Jags will face the winner between the #6 WKU and #11 UL-Monroe gam that tips off at 6pm.
The other game this tonight is #7 FAU and #10 Troy who tip off at 8:30pm.
Augustine Rubit Honored As Sun Belt Player of the Year By League Coaches, Media
Rubit was named SBC POTY conference coaches and media on Wednesday as he averaged 18.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 33.3 minutes per game during the regular season. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
As many South Alabama fans expected, Junior Augustine Rubit was honored by the coaches and media on Wednesday. He was named the 2012-2013 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.
In addition to his Player of the Year honor, the first for a Jaguar player since Jeff Hodge in 1989, he was also earned his second consecutive First Team All-Sun Belt team honor. Rubit was honored by CollegeInsider.com as their Sun Belt Player of the Year on Monday as well.
Rubit averaged 18.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 33.3 minutes per game this season with 16 double-double performances. He scored 20 or more points in 13 games, including a carrer-best 34 points against Louisiana-Lafayette on Valentines day, which was one of his three 30-point games this season.
He also set a school record for free throws made in a season with 177 while being one of the nation’s top players in reaching the free throw stripe. He was third in NCAA’s Division I in free throws made and attempted per game.
In the midst of all of this, he scored his 1,000th point and currently ranks ninth in school history in scoring with 1,337 career points. He has also moved into second place all-time in career rebounds in school history with 878 which also puts him in 10th place in Sun Belt history. his 302 rebounds so far this season is fourth best in Jaguars single-season records.
Rubit led the Jaguars to a 17-11 regular season record while going 14-6 in Sun Belt play, the most conference wins since the 2007-2008 season. The Jags earned a bye in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and thus will play their first game on Saturday night.
Rubit Earns SBC POTY Honor From CollegeInsider.com
Rubit was named SBC POTY by CollegeInsider.com as he averaged 18.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 33.3 minutes per game during the regular season. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
Augustine Rubit picked up another honor on Tuesday when CollegeInsider.com named him the Sun Belt Player of the Year.
Rubit, a 6’6″, 235-pound junior from Houston, Texas was one of three players honored by the website. Along with Rubit, Brandon Peterson was named Most Valuable Player and Kermit Davis was named Coach of the Year, both from Middle Tennessee State.
Rubit was a preseason All-Sun Belt Conference pick and was named first-team All-Sun Belt last season.
It’s expected that Rubit will also be named to the 2012-2013 All-Conference team by league coaches and media on Wednesday. They will also honor Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
Rubit finished the regular season with an average of 18.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 33.3 minutes per game. He also added 36 blocks, 31 assists and 19 steals this season.
The Sun Belt Tournament tips-off Friday in Hot Springs, Arkansas with the Jags earning a #3 seed in the tournament and a bye in the first round of the tournament. The Jags will face the winner between #6 Western Kentucky and #11 UL-Monroe on Saturday night.
Jaguar Sports Weekend Update
Men’s Basketball
The Jags fell on the road to Western Kentucky on Thursday night after falling behind by as many as 14 points against the Hilltoppers. But the Jags surged late but just could not make up the deficit and fell 79-73 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Rubit finished with 23 points and nine rebounds with four assists and three steals. Javier Carter got his second consecutive double-double with a season high 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also added six blocks and three steals against the Toppers.
The Jags rebounded in the season finale trip to Troy to face their in-state rival Trojans. The Jags capped off the season with a 53-49 win on Saturday night in the Jags first game in Troy’s brand new Trojan Arena.
South Alabama fell behind by as many as 16 points in the first half and trailed by nine points at halftime. But outscored the Trojans 34-21 in the second half to come away with the victory. But it took a key defensive stop late to preserve the Jaguar victory.
Javier Carter picked up his third consecutive double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Carter also added five blocked shots including one with :12 seconds left to preserve the Jaguars three point lead at the time.
Augustine Rubit also added to his season total of double-doubles with a 13-point, 10 rebound effort.
Antoine Allen scored nine of this 12 points in the second half for the Jags.
South Alabama finishes the regular season with a 17-11 record overall and a 14-6 record in Sun Belt play. Troy lost their fifth consecutive game of the season to fall to 11-20 overall and 6-14 in Sun Belt play.
Troy’s head coach Don Maestri continues to be suck on 499 career wins.
South Alabama, who secured the #3 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament, will face the winner of the #6 seed Western Kentucky and #11 seed UL-Monroe game at 8:30pm on Saturday night at the Convention Center Court in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
In the Jags same bracket, #7 FAU and #10 Troy will face on in the first round then the winner with face #2 seed Arkansas State at 9pm on Saturday night in the SUmmit Arena. The winner of that side of the bracket will face the winner of the Jaguars side of the braket at 9pm on Sunday in the Semifinal game.
Football
South Alabama held their second practice of the spring practice period on Saturday morning and their third on Sunday afternoon. With three new faces coaching on the defensive side of the ball, including first year defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer.
Sherrer, instead of installing a new playbook, is focusing on getting all of the players on the same page. They are working on communication and new signals and terminology.
“The goal is for the new staff to communicate what they want out of the players, and for the players to understand what they [the coaches] want,” head coach Joey Jones explained after practice. “We want the players to come out of the spring totally understanding what our defensive staff wants them to do. The interaction seems to be extremely good. Our players appear to have a great feel for what the coaches want. They like the new coaches and understand they know what they are talking about and they have a great relationship off the field. It’s been real good for us.”
Sherrer was hired before the start of the spring semester and NCAA rules allowed several meetings in the offseason, is helping to achieve Coach Jones’ goals for this spring.
“I was in the first team meeting when they got back from the winter break, so they knew who I was,” Sherrer said. “A lot of them came by with questions, and we were allowed a couple of hours per week in the offseason to meet with them so we were able to get in there and teach them a little bit. The toughest part was getting the staff acclimated to what we are going to do because we all came from different directions. But so far it has gone well. The players have adapted to it and are eager to learn.”
Sherrer is using veterans on the team to help get his message to the rest of the team. Bryson James, Clifton Crews, Enrique Williams, Romelle Jones, Darrius Morrow and Tyrell Pearson, all who started last season for the Jags, were acknowledged by Sherrer as having a lot of experience and leadership ability on the team.
Sherrer is building a strong foundation on which the rest of the defensive scheme will be built. It may be very simple right now, but his process will build upon that and gain complexity throughout the spring and fall camp.
“We want to have a good understanding of the defense and the scheme that we want to run,” Sherrer explained. “We want to evaluate the players that are out there and see who fits the scheme and make sure we’re doing the right things. The most important part is that we want to come away with the right fundamentals, defense striking with their hands, tackling the right way and pursuing the football.”
They will return to the practice field at 6am on Tuesday with another two hour practice scheduled for the team.
Women’s Basketball
The #7 seed South Alabama Lady’s Basketball team will open the Sun Belt Tournament on Friday with a 2pm game against #10 Troy in the Convention Center. The winner of that game will advance to play the #2 seed Arkansas-Little Rock at 2:30pm on Saturday at the Summit Arena.
On the other side of the same bracket at the Jags has #6 North Texas opening at 2:30pm against #11 UL-Lafayette. The winner will then advance to play #3 seed Western Kentucky on Saturday. The winner will then face the winner of the other side of the bracket in the semi-final game on Sunday.
Softball
After dropping only their second game of the season, to #1 ranked Alabama on Thursday, the Lady Jaguar softball team turned around and swept through the Magic City Classic Tournament in Birmingham Alabama this weekend. The Jags defeated Murray State twice, the first 1-0 on Friday then again on Saturday 8-6. They then defeated UAB 8-2 in their second game on Saturday. Then they capped off the weekend by defeating Samford 4-0 on Sunday for a 4-game sweep of the weekend.
Third baseman Haley Fagan took a 1-0 pitch and drove it over the center field wall for a grand-slam to lift the Jags over Samford on Sunday.
Both Julie Moss and Brittany Campbell were named to the All-Tournament Team with Farish Beard named Co-Most Valuable Pitcher and Brittany Fowler named Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.
The Jags will host Nicholls State on Wednesday. The Lady Jags defeated Nicholls 7-1 earlier this season in Louisiana.
The Lady Jags are 17-2 overall this season. Next weekend they will travel to Long Beach California for the Long Beach State Invitational where they will face UC-Santa Barbara, Idaho State, UCLA, Utah and the host Long Beach State.
Once they return from that tournament, they will have the week off before hosting Louisiana-Lafayette over the weekend to open their Sun Belt schedule.
Baseball
The Jaguar lost their first game of the season on the road in Charleston, South Carolina on Friday night to College of Charleston by a score of 12-2.
The Jags then rebounded in the second game to win it 3-0 but then fell 2-3 on Sunday to get only their second loss of the season.
The Jags are 10-2 on the season and will return to action against Nicholls State on Tuesday in Thibodaux, Louisiana with a 6:30pm first pitch. They then return home to host Southern Miss on wednesday for another 6:30pm first pitch.
Jags Face Western Kentucky In Bowling Green Tonight
As South Alabama gears up for the conference tournament, they still have some work to do with two regular season contests left to round out the season. The Jags have already wrapped up the #3 seed for the tournament, but there is a lot left to play for and finish strong.
The first up is Western Kentucky on Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky where the Jags are 11-16 all-time against the Hilltoppers. Though, USA holds a 33-29 edge all-time against WKU.
USA wants to keep their momentum going as they are 8-2 in their last 10 games, 16-10 overall and 13-5 in Sun Belt play. They also have a two-game winning streak going against the Hilltoppers dating back to last season.
With an injury and a dismissed player earlier this season, the Jags continue to fight and win though the roster is small and everyone is needed. Each player has their role, each player continues to play that role and the Jags continued to win.
Western Kentucky enters the game with a 15-14 record overall and 9-9 in Sun Belt play.
The key for the Jags is getting out to an early start. The Jags are a perfect 15-0 (11-0 SBC) when they are tied or leading at halftime. They are also 12-1 (10-1 SBC) when they have a higher shooting percentage than their opponent.
USA vs WKU will be broadcast on 105.5 FM WNSP, ESPN Full Court or ESPN3.com online.
Rubit Named One Of 25 Finalist For Lou Henson Award
Augustine Rubit set a new career-high with 34 points with 12 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season against ULL. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
On Monday, CollegeInsider.com announced the finalists for the Lou Henson Award. South Alabama’s Augustine Rubit is among the 25 finalists for the award given to the top mid-major player in the country.
Rubit is the only Sun Belt Player included in the list of 25.
Rubit is leading the Sun Belt in rebounding with 10.9 per game and is second in scoring with 19.0 points per game while also second in double-doubles with 15 this season.
He had a career-high scoring game against ULM in January when he poured in 34 points and has already set a new school record for free throws in a single season. He has scored 30 or more points three times this season.
The award will be presented at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in Atlanta, which is also the site of the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship.
The award is named for former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach Lou Henson. Henson won 779 games, 11th in NCAA history, and is one of just 12 coaches to take two schools to the final four.