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’s Track and Field Both Earn Wins In Battle Of I-65
The South Alabama men’s and women’s track and field teams both won the Battle of I-65 held at Jaguar Track on campus over the weekend.
The men earned wins in all four throwing events. Adam Peterson took the top spot with a 16.23m shot put. Also in the top five were Jarrod Kedzior who finished second with a throw of 15.61m and Jeff Long who finished fourth with a throw of 15.16m.
Jan-Louw Kotze came out on top of the discus throw with a 53.17m mark with Long finished fourth with a toss of 44.93m. Renaldo Frechou took the top spot in the hammer throw with a toss of 60.71m. The Jags claimed all of the top five spots actually with Long was second with a throw of 57.96m, Patterson finishing third with a throw of 56.93m, Kedzior fourth with a toss of 55.53m and Zach Blahnik finishing fifth with a personal record toss of 55.39m competing as an unattached individual.
Robert King won the javelin throw with a personal record of 53.31m.
But it didn’t stop there for the men. They took home the top three spots in the 110-meter hurdles with Ravaughn Pope’s time of 14.88 seconds. Tyler Agee was second with 14.89s, Spencer Anderson third with 15.50s. Anderson also took home the top spot in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.45 seconds.
Mark Watts came in first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.87s as teammate Michael Smith finishing second with a time of 49.04s. Michael Pienaar took the top spot in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.05 with Justin Housley finishing second with a time of 1:57.22.
Jaylon Holt’s 14.55m triple jump was good for first place with Tyson Berron taking second with a 13.77m jump and Lezyon Legarde took third with a 13.58m leap. Legarde took the top spot in the long jump with a 6.74m mark. Holt also finished second in the long jump with a 6.71m jump.
Holt finished second in the high jump with a 2.04m jump that was just shy of equally his personal record.
Cameron Ellis set a new personal record in the mile run to take first place with a time of 4:19.68.
The men won each of the relay races. The 4×100-meter relay saw Tevin Barnett, Holt, Legarde and Smith teaming up for a 42.27s time. The 400-meter relay saw Watts, Barnett, Agee and Smith clock in at 3:22.88.
In all the men won 13 events and gathered 107 total points to crush second place Samford (40pts) and Alabama State (16pts).
For the Women, Leah Hixon set a new personal record in Javelin with a 48.42m throw to take first place. Noelle JOnes also recorded a personal record of 46.42m for second place and Ashton Pennington took fourth with a 40.24m mark.
Tasha Russell took the 100-meter dash with a 14.28s run with Jones coming in second with a 14.35s run.
Phoebe Dowson took first place in the discus throw with a 44.88m toss. Bobbie Williamson finished third with a 39.85m mark and Morgan Jones finished fourth with a 39.83m mark. Williamson finished second in the hammer throw as well with a 56.04 toss.
Tori Lawson won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:17.37 with Shannen Weyer finishing third with a time of 10:39.23. Joanna McCoy finished third in the women’s mile run with a time of 5:09.39 to lead the team.
In all the women won five events and finished with 74 points as Samford came in second with 68 points and Alabama State in third with 34 points.
The team travels to Tuscaloosa on Friday and Saturday for the Alabama Relays.
Go Jags!
Busy Weekend In South Alabama Sports
The Jaguar baseball team will travel to Arkansas State for a weekend series while the Lady Jaguar Softball team will host North Texas. But that is not all going on this weekend in South Alabama sports.
The Men’s Tennis team will wrap up their regular season this weekend in Memphis, Tennessee as they face UAB and #46 Memphis. They enter this weekends matches with a 10-11 record overall after facing seven ranked opponents this season with wins over #30 BYU, #56 St. John’s and #60 Georgia State.
The women’s Tennis team will also wrap up their regular season this weekend at home against UAB. The matches will begin at 11am at the South Alabama Tennis courts.
Also the South Alabama men’s and women’s track and field teams will hold their final home meet of the season on Friday and Saturday. They will welcome Alabama State, Loyola, North Alabama, Spring Hill, Tulane, West Alabama and West Florida to Jaguar Track for the South Alabama Invitational.
It will begin at 4:30pm on Friday and will start at 10am on Saturday morning with men’s javelin throw.
Two Jags Earn SBC Weekly Honors In Track And Field
Two Jaguar Track and Field team members were honored as Sun Belt Conference field athletes of the week as announced by the conference office on Wednesday. Both coming from record-breaking performances last weekend.
Jan-Louw Kotze was chosen an the Men’s field athelete of the week after his discus throw of 57.60m bested the previous school record by more than a meter at Saturday’s Jaguar Invitational and earning him first place. That mark is currently good for sixth in the NCAA Division I East Region and ranks 13th in the nation. He currently sits on top of the Sun Belt ranking in the event as a freshman with his top throw more than four meters better than the next closest individual.
Leah Hixon earned the women’s honor after she set a new school record in the women’s javelin throw with a toss of 46.90m in her first place effort. She ranks seventh in the Division I East Region and 17th nationally in the event. She also holds the top spot in the conference rankings. She also placed fifth in the high jump by clearing 1.59m while also running a leg of the 4×400-meter relay for the Lady Jaguar ‘A’ Team who finished fourth place with a time of 4:07.22. Hixon is a Junior and this marks her second time this season that she has claimed the conference award.
Both teams will travel to Auburn for the Tiger Classic, a two day event beginning on Friday.
South Alabama Athletics Weekend Update
Men’s Basketball
The Jaguar Men’s basketball team defeated North Texas at the Mitchell Center on Saturday night 69-57. Four Jags scored in double figures with Javier Carter earning his third career double-double on Senior night.
The Jags started their conference home schedule with a loss, but ended it against North Texas with seven consecutive wins. This improved the Jags to 16-10 overall and 13-5 in Sun Belt Conference play. UNT fell to 11-19 and 6-13 in Sun Belt play.
Senior Wendell Wright set a new career high in scoring with 10 points and a season best five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Mychal Ammons led all scorers with 18 points. Augustine Rubit was held to nine points, but came down with 15 rebounds.
The Jags never trailed in the game.
USA continues to hold onto second place in the conference with a 13-5 record, one game ahead of Arkansas State who clinched the western division title with a 12-6 Sun Belt record.
The Jags basketball team travels to Western Kentucky for a Thurday night tip-off set for 7pm. It will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Women’s Basketball
The Lady Jaguars defeated North Texas 65-61 behind Mansa El’s 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in her final game at the Mitchell Center.
The trio of seniors, Mansa El, Camille Reynolds and Mary Nixon combined for 44 points to lead the way for the victory.
The Lady Jags improve to 15-12 overall and 8-10 in Sun Belt play. They are fifth out of six schools in the Sun Belt’s Eastern division, one-half game behind FAU for a tie for fourth place and in eihth place overall in the conference.
The Lady Jags will travel to Western Kentucky and play the Lady Toppers on Wednesday night with tip-off set for 7pm.
Baseball
The Jags set a new school record Friday night at Eddie Stanky Field by defeating former conference foe University of New Orleans 29-6 after a 13 run eighth inning.
Their Saturday game was rained out, but they were able to get in a double-header on Sunday which the Jags sweeped with more modest scores of 4-1 and 5-2.
The Jaguars baseball team improved their record to 7-0 on the season. They will return to action on Tuesday and Wednesday when they travel to Jacksonville, Alabama to face Jacksonville State University for a two-game mid-week series. First pitch for Tuesday’s game is set for 6:30pm at Rudy Abbot Field.
Softball
The Lady Jags traveled to Jacksonville, Florida for the Jacksonville University Tournament. They went 4-0 before their final game was cancelled due to field conditions.
The Jags earned their seventh run-rule win of the season when they defeated Mount St. Mary’s 12-2 in 5 innings in the early Friday game. They then turned around and faced host school Jacksonville University and came away with a 7-0 win.
On Saturday, the Jags had another two game schedule. Their first was against Seton Hall which they earned their eighth run-rule win of the season with an 8-0 win in 6 innings. Their late game on Saturday was against Delaware which they won in a 1-0 decision.
The Lady Jags will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Tuscaloosa for a make-up game against the University of Alabama. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00pm.
Track and Field
USA had two all-conference performances in the first day of the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships on Sunday. They also had a new school record set on the first day.
Nick Farrell came in first place and earned all-conference honors in the men’s pole vault when he cleared 5.00m. While his teammates William Henley and Connor Smith finished as part of a three-way tie for fifth place by vaulting 4.70m.
Briana Aiken also earned all-conference honors in the women’s long jump when she set a new school record of 6.01m. She finished in third place.
Complete results can be found here on the Jaguar Athletics website.
Day two will begin on Monday at 9am.
Cross Country Teams Compete For Conference Championships On Saturday
The South Alabama Men’s and Women’s cross country teams will be competing for the Sun Belt Conference Championships in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Saturday.
The Men’s team cracked the top 15 in the NCAA Division I South Region rankings after winning at the Choctaw Open in Mississippi two weeks ago.
Last season the Jaguar men finished sixth while the women finished third.
Good luck and GO JAGS!!
Odumosu Falls Short Of Medal Stand
Former Lady Jaguar Track and Field star Ajoke Odumosu finished eighth in the finals of the 400-meter hurdles on Wednesday.
While she finished eighth in the finals and fell short of the medal stand, she did not go home empty handed. Odumosu was already the national record holder, but she extended her all-time mark in the semifinals with a 54.40-second time.
Odumosu was an eight-time SBC individual champion, three time title holder in both the outdoor 400-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles and two titles in the indoor one-lap sprint.
She was a three-time NCAA qualifier as well as the first female Jaguar to receive All-AMerican honors. Then in 2006, she was named to the SBC All-Time Outdoor team. Odumosu still holds the South Alabama records in the indoor and outdoor 400-meter dash, the 400-meter hurdles and the indoor 4×400-meter relay.
She was on the Jaguar Track and Field team from 2004-2007.
Former Women’s Hurdler Competes In Olympic Final On Wednesday
As reported before, former Jaguar track and field standout, Ajoke Adumosu advanced into the semifinals of 400-meter hurdles for her home nation of Nigeria.
Odumosu finished atop her heat and advances to the finals of the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the 2012 London Olympics. Odumosu ran a personal and Nigerian best time of 54.40 seconds in her semifinal heat. She will compete against sevel other world-class hurdlers on Wednesday to see if she can place on the medal stand.
This will mark her second finals appearance in the Olympic games. She made the finals four years ago in Beijing China.
NBC will air coverage of the Women’s 400-meter hurdles finals with a rolling broadcast schedule beginning at 2:45pm CDT.
Go jags! And Good luck Ajoke!!
Former Jag Into The Olympic Semifinals Of Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles
A former University of South Alabama track and field standout is participating in the London Olympics. Ajoke Odumosu finished third in her heat on Sunday to advance through round one in the Women’s 400-meter hurdles.
Odumosu, a native of Lagos, Nigeria recorded a time of 54.93 which is just shy of her season-best 54.75 to finish third in the second of five heats to qualify for her second semifinal appearance in the Olympic Games. Four years ago she qualified for the semifinals in the same event in Beijing, China in 2008.
Odumuosu participated with the Jaguars from 2004-2008 and was an eight-time SBC individual champion. She recorded three titles each in both the outdoor 400-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles while also earning two titles in the indoor one-lap sprint.
She was also a three-time NCAA qualifier and was the first Jaguar female to receive All-American honors. She was named to the Sun Belt Conference All-Time Outdoor Team in 2006. She still holds records at South Alabama in the indoor and outdoor 400-meter dash, the 400-meter hurdles and the indoor 4×400-meter relay.
Odumosu is scheduled to run in the third heat on Monday, August 6.