Jaguar Baseball Swept By #3 Ranked Louisiana-Lafayette
Then #3 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns swept USA over the weekend to further improve their season record to 46-7 overall and 23-4 in conference play.
Friday night’s game was postponed due to rain which made for a double-header on Saturday.
In the first game, the Jags fell 5-2 as Cajun’ right-hander Austin Robichaux allowed only two unearned runs on two hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in seven innings.
In game two of the double-header on Saturday, ULL loaded the bases against USA’s Kevin Hill on a pair of singles and a walk before Greg Davis delivered a grand-slam home run to put the Cajuns up 4-0 early.
An RBI double in the fourth inning put the Cajuns up 5-0 then a two-run home run put the Cajuns firmly ahead 7-0 in the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Jags were down 7-0 when Drew LaBounty drew a walk, followed by a single by Andrew Tindell which was followed by another walk to DeGallier. Cummings then delivered with an RBI single to right-center to score the first run of the game. Cole Gleason then delivered a two-run single to score Tindell and DeGallier to cut the lead to 7-3.
Wojciechowski hit a single to score Cummings. Hawthorne walked to load the bases and put the tying run on base. Jones grounded out to shortstop for the first out of the inning but it scored Gleason to cut the lead to 7-5. Davis Knapp then hit a sacrifice fly to center which scored Wojciechowski and cut the lead to just one run. LaBounty hit a two-out RBI single to center which tied the game at 7-7 but the Jags could not muster any more damage the rest of the game.
In the top of the ninth, after a single and a stolen base, Greg Davis delivered a two-out RBI single to right field for the eventual game winning run.
The Cajuns completed the sweep on Sunday with a 13-3 win. Hunter Soleymani took the loss in 2 2/3 innings after allowing six runs on eight hits with one strikeout.
The Jags go on the road for their final series of the regular season when they play Troy on Thursday through Saturday, each game scheduled for 6pm in Troy.
With three games left, Lafayette is secure in the #1 seed with a 23-4 record. Arkansas State currently holds onto second with a 17-10 record, followed by Texas State at 3rd with a 16-11 record, followed by UT-Arlington in fourth with a 15-11 record, currently fifth is Western Kentucky with a 13-13 record, followed a three way tie for sixth between Georgia State, South Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe all at 10-6. Troy is just outside of the top-eight in ninth place with a 9-17 record and UALR is right behind them in 10th with a 9-18 record.
The top eight schools will play in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to be held at Eddie Stanky Field on May 21 through May 25.
Jaguar Softball To Play In Tuscaloosa Regional This Weekend
The South Alabama Jaguar Softball team, fresh back after their loss in the SBC Championship game, found out the next step in their postseason plans on Sunday. They will be playing in the Tuscaloosa Regional this weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
This is the third consecutive season the Jaguars will participate in the National tournament and the second in three years they will be playing in Tuscaloosa. In 2012 the Jags advanced to the finals of the regional stage before falling to Alabama, who eventually won the Women’s College World Series title.
South Alabama (40-12) will open on Friday against USC Upstate (45-7) at 3:30pm Central. This will be the first meeting between the two schools. USC Upstate has been ranked in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls for the last five weeks and for a total of six weeks this season. They broke their previous Division I school record of 42 wins this season.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
The #2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide won its fourth SEC regular-season title in the last five years and has been the #2 seed in three of the last four years. The Jags are 0-9 all-time against the Tide and 0-6 in Tuscaloosa with their most recent loss being a 3-0 loss on April 2. In 2012 for the Tuscaloosa Regional, the Jags bookended a 5-2 loss to the tide with 4-3 and 10-1 wins over Georgia Tech to earn a spot in the championship game against the Tide again, but lost 6-0.
The Jags are 0-1 all time against SIU-Edwardsville after falling to them 2-1 last season in the Bulldog Classic in Starkville, Mississippi. The Jags then reeled off a 12-game winning streak afterwards. SIUE are 30-21 on the season and earned an automatic berth after defeating Murray State 12-1 in six innings to claim the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title.
South Alabama’s head coach Becky Clark spoke about her team’s placement in the 2014 Regionals, “Everyone always asks, ‘Where do you want to go, and who do you hope you’ll get?’ I don’t get caught up in all that. [The selection committee] tells you where to go, and you go there and compete. We’re very grateful to be in the postseason, and we look forward to getting back on the field and competing.”
She continued, “We play [Alabama] during the regular season every year, because we know there’s a chance we’ll see them in a regional tournament. It helps from the standpoint that we’ve already played them on their field this year, and that’s why we make the trek up there for a midweek. They always have a great crowd and atmosphere. We know it’ll be the same this year. The crowd this past weekend at ULL [for the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Tournament] was loud and passionate, and we know we’ll get the same thing in Tuscaloosa. We’re looking forward to it.”
The Oregon Ducks earned the #1 seed overall in the 64-team tournament. Alabama will play SIUE in the first round of the Tuscaloosa Regional taking place this weekend, May 17-19.
Auburn will play in the Minneapolis Regional facing North Dakota State and in the same regional as #16 seed Minnesota and Green Bay. The #8 seed Florida State Seminoles will host the Tallahassee Regional with Fordam, South Caroline and South Florida attending.
SBC Tournament winner Louisiana-Lafayette will host the Lafayette Regional on May 16-18. The #6 seed Ragin’ Cajuns will open against Texas Southern while Texas will play Mississippi State in the first round.
For a full rundown of the entire 64-team field and regional locations, visit the NCAA Website here.
Jags Fall In SBC Championship Game 4-1
The #12 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns ended the #22 ranked South Alabama Jaguars chance at a three-peat at Sun Belt Conference Tournament Champions on Saturday with a 4-1 win.
The Jags and the Cajuns both scored runs in the first inning before Farish Beard retired 11 straight ULL batters. But then in the sixth inning after back-to-back singles, Shelbi Redfearn lifted Beard’s pitch over the left field wall for a three-run homer.
The Cajuns rebounded after falling to the Jags in eight innings the day before on a two-run homer by Blair Johnson. They then defeated ULM to earn the right to face the Jags again in the winner-take-all Championship game.
Three Jaguars were named to the 2014 SBC Softball All-Tournament team. Senior Hannah Campbell, Sophomore Emily Messer and Freshman Amanda Minahan. Two from UL-Monroe Samantha Hamby and Miyuki Navarrette, Olivia Watkins from Western Kentucky and four from UL-Lafayette in CHristina Hamilton, Shelbi Redfearn, Samantha Walsh and Most Outstanding Player Lexie Elkins.
Ragin’ Cajuns Eliminates ULM; Advances To SBC Championship Game
The top seed in the SBC Tournament won the elimination game between themselves and #6 seed UL-Monroe 14-6 in game 9 of the 2014 Sun Belt Conference tournament and to advance to the SBC Championship game.
ULL will face #2 seeded South Alabama again who snapped the 13-game winning of the Cajuns earlier in the day by a score of 4-2.
The Cajuns (43-8-1) are now tied with the Jaguars 2-2 in the season series after they won the regular-season series 2-1.
After taking a two-run lead in the second inning, the Warhawks responded with a five-run second inning with two RBI singles followed by a three-run homer. But in the top of the third the Cajuns would respond back with their first of what will be 12 unanswered runs.
The Warhawks would only manage one run in the bottom of the seventh inning but not could not manage any more as they were eliminated from the tournament.
This set ups another meeting between the top two teams in the Sun Belt on Saturday at 3pm. The game will be televised on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app.
Jags Defeat Top Seeded UL-Lafayette In Extra Innings; Advances To SBC Championship Game
Blair Johnson’s two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning gave the Jaguars the winning margin over top seeded UL-Lafayette to advance to the championship game as they attempt to win their third-consecutive SBC Tournament Title. | photo by: sunbeltsports.org
A pair of two-run home runs by Amanda Minahan and Blair Johnson pushed #2 seeded and #22 ranked South Alabama Jaguars past #1 seeded and #12 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette 4-2 to advance to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship game.
Hannah Campbell tossed a complete game as she struck out three with one walk and allowing two runs, only one earned, on 12 hits to improve to 17-5 on the season while lowering her ERA to 0.93.
South Alabama (40-11) is on the cusp of earning their third-consecutive SBC Tournament title after they snapped ULL’s 13-game winning streak while holding the Cajuns to their lowest run total in 39 games.
Lafayette was the first on the board in the bottom of the second inning when Shelbi Redfearn scored on a one-out, bases loaded passed ball after back-to-back singles and a walk. But Campbell prevented any further scores by forcing consecutive pop-ups.
Over the next five innings the Cajuns would strand five runners to the Jaguars two. The Jaguars would threaten to tie in the sixth inning after Emily Messer singled, then advanced to second on a Kaitlyn Griffith sacrifice, then advanced to third on Stephanie Pilkington’s groundout to second base. This brought up Blair Johnson with two-outs but a fly out down the right field line would end the inning.
USA was finally able to break their shutout when Amanda Minahan lifted a one-out pitch over the left-center wall for a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning to take a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning the Cajuns were threatining with three-consecutive no-out singles with the last tying the game at 2-2. A fourth single loaded the bases before Campbell forced two popups and a foul out to survive and force extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, the same scenerio occured that happened in the sixth inning. Messer singled, moved to second on a Griffith sacrifice, advanced to third on a Pilkington groundout to bring up Johnson. But this time the junior smashed a two-out pitch over the right-center wall for a two-run homer to take a 4-2 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, Campbell fielded a grounder and threw out the runner at first base to end the game.
Christina Hamilton fell to 23-3 on the season after giving up four runs, all earned, on six hits.
Minahan and Messer accounted for four of the Jaguars six hits as they led the Jaguars at the plate by both going 2-for-3 and combining for two runs and two RBI. Johnson went 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI, the winning margin in extra innings. Chloe Rathburn was 1-for-4 with Gwen Jones pinch-running for her which eventually scoring the Jaguars first run on Minahan’s home run.
They advance to the championship game to face Lafayette again after they eliminated #6 UL-Monroe in game 9.
Walk-Off Grand Slam Advances #1 UL-Lafayette Past #4 WKU In SBC Tournament
The top seeded Ragin’ Cajuns went to the bottom of the seventh inning trailing #4 seed Western Kentucky 3-1 when sophomore Shellie Landry hit a walk-off grand slam to give ULL the win 5-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Cajuns loaded the bases on back-to-back singles from sophomores Haley Hayden and Lexie Elkins then a walk from Sophomore Samantha Walsh loaded the bases for Landry.
Landry fell behind 0-2 in the count, then took a pair of pitches to event the count a 2-2. She then hit the next pitch over the left-center wall to advance to face the #2 seeded South Alabama Jaguars for a spot in the Championship game.
Senior hilltopper Emily Rousseau (18-17) gave up six hits and five earned runs with six walks in the game. She also struck out three after pitching the entire game. Lafayette’s Christina Hamilton (23-1) also pitched a complete game and allowed six hits, one earned run while walking one and striking out three.
The two teams in the losers bracket, #4 WKU and #6 UL-Monroe, will face on at 11:00AM on Friday in an elimination game. The winner will advance to face the loser of game 8 between the #1 ULL and #2 USA in another elimination game at 5:00pm on Friday. Both games will be on ESPN3 and the Sun Belt Network.
Saturday at 3:00pm is the Championship game that will also be televised by the Sun Belt Network and ESPN3.
Jaguar Softball Advances To Face Top Seed ULL In SBC Tournament
Junior Farish Beard (21-5) struck out 13 against Louisiana-Monroe in the third round of the SBC Tournament, two shy if tying her career-high of 15 in a game. | Photo usajaguars.com
Farish Beard led the #22 ranked Jaguars past Louisiana-Monroe in their first game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with an 8-1 win over the Warhawks.
Beard struck out 13 in the game, finishing the game just two strikeouts shy of her career-high. She only allowed two hits on the game, a bunt single and an RBI chopper up the middle while only walking one batter as her record improves to 21-5 with 202 strikeouts on the season.
Emily Messer went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of RBI and runs scored. Kaitlyn Griffith went 2-for-2 with two RBI, a run scored and was hit by a pitch. Amanda Minahan also went 2-for-2 with a run scored and a sacrifice bunt.
Amanda Herron, Alyssa Linn, Gwen Jones and Taylor Rodgers all scored runs as well.
The team scored all of their runs in the second and third innings beginning with a five run second inning. Messer hit her first RBI when she singled to score Jones from third. Then back-to-back Warhawk errors let the Jags score four more runs to take a 5-0 lead. The first error was on Stephanie Pilkington’s fly out to left field. The second was a wide throw to first which allowed Blair Johnson to reach base and scoring Griffith and Messer.
In the top of the third inning ULM would scratch their only run across on back-to-back two-out singles with the second pushing the former across.
Then in the bottom of the third the Jags picked right back up where they left off the bottom of the second. Linn and Minahan both singled then Rodgers sacrifice bunt put them both in scoring position. Messer then hit her second RBI single of the day plated Linn. Then Griffith’s two-RBI double up the middle would score Minahan and Messer to make up the Jags 8-1 victory score.
Beard would then retire 12 of the Warhawks final 13 batters as they prepare to face top seeded UL-Lafayette in Game 8 on Friday at 2:00pm on ESPN3 to advance to the champion game on Saturday.
Thrilling Endings And Upsets Mark Day One Of SBC Softball Tournament
The first day of the Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship was full of excitement and upsets.
In game one, #6 seed UL-Monroe rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning from a 2-1 deficit. After loading the bases, a sacrifice fly tied the game at 2-2 then a wild pitch allowed the winning run to score as the Warhawks advanced by a score of 3-2.
In game two, #8 seed UT-Arlington earned its first SBC Softball Championship victory with an upset win over #5 seeded Texas State by a score of 5-1. Texas State scored first, but UT-Arlington reponded right away to tie the game. Then it was all Mavericks the rest of the way.
Game three pitted #6 UL-Monroe against #3 Georgia State with the Warhawks using their earlier game to help propel them to an upset of the Panthers in extra innings.
Just hours after their thrilling walkoff win over Troy, they took the Panthers into extra innings. In the top of the ninth inning the leadoff hitter was walked then a sacrifice bunt moved her to second base. Then freshman Hollie Letorneau hit a game-winning RBI single up the middle to score the winning run.
GSU left 12 runners on base in the game.
Game four had first round winner #8 seed UT-Arlington facing off against #4 seed Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers senior pitcher Emily Rousseau only allowed two hits as the ‘toppers knocked off the Mavericks 6-1 to advance to day two of the SBC Tournament.
Rousseau tossed all seven innings with only two hits in 28 batters faced. She only gave up one unearned run in the sixth inning after a single made it through the right side of the infield.
Day two of the tournament begins the double-elimination format. Game five will take place a 2:00pm with #2 seeded South Alabama facing the #6 seed UL-Monroe. The winner advances to take on the winner of game 6 that gets underway at 5:00pm between #1 seeded UL-Lafayette and #4 seed Western Kentucky.
The loser of games five and six will move to the losers bracket to face each other in an elimination game at 11am on Friday morning. The winners of game five and six will advance to face each other at 2:00pm on Friday in an ESPN3 televised game for the right to advance into the SBC Championship game.
Five Jaguars Named To All-Sun Belt Team; Softball Program Earns Academic Award
The University of South Alabama’s Softball team had five student-athletes named to the All-Sun Belt Conference team on Tuesday at its Family Night gathering at Lamson Park in Lafayette, Louisiana prior to the beginning of the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Tournament that gets underway on Wednesday.
Four Jaguars were named to the First-Team with one being named to the Second-Team. All of the postseason awards are voted on by the conference’s eight head coaches.
Farish Beard, Hannah Campbell, Stephanie Pilkington and Chloe Rathburn were all named as First-Team honorees. Blair Johnson was named as a Second-Team honoree.
Beard was an at-large selection to the first team after compiling a 20-5 record on the regular season with a 1.04 ERA. She was also named one of the top-25 finalist for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award earlier this season. During a three week stretch she led the nation in ERA and for two weeks she led the nation in hits allowed per seven innings. She was a three-time SBC Player of the Week this season and finished the year leading the Sun Belt in opposing batting average, hits allowed, runs allowed and raking second in ERA, strikeouts and walks allowed.
Campbell was named the first-team honoree at the pitcher position after a 16-5 season with a 0.94 ERA and also joining Beard as a top-25 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. She also became the first student-athlete in USA softball history to be drafted in the National Pro Fastpitch draft. She ranks fourth in the NCAA in ERA and walks allowed per seven innings and leads the Sun Belt in ERA, saves, walks allowed and home runs allowed.
Pilkington was named as a first-team outfielder after she finished the season as the team leader in batting average, hits, sacrifice hits and triples. She also ranked second on the team in RBI. She was named the SBC Player of the Week on March 31. She also led the team in multi-hit games and multi-RBI games.
Rathburn earned first-team honors at the designated player position after she led the team in RBI, slugging percentage, total bases and sacrifice flies. She also ranked second on the team in home runs. She is currently in the midst of a 16 game hitting streak. The freshman went 1-for-2 in her collegiate debut with three RBI and a home run.
Johnson earned Second-Team honors at outfielder after leading the team with a .354 batting average in Sun Belt play. She is second on the team in hits, sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies. As a junior she had 11 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games while being honored as the SBC Player of the Week on February 24 after a stellar performance in the Citrus Classic in Orlando, Florida where she had a perfect 4-for-4 game with four RBI against Lehigh to set single-game records for both stats.
Additionally the Jaguars were the recipient of the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Team Academic Award after compiling a 3.36 GPA last season. The award is granted to the team for its overall achievement in the classroom during the previous academic year. The formula is: quality points = grade X credit hours/# of individuals.
The #2 seeded Jaguars will begin their attempt to win the SBC Tournament for the third consecutive season on Thursday. The tournament gets underway today with four games in a single-elimination format before becoming a double-elimination tournament on Thursday. In the final regular-season poll the Jaguars slipped to #22/23 in the two major polls.
All of the games throughout the tournament will be broadcast live on the Sun Belt Digital Network. Games eight and nine along with the championship at 3pm on Saturday will be broadcast on ESPN3.com and will be available through the WatchESPN app.
Men’s Golf Earn Berth In NCAA Regional For Second Consecutive Season
Photo: Mike Kittrell al.com
The South Alabama Men’s Golf Team learned on Monday that they have earned a berth in the NCAA Regional Tournament for the second-consecutive season after earning an at-large bid.
The Jags will be seeded #9 among 13 other schools in the field of the NCAA Raleigh Regional. This is one of six regionals taking place nationally starting on Thursday, May 15. The top eight teams in the regional are among the top 50 nationally in the most recent Golfstat ratings.
The tournament will be held at Lonnie Poole Golf Course and will include, in order of seeding: 1. Georgia Tech, 2. Washington, 3. Florida State, 4. Texas A&M, 5. Mercer, 6. Kentucky, 7. Texas Tech, 8. Wake Forest, 9. South Alabama, 10. Memphis, 11. Minnesota, 12. Rice, 13. Bethune-Cookman.
There will also be 10 extra individuals competing: J.T. Poston (West Carolina), Evan Russell (Hartford), Franco Castro (UNC-Charlotte), Brandon Matthews (Temple), Richard Fountain (Davidson), Eric Brady (East Carolina), Andrew Dorn (Coastal Carolina), Ben Wheeler (Coastal Carolina), Sean Bosdosh (Maryland) and Zach Seabolt (Winthrop).
The top five schools and the individuals that finish highest not on those teams, will move on to compete in the NCAA Championships on May 23-28 at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas.
This season USA placed in the top three at six of their 12 tournament this season and finished at or below par as a team on three occasions.
This is South Alabama’s eighth all-time NCAA Regional appearance and the first time since 1994 and ’95 that they have qualified for it in consecutive seasons.