South Alabama Sports Weekend Update – Softball Series Cancelled, Women’s Tennis Win Championship
Here is the weekend roundup of South Alabama Sports, despite the weather wreaking havoc with several sports in the Gulf Coast Area.
Women’s Tennis
Junior Michaela Meszarosova was able to pull out a marathon three-set match to give her team a 4-3 win over Texas-Arlington and its first Sun Belt Conference title since 2003. It is their 17th title overall, the most in conference history, and will receive the SBC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 21-2 overall record.
Men’s Tennis
The Men’s team did not fare as well as the women. After making their way into the SBC Finals and facing top-seed Troy, the Jags fell 4-1 to the Trojans.
The Jags fall to 16-9 on the season as they are ranked 69th in the nation. Troy improves their record to 25-6 as they are ranked 60th in the nation.
USA started off strong as Daniel Leitner and Gerhard Gruindelingh took the first doubles match 8-5, but that would be the only match the team won as Troy would win the next four.
Softball
The #22 ranked Jaguar softball team was supposed to host Texas State for their final conference home series of the regular season, however the rescheduled doubleheader for Sunday was cancelled due to field conditions which were made unplayable by heavy rains in the area throughout the week.
No make up date will be scheduled.
The Jaguars will travel to Hattiesburg, MS on Wednesday to face Southern Miss. They defeated the Eagles 9-1 in six innings in Mobile on March 18.
Men’s Golf
The opening day of the Sun Belt Conference Championships were called off on Sunday due to course conditions at the Sandestin Golf Resort Raven Course.
Weather permitting, the tournament will begin monday morning at 7:30am and will consist of 36 holes. The final round would still be played on Tuesday.
Baseball
The Jags traveled to Evansville, Indiana to face the Evansville University over the weekend.
In game one on Friday, it was Ben Gann’s grand slam in the third inning that led the Jaguars to a 7-3 win.
EU took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a two-out two-run home run.
The Jags answered with four runs in the top of the third on the Grand Slam. But Evansville would cut the lead to one run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a two-out RBI single to center field.
In the top of the fifth, USA answered with a run to regain their two run lead. They would add two more insurance runs before the end of the game.
Kevin Hill (6-0) allowed three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts against three walks for his sixth consecutive win.
Evansville then swept a Saturday doubleheader to take the series from the Jags. They won the first game 6-5 then took the series with a 9-5 win in the finale.
USA will host Jacksonville State to a two-game series this week with the first game on Tuesday night starting at 6pm and the second game on Wednesday slated to start at 3pm.
South Alabama Sports Weekend Preview
South Alabama teams will be competing in several sports this weekend, some trying to win Conference titles while others are trying to position themselves to make a run at their Conference tournaments. Below is a rundown of the weekend events.
Softball
The #22 Softball team will host their final Sun Belt Conference series at home this weekend when Texas State comes to town.
The Jags roll into the weekend after going to Starkville to defeat Mississippi State 3-2 on Tuesday night and having won their last 11 games.
The Jags (32-7, 14-3 SBC) currently sits in second place in the conference behind Louisiana-Lafayette (32-5, 15-3 SBC). Texas State is in third place in the conference behind the Jaguars with a 25-19 record overall and an 8-6 record in conference play and enter the weekend with a three-game win streak.
The Jags and Bobcats are scheduled to begin with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1pm at Jaguar Field and the Sunday finale is scheduled for 1pm at Jaguar Field as well.
Baseball
The Jaguar baseball team steps out of conference play this weekend to face Evansville in a three game series in Evansville, Indiana.
USA (24-13) will start right-hander Kevin Hill (5-0) for his seventh start of the year in the season opener. He has won his last five starts. Austin Bembnowski (2-3) will start his sixth game of the season on Saturday. Southpaw Jared Gates (3-1) will start the series finale set for Sunday.
Evansville (18-15) defeated Indiana 2-1 in 14 innings on Wednesday.
Men’s and Women’s Tennis
Both the men and women will be competing for Sun Belt Conference Titles this weekend. The Women’s squad is the #1 seed and will began action at 8am on Friday morning. The Men’s team is the #3 seed and will begin play on Friday afternoon against Appalachian State.
Men’s and Women’s Track and Field
The Track and Field team will return to action at the War Eagle Invitational. This will be their second trip to Auburn this spring. A total of 12 teams will be competing including Auburn, Mississippi State, Troy and Kent State.
Jaguar Men’s and Women’s Tennis Honored At SBC Banquet
At the Sun Belt Conference annual Awards Banquet a number of Jaguar student-athletes were honored for their performance in Men’s and Women’s Tennis.
Men’s
Senior Daniel Leitner was named the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year for the second-consecutive year and also named to the All-Conference team. Juniors Tim Srkala and Gerhard Gruindelingh and Sophomore Tuki Jacobs were all named to the All-Conference team as well.
Leitner and Srkala were voted to the first-team in singles, Jacobs was voted to the second-team in singles. Leitner and Gruindelingh were anmed to the first-team in doubles.
The Jags, ranked #69, enters the weekend with a three-match winning streak and a 14-8 mark in their spring contests. They finished out the regular season last week and will begin play in the Sun Belt Conference Championships this weekend.
The #3 seeded Jaguars will open against Appalachian State on Friday at 3PM for the first meeting between the two schools.
Women’s
In Women’s Tennis, senior Emily Newton and sophomore Laura Valkova were named to the All-Sun Belt Conference Women’s Tennis teams in both singles and doubles play. Sophomore Monica Mitta was also named to the All-Conference team. The trio of Jaguars led South Alabama to an 18-2 regular-season record and the #1 seed in the Sun Belt Championships.
Newton was named to the doubles first team with Valkova and the singles second team and earning all-conference honors for the third consecutive season to become the first Jag to accomplish that since Michaela Babicova in 2009.
Valkova earns all-conference honors in singles and doubles for the second-consecutive season, earning a spot on the first-team in both singles and doubles.
The team of Newton and Valkova have yet to suffer a defeat in 11 matches at #1 doubles this season and have won their last 12 matches together dating back to the fall.
The USA Women’s team will face Texas State on Friday at 8AM in the first round of the SBC Championships.
Jaguar Softball Defeats Mississippi State 3-2 In Starkville
The #22 ranked South Alabama Jaguars traveled to Starkville, MS to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs Wednesday night and came away with a 3-2 win after turning away three rally attempts by the Bulldogs.
South Alabama put the first run on the board in the top of the fourth inning after senior shortstop Kaitlyn Griffith led off the inning with a double to left field. She would move to third base on Amanda Minahan’s infield base hit. Blair Johnson would bring Griffith home on an RBI groundout to second base to take a 1-0 lead.
The Jags added to their lead in the top of the fifth inning after Kristian Foster drew a walk. Stephanie Pilkington got on base on a fielder’s choice and was followed by Griffith drawing a walk to put two Jaguars on base. Sophomore Chloe Rathburn then hit a two-run single that fell just short of clearing the outfield wall and the bases, to put the Jags up 3-0.
Then MSU tried to rally. Bulldog center fielder Loryn Nichols reached base on a Jag throwing error to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. She would later score on a two-out single up the middle to cut the Jaguar lead to 3-1 through five complete innings.
The Jags went down in order in the top of the sixth inning, but the Bulldogs continued their attempted rally with back-to-back singles. Jaguar head coach Becky Clark then brough in Farish Beard to relieve starter Kalen McGill. Beard struck out the first batter before shortstop Kayla Winkfield hit a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in their second run of the game and cutting the Jaguar lead to only one run, 3-2.
Beard opened the seventh inning with a strikeout, then followed with a walk before forcing a pop out to first. Another walk put two Bulldogs on base, but Beard sealed with win after knocking down a bouncer up the middle and throwing them out at first base.
McGill (14-1) pitched a no-hitter for 3 1/3 innings to earn her seventh victory in a row. She struck out three and walked one allowing two runs, only one earned, on four hits in five innings pitched. Beard, who came in as relief, allowed no runs, struck out three with a pair of walks in two innings as she earned the save.
Rathburn went 1-for-3 with two RBI as she recorded her team-leading 15th multiple-RBI game this season. Kaitlyn Griffith went 1-for-3 with a run scored while Pilkington went 1-for-4 with a run scored as well.
Mississippi State’s Alexis Silkwood (22-10) is a two-time SEC Pitcher of the Week over the last two voting period took the loss after allowing three runs, all earned, on four Jaguar hits in a complete-game effort.
“This was a really well-played game tonight. It kind of had a postseason feel to it,” said coach Clark. “It was a great win for us on the road. I felt like our kids were prepared, I felt like they competed, and I felt like they were composed the entire game. I’m proud of our effort tonight.”
The Jags improve their overall record to 32-7, their road record to 10-2 on teh season, and thier record against SEC opponents to 2-2 on the season. The Jags have now won the the last four meetings against the Bulldogs to hold a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series.
USA will return to Sun Belt Conference play this weekend when they host Texas State in the final regular-season conference home series of the season. Saturday’s doubleheader begins at 1pm as well as Sunday’s finale.
Jags Football Game Versus Nebraksa Set For Evening Prime Time National Broadcast
It was announced on Monday that the Jaguars road game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, September 12 in Lincoln, Nebraska will be aired in prime time nationally on the Big Ten Network. This goes along with the two previously announced national broadcast games to give the Jaguars three nationally broadcast games for the 2015 season.
The exact time for kickoff will be announced later, but the match-up between the Jags and the Huskers was one of ten selected by the network for an evening broadcast.
This will be the first of two games scheduled between the two schools with the second date set for August 31, 2019. It will be the first time the Jaguars have faced a Big Ten Conference opponent.
South Alabama finished the 2014 season with their first-ever appearance in a bowl game, becoming the fastest program to go from starting a program to an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision bowl game, though they lost a heart breaker to Bowling Green in the first annual Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.
Nebraska finished 9-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten Conference and earned an invitation to the Holiday Bowl. Nebraska dismissed their coach after the season and hired Mike Riley to fill the position. Riley spent 14 seasons as the head coach at Oregon State over two different stints (1997-1998 and 2003-2014). Prior to Oregon State he was the head coach of the San Diego Chargers (1999-2001), the Winnepeg Blue Bombers (Canadian Football League 1987-1990) where he won two Grey Cup Championships, and the San Antonio Riders (World League of American Football 1991-1992).
Jaguar Women’s Golfer Carianne Wright Earned All-SBC Honors
Wright, a sophomore, became the third-consecutive Jaguar to earn All-Sun Belt Conference honors after her second-team selection. | Photo credit: usajaguars.com
South Alabama Sophomore Carianne Wright was named to the Second-Team All-Sun Belt Conference for Women’s Golf the league office announced on Monday.
Wright’s selection marks the third consecutive year that a Jaguar student-athlete has earned all-conference honors. Ashleigh Ryals (2014) and Kristen Golightly (2013) earned the honor over the previous two seasons.
Wright ranks 13th in the conference, and second among sophomores in the conference, with a 77.21 stroke average entering the SBC Championship at Steelwood Country Club in Loxley, Alabama.
She has two top-10 finishes and earned a spot in the top-20 in two additional tournaments this year. She posted a career low 1-under par 71 twice this season and posted her lowest three-round total of the season at the MSU Ocala Spring Invitational with a 7-over-par 223.
Inclement weather that caused poor conditions halted the first round of the SBC Women’s Golf Championship. The start of the tournament was delayed until 11am on Monday due to several inches of water on the course during the night. After heavy rains passed through the area Monday, it forced officials to suspend the first round.
South Alabama will resume round one at 5-over par and only three shots back of Arkansas-Little Rock according to the scoring posted at GolfStat.com
USA’s lineup of Ingrid Hagen, Kaeli Jones, Carianne Wright, Madison Connell and Caroline Beebe will return to complete the first round on Tuesday though the time has not yet been determined.
South Alabama Spring Practices Wind Down; Annual Spring Game on Saturday
The South Alabama Football team is winding down their spring practice schedule. They have one final practice this afternoon at 3pm before their annual Red-Blue Spring Game on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
On Wednesday, the football team held a practice in shells on campus. Instead of conducting a team period, the Jags used 7-on-7 skeleton passing drills on two separate occasions, they were nearly 30 minutes long combined, and ran around 75 plays.
Both special teams periods focused on punt formations and punt coverage.
Offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent chose Claude Garrett as the offensive player of the day. Vincent praised Garrett for his work ethic and his great speed. He also was part of the play of the day. On the final snap of practice, Garrett beat his defender with a spin move and broke free to grab a 50-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Vaughn.
Defensive coordinator Travis Pearson chose Nigel Green as the defensive player of the day. Pearson praised Green for being more aggressive and confident which impressed Pearson. Pearson also said that Green showed him that he can contribute to more depth at the cornerback position.
Head coach Joey Jones talked after practice about what he’s learned about the team this spring. “I’ve seen the most improvement on defense. We weren’t very good defensively early in the spring, but I think we’ve gotten better. We’ve started to shore up some holes on the front, some guys have stepped up over there, Demarius Rancifer is one example, and we knew Jimmie Gipson III was going to be a good player but he brought his game to another level this spring.”
Jones spoke about the main goal for the offense during spring practices. “Offensively we wanted to improve our tempo, and I think we’re much better there. There’s no doubt we can get even better in that area, but I thought our improvement from day one to now has started to become second nature to them. The more we do that, the better off we’re going to be.”
In the special teams area, Jones said that it was the biggest improvement from last year. “We probably haven’t worked our game as much this spring, but our kickers have been performing very, very well.”
The captains announced for the spring game were: Braedon Bowman and Terrance Timmons for the offense and Blade Dees and Jimmie Gipson III for the defense. On Thursday afternoon the captains picked the teams.
According to Jones, “We’re going to limit what we do, basically we’re going to run one defense with one coverage and about seven offensive plays. We’re not going to show a lot, but we are going to let them get out there, compete and have fun.”
The annual Red-Blue Spring Game will get started at noon on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Gates open at 8am for tailgating and the gates to the stadium open around 11am.
Jaguar Softball’s Farish Beard Named One of 10 Finalists for Senior CLASS Award
Beard was selected as only one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award to be awarded during the 2015 Women’s College World Series. It honors a student-athlete who excels on and off the field. Fan voting is open now through May 11. | Photo usajaguars.com
South Alabama softball senior pitcher Farish Beard earned another distinction on Tuesday when she was named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. The Senior CLASS Award honors student-athletes that excel on and off the field.
CLASS is an acronym for “Celebrating Loyalty, and Achievement for Staying in School”. The award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages them to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Ballots will be distributed nationwide to media, coaches and fans who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four “C’s” of Community, Classroom, Character and Competition.
Fan voting is available online through May 11 at www.seniorCLASSaward.com with the winner being announced during the 2015 Women’s College World Series.
Beard has a 3.4 GPA and was named the 2013-14 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Scholar-Athlete. She was also part of the 2014 Jaguar team that earned the Sun Belt Conference Team Academic Award with a 3.36 overall GPA.
On the field, Beard is 5-2 on the season with a team-low 1.40 ERA with 55 strikeouts and 19 walks with only nine earned runs in 45 innings pitched.
She was a top-25 finalist for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, was named to the NFCA All-South Regional Second Team and the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team. She led the NCAA in ERA for three weeks and topped the country in hits allowed per seven inning for two weeks. She finished fifth in the NCAA in hits allowed per seven innings (3.40), sixth in ERA (1.23) and ninth in strikeouts per seven innings (9.5).
Beard has been a three-time SBC pitcher of the week and has led the SBC in opposing batting average (.141), strikeouts (224), hits allowed (80), runs allowed (40) and doubles allowed (9), ranking among the top four in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts looking, wins and fewest earned runs, walks, triples and home runs allowed. She even held opposing batters to the second-lowest average in a season in program history while recording the second-best strikeouts-per-seven-innings ratio in school history. Her win and shutout totals were third-most in a single season for a US pitcher.
Congratulations Farish!
Jaguar fans, go vote at http://www.seniorclassaward.com/ and help Farish bring home the award for her hard work both on and off the field!
Jag Softball’s Kalen McGill Earns Pitcher of the Week Honors
Freshman right handed pitcher Kalen McGill earned her first Pitcher of the Week honor on April 6. McGill has won her last five outings, and picked up two wins last week in relief. | Photo credit: usajaguars.com
South Alabama Softball freshman Kalen McGill earned Pitcher of the Week honors from the Sun Belt Conference Office on Monday. McGill helped the Jaguars claim a pair of wins in relief last week. She has won five straight outings.
She is the fourth Jaguar to earn a weekly honor from the conference office. Fellow freshman Devin Brown earned Pitcher of the Week on February 9 and March 2, senior Farish Beard earned the same honor on March 23, and senior shortstop Kaitlyn Griffith earned Player of the Week honor on February 23.
McGill (12-1) is tied for second place in the Sun Belt Conference with 12 win, is in fourth place in the conference in ERA (2.18), is tied for third fewest in walks allowed (14) and fifth in earned runs allowed (24). She is also 28th in the nation with fewest walks allowed per seven innings with 1.27.
“Kalen has been huge for us these past two series, so I am excited that she is being recognized for her efforts,” Jaguar head coach Becky Clark said. “She is such a competitor and wants the ball in tough situations. She has done a great job of attacking the zone, and our defense has done a great job of making the plays behind her.”
South Alabama will host Nicholls State on Wednesday evening with first pitch slated for 5pm at Jaguar Field. They will then host Georgia Southern for a weekend series with a double header on Saturday beginning at 1pm and the finale on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1pm as well.
Farish Beard Becomes Second Female Student-Athlete Drafted In Jaguar History
Farish Beard was selected in the sixth round of the 2015 National Pro Fastpitch Draft. She becomes only the second female student-athlete in school history to be selected in a professional draft. Former Jaguar Hannah Campbell was the first last season. | Photo usajaguars.com
For the second consecutive season the South Alabama Jaguar softball team has a player drafted in the National Pro Fastpitch Draft. Farish Beard was selected in the sixth round of the 2015 draft by the Dallas Charge on Wednesday.
Beard is only the second Jaguar softball student-athlete selected in the draft and only the second female in school history to be selected in a professional draft. Hannah Campbell was the first to accomplish that feat last season when she was selected third overall by the Akron Racers.
Beard, a Fairhope, Alabama native, has a 56-11 career record at South Alabama and is a two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-South Region selected. She was a 2014 Top-25 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player-of-the-Year award. She currently holds program records in Lowest ERA (1.34), Lowest Opponent Batting Average (.144), and Most Strikeouts per Seven Innings (9.46).
The NPF College Draft features four rounds of five selections, one round of six and one round of seven picks for a total of 33 overall draftees in the 2015 rookie class. Drafting an athlete give an NPF affiliate team rights to that athlete for two full seasons.
However, due to NCAA regulations, an active college senior-athlete may not sign with her respective franchise until after their 2015 college season is over.
“This is truly an honor, and it goes to show that hard work does pay off,” Beard said after the announcement. “[South Alabama head] Coach [Becky] Clark has helped me grow in my time here, both mentally and physically, and this honor brings much-deserved publicity to the Jaguar softball program.”
“This is a great honor for both Farish and our program,” head coach Becky Clark stated. “When you look at her body of work, it’s obvious what she has meant to South Alabama softball and shows she is definitely deserving of being drafted. She is such a competitor and plays the game with so much heart. I am extremely proud of her and all of her hard work; she has definitely earned her success.”
The National Pro Fastpitch is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. The league, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women’s Pro Fastpitch and Women’s Pro Softball League. NPF is the official development partner of Major League Baseball in the category of Women’s fastpitch softball since 2002.
Congratulations Farish! Go Jags!