2014 SBC Softball Championship Tournament Bracket
The 2014 SBC Tournament Bracket. | Image: sunbeltsports.org
The bracket is set for the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Championship Softball Tournament and South Alabama will attempt to win their third-consecutive tournament title.
The first day will be single-elimination then starting with the second day, it will be a double-elimination tournament.
Louisiana-Lafayette claimed the #1 seed while the Jaguars claimed the #2 seed. Both teams will have byes in the first and second rounds and will get underway in the third round.
The #3 seed goes to Georgia State and #4 seed is Western Kentucky. Both of those teams will have a bye in the first round and will begin play in the second round.
Seeded #5 is Texas State who will face #8 seeded UT-Arlington on Wednesday at 12:30pm in game two of the tournament.
Seeded #6 is UL-Monroe who will face off against #7 seeded Troy. They play in game one of the tournament scheduled for 10:00am on Wednesday.
Game 3 will have Georgia State facing off against the winnger of Game one at 3:00pm on Wednesday and game 4 will have WKU face the winner of Game 2 at 5:30pm on Wednesday.
Game 5 on Thursday at 2:00pm will have the Jaguars facing off against the winner of game 3 while UL-Lafayette will play in game 6 against the winner of game 4 on Thursday evening at 5:00pm.
Game 7 will begin the losers bracket with the loser of game 5 squaring off against the loser of game 6 in an elimination game on Friday at 11:00am.
Game 8 will pit the winner of game 5 against the winner of game 6.
Game 9 elimination game will pit the winner of the game 7 elimination game against the loser from game 8 at 5:00pm on Friday.
Championship Saturday will get underway at 3:00pm with the two final teams in the first of potentially two games to determine the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Rewind
Baseball
South Alabama lost the weekend series against Georgia State two games to one to drop their overall record to 21-26 and their conference record to 10-13.
USA’s Locke St. John threw his first career complete game to lead the Jaguars over the Panthers of Georgia State by a score of 8-1 in the first game of a three game series Friday evening.
St. John (6-1) allowed only one run on four hits while striking out six and only walking one for his sixth win of the season. St. John also retired the final 11 batters in the game and did not allow a hit over the final 17 batters of the game.
His complete game was the first by a Jaguars since Jarron Cito against Florida International over two years ago on April 29, 2012.
In game two the Panthers scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning en route to defeating the Jaguars 7-4.
On Sunday the Jaguars lost the rubber match in a 15-10 game.
Georgia State had 16 hits in the game and was led by Chase Rattfield who went 3-for-6 with a home run, six RBI and three runs scored.
Eight Jaguars recorded at least one hit with six of them collecting multiple hits. Andrew Tindell led the Jags with career highs in hits and RBI going 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Cole Gleason went 2-for-6 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Davis Knapp went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
USA’s Brandon Hallford (3-2) took the loss by allowing six runs on six hits with two strikeouts and and three walks in 2 2/3 innings of relief.
GSU improved to 23-25 overall and 9-15 in conference play.
USA will travel to Louisiana-Lafayette to open a three game series against the #3 ranked Ragin’ Cajuns.
The Jags continue to hold onto sixth place in the SBC standings and are two-and-a-half games back for a tie against Western Kentucky and UT Arlington for fourth place with six conference games left in the regular season before the Sun Belt Conference Tournament takes place at Eddie Stanky Field.
NOTE: Errors were corrected from the original post. In the original version it was reported that USA won the game on Sunday and won the series when they actually lost the game and the series on Sunday. I want to thank twitter user @TinkWMobile for pointing that out to us for us to correct. We strive to accurately report all news and when we are wrong we try to let our readers know about it.
Softball
The 21st ranked Jaguars concluded the regular season on Saturday with a double-header against Troy at Jaguar Field. The Jags split the double header but won the series since they won their earlier match up against the Trojans. They enter the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with the second overall seed.
In the first game on Saturday USA could only manage two hits while the Trojans were able to muster five hits. The Trojans were able to slip a run across the plate in the top of the fifth inning on a fielding error when first baseman Amanda Herron dropped a two-out groundout attempt. That allowed Bria Epps, pinch running for starting pitcher Ashley Rainey, to score from third.
Julie Moss, who has not seen action since breaking her arm against UAB on February 19, pinch hit for Taylor Rodgers in the bottom of the sixth and ended Rainey’s no-hitter with a single to shallow center field. Rainey then retired three consecutive Jaguars to strand Moss on base.
USA loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh after Chloe Rathburn singled, Alex Breeden walked and Amanda Minahan reached on a fielding error. However Herron popped out and Rodgers hit into a fielders choice that forced Breeden out at third.
Hannah Campbell took the loss to fall to 16-5 on the season. She allowed five hits and one unearned run with nine strikeouts and no walks.
In game two the Jags jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first three innings after Breeden hit a two-out RBI single to score Blair Johnson, who reached on a fielders choice. Johnson doubled in the bottom of the third inning to score Pilkington after she drew a leadoff walk.
The Trojans answered with two solo home runs from Erica Davis and Meg Willis in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game a 2-all.
The Jags led off the bottom of the third inning with three consecutive singles by Lin, Rodgers and Messer with Messer’s scoring Linn from second base.
Troy would very nearly tie the game in the top of the fifth after Kacie McAllister reached on a two-out single, would be brought home by Amanda Winters’ double to right field, however a perfectly placed set of throws from Minahan from right field to the relay from Rodgers to Breeden at home plate would tag McAllister out at home plate.
Farish Beard would then retire six of the final seven Trojans to step up to the plate as she allowed two earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. The Jags did commit an error in the game, but it did not result in a run.
The Jags finish the season with an overall record of 38-11 and 15-6 in Sun Belt Play. The Jags will next travel to Lafayette for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament beginning on Wednesday. We will have the tournament bracket up this evening.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Preview
Softball
The 21st ranked Jaguar Softball team will conclude their season with a double-header on Saturday starting at 1pm at Jaguar Field.
The Jags will host Troy on Senior Day with Julie Moss and Hannah Campbell both being honored as the lone seniors on the team this season.
The Jags have locked up the 2nd seed in the Sun Belt Conference championships that get underway on May 7 in Lafayette, Louisiana. ULL locked up the top seed for the Championship as well as they are set to host the Tournament.
Come out and show your support to the seniors and the rest of the team as they finish the season strong heading into postseason play!
Baseball
The Jaguar baseball team will be in Atlanta for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Georgia State.
They will get started at 5pm Central tonight with left-hander Locke St. John (5-1) taking the mound for the Jaguars to face off against fellow lefty Kenny Anderson (4-3).
Game two on Saturday will start at 1pm with right-hander Kevin Hill (3-5) taking the mound against fellow righty Nathan Bates (1-2).
The finale on Sunday will start at noon with Hunter Soleymani (0-2) going against Aidan McLaughlin (1-1).
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Three Jaguar Men’s Golfers Earn All-SBC Honors
Photo: Mike Kittrell al.com
Three Jaguar Men’s Golfers were earned Sun Belt Conference recognition for their season on Thursday.
Junior Michael Garretson was named the Sun Belt Conference Men’s Golfer of the Year. In addition, fellow junior Tyler Klava was named to the first-team All-Sun Belt team while senior Lane Hulse was named to the second-team All-Sun Belt Team.
This is the 24th consecutive year that USA has been represented by at least one All-Conference student-athlete.
Garretson from Acworth, Georgia led the Jags with nine top-20 finishes in 12 events this season. Seven of those were top-10 finishes. He also had a 72.61 stroke average that ranked second in the conference. In September, he was the SBC Golfer of the Month after tying for third in the Sam Hall Intercollegiate and tying for second one week later at the Columbia Regional Preview. Garretson was ninth at The Invitational at The Ocean Course and tied for ninth at the Samford Intercollegiate while helping the Jags finish second and first respectively at those events. His 6-under-par 65 and 8-under-par 205 at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate were the lowest 18 and 54-hole scores posted by a Jaguar this season.
This is the second consecutive season that Garretson was named to the first-team All-Conference team.
Klava from Pace, Florida also had a 72.61 scoring average and led the league by 0.005 of a point after recording top-10 finishes in each of the Jaguars’ last three events. He tied for second in the Sun Belt Championship with a 5-under-par 211 total for three rounds which was highlighted by a season-low 4-under 68 on the opening day of the tournament. He finished second on the team with five top-10 finishes and seven top-20 finishes with 16 rounds of par or better.
He is the third member of the program to earn All-SBC honors on at least three occasions under head coach Ben Hannan and joined Jonny Caldwell and Jack Hiluta in that honor.
Hulse from Fordyce, Arkansas posted a career low 73.75 stroke average which was third on the team and 14th in the conference. He posted three top-10 finishes, all this spring, and was in the top-20 on five occasions in his final season for the Jaguars. He led the Jags in its win at Samford while tying for second in the individual standings while his other top-10 results helped the Jags finish second at both the Memphis Intercollegiate and the SBC Championship.
He shot a low round of 2-under 69 at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate and a career-best 3-under 213 three-round total at the AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic in October.
Their efforts on the course have helped the Jaguars to finish in the top-three six times this season and to finish the season ranked 54th according to the most recent GolfStat rating.
Monday morning they will find out if they have received an invitation to play in the NCAA Regional.
Softball Drops One Spot Going Into Final Weekend Of Regular Season And Senior Day
USA’s Softball team fell one spot in both of the Top-25 polls this week as they head into their final two games of the regular season this weekend.
They are now ranked 21st in both the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll and also the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll. In both polls, Auburn moved ahead of the Jaguars to claim the 20th spot.
The top spot in the state continues to be the University of Alabama at #5/#6 in the ESPN.com and USA Today polls respectively with a 42-9 record.
USA will wrap up the regular season on Saturday in a double-header at Jaguar Field against the Trojans of Troy with the games slated to begin at 1pm and 3pm.
It is also Senior Day on Saturday, so come out to Jaguar Field, wear red and show Julie Moss and Hannah Campbell how much we appreciate how much they have done for the softball program and the heights that they have help push it to.
With their sweep of Western Kentucky last weekend the Jags are locked in at the #2 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Championships.
Jaguar Baseball Comes From Behind To Defeat Alabama State 12-11
South Alabama faced a four-run deficit going into the eighth inning but a Matt Wojciechowski grand-slam home run pushed the Jags ahead where they would hold on to win 12-11 over Alabama State.
ASU scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 9-5 lead on the Jags. But in the top of the eighth, the Jags got underway when Garrett DeGallier ledoff the inning with a single to right field. Then Drew LaBounty drew a walk, followed by a single to left field by Andrew Tindell would load the bases for Davis Knapp. Hornet catcher Richard Gonzalez attempted to pick off Tindell at first but his throw would float into right field over the first baseman’s head alloweing DeGallier and LaBounty to both score and cut the lead to 9-7.
Knapp would walk to put runners at the corners with no outs in the inning. Cameron Cummings would draw a walk to load the bases. Then Wojciechowski would smash the first pitch over the right field wall for his first grand slam and his first homer as a Jaguar to give USA an 11-9 lead.
With runners on the corners, DeGallier would single to right field to drive in the Jags final run of the game, the seventh run of the inning which is their largest total in a single inning this season.
ASU would score two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but the Jags would hold on and win by one run.
USA improved to 20-24 on the season while ASU fell to 33-17.
Right hander Dillon Buhrkuhl (1-0) earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of relief allowing two unearned runs on one hit with a strikeout and a walk. Brandon Hallford allowed one hit with one strikeout in 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for his seventh save of the season.
The hero of the game, Wojciechowski, went 2-for-5 with a grand-slam homer, four RBI and two runs scored. Hindmon had a career-high three hits as did DeGallier who tied his career high.
South Alabama will travel to Atlanta to face Georgia State in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series this weekend. The first game is scheduled for 5pm Central Time on Friday and can be heard on 105.5 FM WNSP and WNSP.com online.
Jaguar Baseball Face ASU In Final Nonconference Game Of Season
The Jaguar baseball team will play their final non-conference game of the season when they travel to Montgomery this evening to face Alabama State.
First pitch is set for 6pm at Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex and the game will be broadcast on WNSP.com and 105.5 FM WNSP.
USA has won two of it’s last three games to improve their overall record to 19-24 though the Jags are 9-12 in road games this season including a three-game road losing streak.
USA will send righty Matt Sharp (0-0) to the mound in his first career start. He has allowed three runs on one hit with a strikeout and two walks in one inning of work in his only career appearance against Nicholls State on April 9.
ASU enters the game with a 33-16 record overall and coming off back-to-back wins last weekend against Jackson State. They have also won five of their last six games and are 18-7 at home this season.
USA holds a 10-1 record all-time against ASU dating back to 1987. Their only win came earlier in the season when the Hornets shutout the Jags 5-0 at Eddie Stanky Field.
Chloe Rathburn Named SBC Player of the Week
Chloe Rathburn, a freshman from Mission Viejo, California, leads the team with 30 RBI and slugging percentage at .511. | photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama freshman Chloe Rathburn was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Monday for her performance over the last week.
She began by driving in the Jaguar’s only run against LSU in Baton Rouge on Wednesday then continued with five RBI and scoring three runs as she went 5-for-11 for a .455 batting average to help lead the Jaguars to a series sweep against the Hilltoppers.
Rathburn makes the sixth time a Jaguar has been honored this season in 11 voting periods. Her two-RBI double in the seventh inning propelled the Jaguars for the win in game one. She also hit a two-run homer in game two that would be the difference in game two as the Jaguars picked up a 6-4 win.
On Sunday, she drove in two runs in the third inning and later scored as she and the Jaguars finished the sweep with a 9-5 win.
She improved her team-leading RBI total to 30 and also raised her team-leading slugging percentage to .511.
The Jags will host Troy this weekend for a two game series to wrap up the regular season and head into the Sun Belt Conference Tournament as the second seed.
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Rewind
Baseball
The Jaguar baseball team took two out of three games over the weekend to win the series against Louisiana-Monroe and to improve their record to 19-24 overall and 8-13 in conference play.
In the first game on Friday evening, the Jags used a four-run fourth inning to propel themselves past ULM by a 7-4 score. ULM took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning after a sacrifice fly scored the first run, then a two-out two-run homer supplied the other two runs.
In the bottom of the second inning the Jags plated their first run on a two-out double to right field by Garrett DeGallier which scored Hayden Jones from second base, he had reached base on a walk earlier in the inning.
The Jags tied the score in the bottom of the third inning after Davis Knapp hit a one-out single to left field. Then one batter later, Cole Gleason hit his first career home run over the left-center field wall.
Then the Jags took control with the four-run fourth inning that put the Jags up 7-3.
ULM’s only other run came in the top of the fifth inning with a solo home run over the left-center wall.
Locke St. John picked up the win to improve his record to 5-1. He allowed four runs on four hits with two strikeouts and an walk in 6 2/3 innings. Ben Taylor struck out four with one walk in 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for this first career save.
The Jags clinched the series on Saturday with a 6-5 win at Eddie Stanky Field.
USA jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Davis Knapp lead off the inning with a single to left field. Cameron Cummings’ sacrifice bunt attempt was fielding by the pitcher but he threw it to center field trying to get the force out at second, which allowed Knapp to advance to third and Cummings to second. Cole Gleason then hit his second home run in as many games.
In the top of the fourth ULM scored their first run of the game after an error let the runner reach base. Then a two-out RBI double to left-center scored the lone run of the inning.
USA answered in the bottom of the fourth inning when Knapp reached on a one-out double to the left-center gap. Cummings advanced him to third on a groundout to second base then Gleason drove him in on an RBI single to left field.
The Jags led 6-4 in the top of the seventh as the Warhawks leadoff hitter reached base on a walk. Later he would score on an RBI single to left field to cut the Jaguar lead to one run. The Warhawks would load the bases later in the inning with a walk and a hit batter, but James Traylor would pitch his way out of the jam with a inning-ending flyout to right field that was caught near the warning track.
Kevin Hill picked up the win (3-5) in 5 1/3 inning of work with three earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts and three walks. James Traylor pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts for his third save of the season.
USA then tried for the weekend sweep. With the Jags down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, Knapp led off the inning with a double to left field. He then moved to third on a single to center field by Cummings. Matt Wojciechowski then walked to load the bases with no outs. Haydent Jones then delivered a bases-loaded two-run single through the left side of the infield to get within one run of the Warhawks.
Connor Hawthorne would draw a walk to load the bases again then DeGallier then hit a fly to left field which scored JOnes to tie the game at 7 heading into extra innings.
ULM would break the tie in the top of the 11th after a two-out fielding error by shortshot Drew LaBounty allowed the runner to score. The Jags was unable to even the score in the bottom half of the inning.
Softball
The 20th ranked Jaguar softball team swept the weekend series against Western Kentucky to improve their record to 37-10 overall and 14-5 in conference play and clinched the #2 seed in the 2014 SBC Tournament which is quickly approaching.
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Jaguar Student-Athletes Honored At 5th Annual Pete Tolbert Night Of Champions
Several student-athletes were honored during the Fifth Annual Pete Tolbert Night of Champions, the athletic department’s event to honor the achievements of nearly 400 individuals on Thursday evening.
Junior pitcher Farish Beard of Fairhope, Alabama and senior quarterback Ross Metheny of Stephens City, Virginia were name the female and male Student-Athletes of the Year. This honors the most outstanding individuals based on scholarship, athletic ability and citizenship.
Along with Beard, Hannah Campbell and Kaitlyn Griffith were also honored from the softball team. Metheny was joined by teammates Trey Fetner, Bryson James and Alex Page from the football team. Noelle Jones, Garrett Schumacher and Derek Westbrook were honored from the Track and Field teams.
Several others were honored including just to name a few: Caroline Beebe, Mechell Daniel, Nini Rabsatt-Smith, Sharmyn Wall, Matt Bolger, Brandon Bridge, Robby Campbell, Michelena D’Alonzo and Kristin Parry.
Beard has recorded better than a 3.2 GPA in two-plus years at USA. This season she has a 18-5 record, a 0.99 ERA, 174 strikeouts in 127.1 innings and ranks in the top 20 nationally in four statistical categories.
Metheny has a 4.0 GPA and is working on his master’s degree in educational leadership. Last season he led the Sun Belt Conferecne in total offense per game with 269 yards, ranked in the top 10 in the conference in three other categories and finished in the top 50 nationally in total offense, pass efficiency rating, and passing yards. He was also selected to the second-team All-SBC team.
A full rundown off all the awards and their recipients can be found here.
Also, 56 current and former student-athletes were recognized as they will graduate at the end of the semester.
Congratulations Jaguars!