Former Jaguar Brandon Bridge Signs Free-Agent Agreement With Dallas Cowboys
Brandon Bridge was on the Dallas Cowboys’ free-agent signings list as released on Wednesday to make his signing official. He will join the team’s weekend rookie camp which is scheduled for Friday through Sunday. | Photo: Brad Puckett usajaguars.com
Former University of South Alabama quarterback Brandon Bridge – a 6’5″ 235-pound native of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada – has officially signed a free-agent deal with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. Though it was announced on difference social media accounts over the weekend and earlier this week, the Dallas Cowboys released their official free-agent signings list on Wednesday making it official.
Bridge, after going undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft last weekend, signed an agreement that will bring Bridge in for the Cowboys’ weekend rookie camp, which is slated to run Friday through Sunday.
In his lone season as a starter for USA, he completed 160-of-307 (52%) of his passing attempts for 1,927 yards while tying the single season record of 15 touchdowns. He also added 297 yards rushing and a team-high-tying four rushing touchdowns. He led the team with 2,224 yards of total offense and ranked ninth in the conference with 202.18 yards passing per game with a 115.76 pass efficiency rating.
After his performance against Georgia State where he rushed for 137 yards, a school record for a quarterback, and a touchdown on 15 attempts while also throwing for 126 yards and two touchdowns through the air, he was selected the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
Against Appalachian State, he threw for 339 yards, the second highest total in school history, with three touchdowns in the road victory. In his final appearance for the Jaguars in the schools first-ever bowl game he finished 20-of-37 for 279 yards and a touchdown while rushing for an additional 41 yards including a 15 yard touchdown in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.
Though he was hampered by a nagging ankle injury for most of the season, he concluded his two-year career at USA among the top 10 in the school’s records in 10 statistical categories including third in total offensive yards (2,792), completions (189), yards passing (2,325), passing touchdowns (16) and pass efficiency rating (111.83).
Congratulations Brandon! Show the Cowboys what you can do!
Jag Softball Set To Face #6 Seed UL-Monroe This Evening
The first day of the Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship completed on Wednesday which also concludes the single-elimination portion of the tournament.
Now the Jaguars know who they will face today.
In Game 2 of the Tournament, #6 seed UL-Monroe defeated #7 defeated UT-Arlington 6-1 to advance to game 4. Then, in Game 4, ULM used their momentum from the first game to defeat #3 seed Texas State, and tournament host, 3-0.
In the first game today (Game 5) #1 seed UL-Lafayette will face #5 Georgia State who defeated #8 Georgia Southern 8-0 in game 1 and #4 Troy by a score of 9-3 in Game 3. First-pitch is scheduled for 2PM in San Marcos, Texas.
In game 6, the second game of the day, the #2 South Alabama Jaguars will face #6 seed UL-Monroe. First-pitch is scheduled for 5PM in San Marcos, Texas.
The losers of Games 5 and 6 will move to the losers bracket and will face each other on Friday in Game 7 at 11AM. Meanwhile the winners will continue to advance in the winners bracket to face each other in Game 8 on Friday at 2PM.
Finally on Friday, the winner of Game 7 and loser of Game 8 will face each other to determine who will advance to the Championship game to face the resulting team from the winners bracket (Game 9).
Billingsley Name SBC Baseball Player of the Week
The Redshirt Sophomore is batting .344 with seven doubles, four triples, two home runs, 26 RBI, 40 runs scored and 23 stolen bases in 47 games this season. | Photo credit: John Adams usajaguars.com
On Tuesday the Sun Belt Conference office announced that Cole Billingsley was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week. Billingsley, a redshirt sophomore from Cropwell, AL., hit .450 with three doubles, five RBI, seven runs scored and three stolen bases in four games last week while helping the Jags to a three-game sweep of Georgia Southern.
He recorded multiple hits in each game and drove in at least one run in three of the four contests including a multi-RBI performance in the final two games against GSU.
Billingsley is the first Jaguar to earn the conference Player of the Week honor since Adam Ballew on March 3 of this season.
For the season, he is batting .344 with seven doubles, four triples, two home runs, 26 RBI, 40 runs scored and 23 stolen bases in 47 games this season. He also had a .443 on-base percentage on the season.
Six Jags Earn Softball All-SBC Team Honors
South Alabama receives the Sun Belt Conference Academic Award for the second-consecutive season with a team GPA of 3.44. | Photo Credit: twitter.com @Blazinjag
As the 23rd ranked South Alabama Jaguar Softball team prepares to make their appearance in the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Tournament this week, they are looking to retake the conference tournament crown.
The 10th ranked Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns earned the regular season title and the top seed for the tournament after finishing the season with a 20-3 record in conference play. They also defeated the Jaguars last season in the conference finale in Lafayette, LA after the Jaguars two-year reign as tournament title winners in 2012 and ’13.
Ahead of today’s start to the tournament, the conference office announced the All-Sun Belt Conference teams at Bobcat Stadium as part of Family Night. Six Jaguars were named to All-SBC Teams and for the second year in a row the Jags earned the SBC Team Academic Award with a team GPA of 3.44 over the past year, which is higher than their 3.36 GPA from last season.
Freshman right-hander Kalen McGill and sophomore designated player Chloe Rathburn earned first-team honors, while senior pitcher Farish Beard, senior shortstop Kaitlyn Griffith, junior Stephanie Pilkington and sophomore Amanda Minahan, both outfielders, were chosen for Second-Team honors at their respective positions.
McGill finished the regular season with a 16-2 record and a team-leading 1.82 ERA. She also recorded four saves this season which tops the SBC and is currently ranked seventh in the nation in walks allowed per seven innings (0.97) and 17th in saves. She finished with an 8-1 league record and was named SBC Pitcher of the Week twice this season.
Rathburn lead the Jags at the plate with a .387 batting average, 53 hits and 48 RBI and is four RBI away from tying former Jaguar standout Brittany Fowler’s single-season record of 52 which she set in 2011, this is her second time to be named to the SBC First-Team.
Beard finished 6-1 this season in conference play with 53 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched in conference play. She allowed only nine earned runs with three shutouts while holding opposing batters to a .162 average in conference games. She is ranked 15th in the nation in hist allowed per seven innings (4.33). This is her third All-Conference honor of her career.
Griffith set a new single-season home run record when she hit her 12th last weekend against Troy. She also set a Jag record with six sacrifice flies and currently ranks sixth in the country in this category. This is her second All-Conference honor for Griffith.
Pilkington earns her second All-Conference honor as well after leading the Jags in on-base percentage for the entire season with a .485 average with a team-high 28 walks.
Minahan earned her first All-Conference honor after batting .354 on the season with a .555 slugging percentage which is third best on the team, and also with a .418 on-base percentage which is fourth-best on the team. She is tied for second on the team with five home runs. She batted .345 in conference play this season, which is also second best on the team.
The Jags will begin their tournament play on Thursday at 5pm when they face the winner of Game 4 which will be the winner of 6-seed ULM and 7-seed UT-Arlington vs 3-seed Texas State. Below is the full rundown of Sun Belt All-Conference teams.
Sun Belt All-Conference First Team
- P- Randi Rupp, Texas State
- P- Kalen McGill, South Alabama
- P- Jordan Wallace, Louisiana-Lafayette
- P- Jaycee Affeldt, Troy
- C- Lexie Elkins, Louisiana-Lafayette
- C- Ivie Drake, Georgia State
- 1B- Kelsey Vincent, Louisiana-Lafayette
- 1B- Kendall Wiley, Texas State
- 2B- Haley Hayden, UL Lafayette
- SS- Taylor Anderson, Georgia State
- 3B- Callie Alford, Georgia State
- OF- Shellie Landry, Louisiana-Lafayette
- OF- Ashley Christy, Georgia State
- OF- Rochelle Roberts, Louisiana-Monroe
- DP- Chloe Rathburn, South Alabama
Sun Belt All-Conference Second Team
- P- Farish Beard, South Alabama
- P- Alex Stewart, Louisiana-Lafayette
- C- Sarah Warnock, Appalachian State
- 1B- Alexis Cacioppo, Louisiana-Monroe
- 1B- Lauren Coleman, Georgia State
- 2B- Miyuki Navarette, Louisiana-Monroe
- SS- Ariel Ortiz, Texas State
- SS- Kaitlyn Griffith, South Alabama
- 3B- Courtney Harris, Texas State
- 3B- Samantha Walsh, Louisiana-Lafayette
- OF- Taylor Rogers, Georgia Southern
- OF- Amanda Minahan, South Alabama
- OF- Stephanie Pilkington, South Alabama
- OF- Becca Hartley, Troy
- DP- Leandra Maly, Louisiana-Lafayette
Player of the Year
- Lexie Elkins, Louisiana-Lafayette
Pitcher of the Year
- Jaycee Affeldt, Troy
Freshman of the Year
- Ivie Drake, Georgia State
Co-Coaches of the Year
- Beth Mullins, Troy
- Michael Lotief, Louisiana-Lafayette
Jags Softball Earn #2 Seed in 2015 SBC Tournament Bracket
The #22 ranked Jaguar Softball team will begin play in the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Thursday, May 7 at 5pm in San Marcos, Texas after drawing a #2 seed for the tournament which earns them a bye for the first two rounds of the tournament.
The tournament will use both a single elimination and double elimination format to determine the confernece’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The first day will be single-elimination then, beginning on day two, will begin the double-elimination format. All nine teams who sponsor softball will be eligible to compete for the tournament title.
Beginning with the games on Friday, May 8 they will be televised on ESPN3 (11am, 2pm), the loser bracket game on Friday at 5pm and the Championship on Saturday at 1pm will all be televised on ESPN3.
The seeding for the tournament:
- UL-Lafayette
- South Alabama
- Texas State
- Troy
- Georgia State
- UL-Monroe
- UT-Arlington
- Georgia Southern
The Jags will play either UL-Monroe, UT-Arlington or Texas State in Game 6 of the tournament on Thursday at 5pm.
Jaguar Baseball Enters Collegiate Baseball Poll
After sweeping the then league leader Georgia State and following that up with a sweep against the then #2 team in the league on the road in Georgia Southern and moving their way into the top spot in the conference, the Jaguar baseball team has finally entered the Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division I poll.
On Monday, when the poll was released, the Jaguars had finally appeared at #29.
USA (32-17, 17-7 SBC) carries a seven-game conference winning streak into the week and have won nine of their last 10 conference games. This is the first time they have been ranked nationally since the final rankings in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll of 2013 where they were in 30th place.
The Jags will travel to Louisiana-Lafayette (30-17, 14-9 SBC) for a three-game conference series against the third place team in the conference. In addition to leading the conference entering the week, they also lead the conference in batting average (.285), ERA (3.33) and fielding percentage (.975).
McGill Earns Second SBC Pitcher of the Week Honor
Freshman right handed pitcher Kalen McGill earned her second Pitcher of the Week honor on May 4. She pitched two complete-game victories in Troy to clinch the final regular-season series. | Photo credit: usajaguars.com
The University of South Alabama Softball freshman right-handed pitcher Kalen McGill was named the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week in the season’s final weekly awards announced by the conference office on Monday.
Against Troy, McGill (16-2) had two complete-game victories over the weekend as USA clinched their fifth and final conference series of the regular season. She allowed no earned runs in 14 innings pitched while striking out 13 with one walk and 13 hits scattered, only one of which went for extra bases.
She had a season-high eight strikeouts in game two on Saturday to lead the Jags to split the doubleheader. McGill carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning in that game as well.
This is Kalen’s second honor of the year and the fifth weekly honor for a South Alabama Softball student-athlete.
The Sun Belt Conference Tournament starts on Wednesday in San Marcos, Texas with the Jaguars drawing the #2 seed.
Jag Baseball And Softball Win Weekend Sun Belt Series
Both Jaguars Baseball and Softball teams had successful weekends on the diamond. Below are highlights of the weekend.
Softball
The #22 ranked Jaguar softball team took two of three games from Troy over the weekend to clinch their final series of the regular season.
In game one, the Trojans scored five unanswered runs, including a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, to win 6-3.
USA took a two run lead in the top of the second inning. Chloe Rathburn scored when senior Blair Johnson doubled to right center and a subsequent throwing error in a throwout attempt at the plate. Johnson would later score when freshman Haleigh Lowe’s infield single.
The Trojans halved the Jaguar lead when she scored on Farish Beard’s wild pitch.
USA added another run to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the fourth on a squeeze play off the bat of senior first baseman Amanda Herron which scored senior Gwen Jones, who pinch ran for Rathburn.
However, four runs in the bottom half of the fourth would put Troy ahead.
Beard suffered the loss to fall to 9-4 on the season after giving up five run, all earned, on seven hits with a walk in 3 2/3 innings pitched. Freshman righty Devin Brown threw 2 1/3 innings of relief allowing one run on one hit with a walk and five strikeouts.
Johnson led the Jaguars at the plate by going 2-of-3 with one run scored. Rathburn went 1-of-2 with a run scored as well.
In game two, the Jaguars stranded three base runners in the first two innings then went down in order in the next three innings. But Troy did not fare any better as only one player reached base in their first five innings facing the Jags pitching.
In the bottom of the sixth, Troy’s Heather Johnson led off the inning with a single through the left side, which was followed by Kayler reaching base on a bunt single, but Johnson was thrown out trying to stretch and make it to third base. Benton followed with a single up the middle but she would be thrown out at the plate by Amanda Minahan later in the innign on Becca hartley’s base hit to center field. McGill forced a groundout for the final out of the innings the Jags got out of the inning unscathed.
Rathburn led off the top of the seventh with a double off the left field wall. Kaitlyn Griffith then smashed the go-ahead two-run homer, her 12th of the season and a new South Alabama season record.
McGill retired the Trojans in order to finish off the game.
In the third game on Sunday, Troy would take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Kate Benton led off the game with an infield single. She could eventually score on a play in which Emily Messer overthrew Amanda Herron at first allowing the ball to go down the right field line.
USA would tie the game in the top of the second after Griffith drew a leadoff walk and scored on Herron’s double to right field.
The Jags added two more runs in the top of the fourth after Herron drew a one-out walk, Gwen Jones would come in to pinch run for her. Minahan followed with a single and advanced to second base on a throw to home plate to put to Jags in scoring position. Lowe would ground out to second to score Jones. Messer would follow with an infield base hit to score Minahan putting USA up 3-1.
McGill would work herself way out of two separate situations in the next two innings.
USA would add an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning after Blair Johnson reached on a leadoff due to a Trojan fielding error. She would score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Minahan for a 4-1 lead, which would be the final score as well.
Freshman righty Kalen McGill (16-2) recorded her second complete-game win of the series by only allowing one unearned run while scattering nine hits and striking out five with only one walk.
Stephanie Pilkington went 2-for-4 in the game. Herron went 2-for-3 with an RBI, Messer went 1-for-3 with an RBI and Minahan also went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
USA ends the regular season with a 35-10 record overall and a 16-4 record in Sun Belt Conference play.
South Alabama will be the #2 seed in the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Tournament which takes place May 6-9 in San Marcos, Texas.
Baseball
South Alabama swept their second-consecutive Sun Belt Conference series with their weekend sweep of Georgia Southern.
Jag righty Kevin Hill struck out 12 batters in his second consecutive complete game as USA won 7-1 in the series opener. Hill only allowed one run on five hits with two walks to go along with his 12 strikeouts for his eighth consecutive win.
In game two the Jags entered the sixth inning facing a three-run deficit but after 14 batters went to the plate and eight runs pushed across the plate, the Jags would take the lead and not relinquish it the rest of the game.
Jag lefty Joey Jones (1-0) walked two in 2/3 of an inning to earn his first career win at USA.
In game three, the Jags scored multiple runs in four different innings for an 11-4 win to complete the sweep. The Jags (32-17, 17-7 SBC) had 13 hits in the game.
With the weekend sweep, USA moves into first place in the conference ahead of Georgia State (27-20, 14-8 SBC), UL-Lafayette (30-17, 14-9 SBC) and Georgia Southern (27-21, 16-11 SBC).
Softball And Baseball Both On Road For SBC Series
Softball
The #22 ranked South Alabama Softball team will travel to Troy this weekend for their final series of the 2015 regular season. The Jags and the Troy Trojans will play a doubleheader on Saturday with the first game starting at 1pm then the finale on Sunday beginning at 1pm as well.
Next up for the Jaguars will be the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Tournament which begins on Wednesday, May 6 and will conclude on Saturday, May 9 in San Marcos, Texas.
The Jaguars (33-9, 14-3 SBC) currently sit in second place in the conference behind UL-Lafayette (34-8, 17-3 SBC) who are in the midst of a three game skid. But in third place is Troy (31-20, 13-7 SBC) who have won their last two game.
Baseball
The Jaguar baseball team will travel to Georgia Southern, who are second place in the conference, after sweeping the top team in the conference at home last weekend in Georgia State and have won their last four SBC games and six of the last seven conference games.
USA (29-17, 14-7 SBC) is in third place in the conference and looking to move up the standings. They are coming off of a loss in a 17 inning game against Southern Miss on Wednesday.
The series will begin this afternoon at 5pm, Saturday’s game will begin at 1pm and the series finale is scheduled for noon on Sunday. All times are Central time. Additionally all three games will be streamed live on ESPN3 as well as being broadcast on WNTM 710 AM in Mobile and on the iHeartRadio app.
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Pitcher of the Week Kevin Hill will start the series opener. He pitched a one-hit shutout complete game in last weeks series opener. Georgia Southern will counter with lefty Evan Challenger (5-0) who has a 1.06 ERA with 50 strikeouts, 14 walks in 59 1/3 innings pitched.
USA will also start righty Austin Bembnowski (2-3) in game two and lefty Jared Gates (4-2) on Sunday.
Kelley Selected As Member Of National Football Foundation Hampshire Society
Kelley had a career best 56 tackles and five sacks in 2014 to lead the defense. Along with his 3.42 GPA entering the spring semester, Kelley was selected as a 2015 member of the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society. | Photo credit: usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Jesse Kelley was selected as a member of the 2015 National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society on Wednesday. A total of 817 student-athletes from 278 schools qualified for membership in the society in its ninth year of existence, which sets a new record for the number of schools represented in the history of the program since it began in 2007.
In order to qualify for membership, one must be a starter or significant contributor in one’s last year of eligibility (or a senior who has declared for the NFL Draft) at an NCAA FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III or NAIA college or university; achieve a 3.2 cumulative GPA throughout their entire course of undergraduate study; and meeting all NCAA/NAIA-mandated progress towards their degree requirements.
Kelley will earn his degree from USA in less than two weeks as a meteorology major with a minor in geology with a 3.42 GPA entering his final semester. Earlier this week he was presented with the “Jim Yance Heart of a Jaguar Award” at the Pete Tolbert Night of Champions. The senior was a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District selection in the fall as a defensive lineman and has been a member of the Sun Belt Conference Commissioners List each of the last two years.
Kelley helped the Jaguars earn a berth in the program’s first-ever postseason bowl game against Bowling Green in the inaugural Raycom Media Camellia Bowl in December. He earned honorable mention All-Conference accolades in 2014 after leading the defense with a career-best 56 total stops and five sacks. He equaled his previous high with 6.5 tackles for loss and also broke up two passes. In 42 games over five seasons he earned three letters while recording 116 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.