Jag Sports Weekend Preview
Both the Baseball and #21 ranked Softball team will host weekend series on campus this weekend. Read below for the scoop on their opponents.
Softball
After the Jaguar softball team had their 11-game win streak snapped by Southern Miss on Wednesday, they will return to Jaguar Field with the intention of starting a new streak when they host North Dakota State this weekend.
The Jags (32-8) was shut out for the first time since their March 24 loss to #1 LSU. The Eagles scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning on an RBI single to right field.
The loss also snapped Kalen McGill’s consecutive-win streak to give her only her second loss of the season for a 14-2 record. She allowed one earned run on five hits while striking out one.
Farish Beard allowed one walk in one shutout inning of relief.
The only Jaguar hits of the night were Chloe Rathburn’s double and Amanda Herron’s single. Though Emily Messer reached base on each of the Eagle’s three errors on the night.
But now they turn their focus to North Dakota State in their final home-series of the regular season. Though it’s a non-conference series, North Dakota State gives the Jaguars a great opportunity against team with an RPI of 51 after losing to the Golden Eagles who had an RPI of 221.
NDSU enters the game with a 36-8 record after splitting a doubleheader at #10 Minnesota on Wednesday. They hold a 2-2 record on the season against ranked opponents after a 6-5 win over #17 Washington back in February and a run-rule loss to #11 Tennessee on March 7.
They will open the series Friday night at 6pm and conclude the series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 2pm.
Baseball
The Jags baseball team split a pair of games against Jacksonville State on the road to put their record at 26-16 overall and 11-7 in conference play.
This weekend they host Georgia State for a three-game series beginning at 6:30pm on Friday night at Eddie Stanky Field.
The Panthers (26-15, 13-3 SBC) enters the game as the conference leader with the best winning percentage in the conference.
Kevin Hill (6-0) will start the first game as he ranks second in the conference with six win, ranks fifth in ERA (2.45) and seventh in strikeouts (51) and opposing batting average (.231).
Austin Bembnowski (2-3) will start on Saturday and Jared Gates (3-2) will start the finale on Sunday.
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 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.
#22 Jags Softball Sweep Georgia Southern; Baseball Wins 4th Straight SBC Series
Softball
The #22 ranked Jaguar softball team completed another weekend sweep of a Sun Belt Conference opponent.
In Saturday’s doubleheader against Georgia Southern, the Jaguars won the two games by a combined scored of 18-0 and the entire weekend series by a combined score of 25-2 after a rain-shortened game on Sunday.
USA scored all their runs in the first game in two innings against Georgia Southern. In the third inning the Jaguars let loose with four runs, then in the sixth they added three more runs.
Emily Messer led off the bottom of the third inning with a single to third base and advanced to second after the throw first sailed wide. Kristian Foster doubled to right field to put two Jaguars in scoring position. Stephanie Pilkington took advantage by lifting a sacrifice fly to left field to plate the Jaguars first run. Kaitlyn Griffith also hit a sac fly to center, which doubled the Jaguar lead.
Chloe Rathburn had a base hit to set up sophomore center fielder Amanda Minahan to double the lead with her fourth home run of the season.
In the bottom of the sixth, Blair Johnson hit a one-out solo home run to right field to put the Jags up 5-0. Alyssa Linn got on with a single anf followed by Messer’s double which set up Foster to drive in both runners with a single down the right fielder line for the 7-0 advantage.
Kalen McGill (13-1) earned her second complete-game victory as she struck out two and scattered five hits with no walks.
Messer went 3-for-4 with two runs scored to lead the Jags. Foster went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Minahan finished with two RBI and a run scored.
In game two the Jags scored 11 runs in the first three innings, five runs each in the first and third innings for their seventh run-rule victory of the season. Farish Beard also threw her third career no-hitter and the 12th in program history.
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#22 Jags Softball Defeat Nicholl State 11-7 At Jaguar Field
The Jaguar softball team scored 11 runs on 10 hits and scored a run in all but one inning to defeat Nicholls State 11-7 Wednesday evening at Jaguar Field. The win extends USA’s winning streak to seven games and improves their overall record to 28-7 this season.
Senior Farish Beard (6-2) picked up the win after striking out five, walking two and allowing four runs, all earned, on five hits through four innings. Freshman Kalen McGill earned the save, her third of the season, after tossing three innings in relief by striking out seven, issuing no walks and allowing three runs, only one earned, on three hits.
The Colonels took a one run lead in the top of the first inning. A leadoff double allowed a base hit to score the runner from second. But the Jaguars would answer in the bottom half of the inning.
Emily Messer led off the game with a base hit, followed by freshman Kristian Foster drawing a walk to put two Jags on base. Chloe Rathburn supplied an infield single to plate Messer for the Jags first run. Then senior Kaitlyn Griffith hit a two-run double to left center field to score Foster and Rathburn. Blair Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to right center to score Griffith for a 4-1 Jaguar lead through one full inning.
Nicholls State evened the game in the top of the second. A single and walk set up for a two-out two-run double ro right center. Then an RBI single to shallow center field drove in the tying run before Beard could get out of the inning.
In the bottom of the second, Messer earned a one-out walk then stole her 30th career base, which moves her to fifth all-time at South Alabama. Stephanie Pilkington singled to third base and advanced to second on the throw while Messer scored to regain the lead for the Jaguars.
After the Jag settled down defensively and did not allow a run in the third through sixth innings. Though the Jaguar bats kept putting runs on the board with two run per inning in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning to take an 11-4 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Messer singled to third base on a bunt. Then back to back walks to Foster and Pilkington loaded the bases for Rathburn who also walked to score Messer. Griffith flied out to left field to score Kaleigh Todd who pinch ran for Foster.
In the bottom of the fifth, Blair Johnson led off the inning with a home run to right field to increase the Jaguar advantage to 8-4. Amanda Herron would be hit by a pitch followed by Alyssa Linn earning a walk. Messer then reached base on a fielder’s choice where they forced out Gwen Jones, who pinch ran for Herron, at third base. Todd grounded out to shortstop, but Messer and Linn advanced to second and third respectively. Pilkington then walked to load the bases again which prompted a pitching change. After the pitching change Rathburn was walked to score Linn and take a 9-4 lead, but the Colonels would get out of the inning without any more damage when they forced Griffith to fly out to left field for the final out of the inning.
The bottom of the sixth began with Amanda Minahan singling to shortstop and later advancing to second base on a wild pitch. Herron drew a one-out walk to put Jags on first and second, but they would both advance a base on another wild pitch before Taylor Bahos, who pinch hit for Linn, struck out swining. Messer then hit a two-out two-run double to center field to score Minahan and Herron for a 11-4 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning.
The colonels plated three runs in the top of the seventh before McGill retired the final two batters swinging for the save.
Junior third baseman Emily Messer led USA at the plate by going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI, three runs scored and extending her hitting streak to seven game. Sophomore Amanda Minahan also went 3-for-4 with a run scored as she reached base for the 11th consecutive game. Senior shortstop Kaitly Griffith and sophomore Chloe Rathburn each had three RBI and a run scored. Senior Blair Johnson had a solo homer and two RBI.
The Jags will host Georgia Southern this weekend at Jaguar Field for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. Saturday’s doubleheader begins at 1pm, which is also the scheduled time for the Sunday finale.
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.
Jags Softball Sweep Texas-Arlington; Baseball Win Series against Arkansas State
Softball
The #22 ranked South Alabama Jaguar softball team swept Texas-Arlington over the weekend in Texas. This was their third consecutive conference series sweep.
On Friday, the Jags opened the double-header with a 6-3 win behind Farish Beard’s season-high-tying 12 batters with three run allowed (two earned) on four hits in a complete game effort.
The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a two-out, two-run double to right field. The runners reached base on a throwing error and a walk.
But the Jaguars would respond with six runs spread across the fourth and fifth innings. Kaitlyn Griffith led off the fourth inning with a solo homer to left field. Blair Johnson scored to tie the game 2-2 when freshman Haleigh Lowe singled. Amanda Herron homered to center field to put the Jags ahead 4-2.
In the fifth inning Griffith and Johnson hit back-to-bak solo homers to put the Jaguars lead at 6-2.
UTA catcher Kacey Everett led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo homer to right but Beard would retire the next three batters in order to put the game in the books.
Griffith finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored on two solo home runs. Johnson also finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, one of her hits being a home run. Lowe finished 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Amanda Minahan was 2-for-4 in the game as well.
In the second game of the double header the Jags hot bats continued by scoring three runs in the top half of the first inning. Chloe Rathburn started it with a two-run single then Johnson added a two-out RBI base hit later in the inning.
But the Mavericks took the lead in the bottom of the second inning when they put up 4 runs.
The Jags would score five unanswered runs to seal th win.
In the top of the third, Stephanie Pilkington reached on a fielder’s choice then stole second base. Rathburn hit a two-out single through the left side of the infield to score Pilkington and tie the game at 4-4.
In the top of the fifth inning, Griffith drew a leadoff walk then Johnson reached base on a hit. Herron then hit a two-run single to put the Jags ahead 6-4. Herron also led off the top of the seventh with a solo homer to right field. Kristian Foster hit a double and was pinch ran for by Kaleigh Todd, then Pilkington hit an RBI double to score Todd.
Freshman Devin Brown got the start but was replaced by Kalen McGill in the second inning after Brown gave up four unearned runs on one hit with four walks and two strikeouts.
In the finale on Saturday, the Jags cruised to a 9-1 win over the Mavericks after never trailing in the game and pounding out 18 hits, falling one hit short of tying a program record.
McGill earned her fifth consecutive voctory after pitching five innings of shutout relief to improve her record to 12-1 on the season. She struck out four and scattered four hits.
USA opened the scoring in the top of the second when Griffith hit a solo home run, her third homer of the weekend. Johnson drew a walk and scored when Alyssa Linn hit a two-out single down the left field line.
In the top of the third inning Pilkington hit a one-out solo homer to straightaway center field put the Jags ahead 3-0.
The Mavericks answered in the bottom of the third with their only run of the game. Beard allowed a leadoff walk and a single before being replaced by McGill. McGill would load the bases after hitting a batter then a single up the middle would score the only run.
In the top of the fifth, Herron would hit a two-out RBI double to score Griffith and put the Jaguars ahead 5-1.
McGill would load the bases in the bottom of the sixth but a fielder’s choice would get the Jags out of the situation without allowed a run.
In the top of the seventh, Johnson led off with an infield single and was followed by freshman Taylor Bahos with a pinch-hit. Herron loaded the bases with a hit through the left side. Minahan would single up the middle to score Johnson for a 6-1 lead.
Emily Messer would get a base hit to score Lowe, then Foster would drive in Minahan to make it 8-1. Finally Pilkington finished off the scoring with a base hit to left field to score Messer.
USA improved their record to 27-7 on the season. Texas-Arlington falls to 22-18 on the season.
USA will play host Nicolls State on Wednesday.
Baseball
The South Alabama baseball team took two of the three games agaisnt Arkansas State to win their third-consecutive Sun Belt Conference series.
The Jags scored 10 runs in the first three innings and cruised to a 13-10 to open the series. Every Jaguar starter recorded at least one hit. Matt Bolger led the team with a career high three hits by going 3-for-5 with a double, two RBi and a run scored. Gann added two hits, one being a double, with two RBI and two runs scored.
Kevin Hill earned his fourth win of the season, allowing seven earned runs on 11 hits while striking out six and issuing one walk.
Arkansas State evened the series with a 4-1 win over the Jags in the second game of the series. Austin Bembnowski (2-3) allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks in the loss.
On Sunday, Jared Gates pitched the Jags to the 2-1 series win over the Red Wolves. He struck out a career-high nine batters after pitching 8 1/3 innings. He allowed only four hits and one unearned runs while walking eight.
Ben Taylor threw 2/3 of an inning of relief for his fourth save of the season.
The Jags opened with two runs in the top of the first inning after Cole Billingsley singled to center field then stole second base. Adam Ballew reached on a two-out walk then Danny Martinez hit a two-run double to right field to score the Jags only runs of the game.
The Red Wolves would load the bases three times against Gates, but each time he would pitch out of the situation.
The Jags improve their record to 22-11 overall and 9-6 in conference play. ASu falls to 13-17 overall and 4-10 in conference play.
The Jags will travel to Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday for a mid-week matchup.
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!