South Alabama Sports – Weekend Preview
Baseball
South Alabama will host Louisiana-Monroe this weekend for a three-game Sun Belt series at Eddie Stanky Field. They will get underway tonight at 6:30pm with Locke St. John (4-1) taking the mound for the Jaguars in his 11th start of the season. Payton Coddou (0-2) will make only his third start of the season for the Warhawks.
Game two will start at 6:30pm on Saturday with Kevin Hill (2-5) making his ninth start of the season. Then Hunter Soleymani (0-2) will get the start in the series finale on Sunday.
USA is in the midst of a three game losing streak as they have fallen to 17-23 overall and 7-10 in conference play. The Jags are currently holding onto a tie for sixth place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. They are tied with their in-state rivals Troy and two games back from Western Kentucky and UT-Arlington who are tied for fourth place with a 9-9 conference record.
All three games will be broadcast on 105.5FM WNSP and streamed online on WNSP.com.
Softball
The 20th ranked Jaguar softball team look to return to their early season form as they play down the home stretch going into the Sun Belt Conference Championships that begin on May 7.
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USA Softball Falls To LSU 6-1In Baton Rouge
The 20th ranked Jaguar softball team fell to LSU in Baton Rouge Wednesday night by a score of 6-1 in their final non-conference game of the regular season.
The five run margin marks the worst loss of the season as they fall to 34-10 overall and have now lost seven of their last 12 games.
LSU (28-20) outhit the Jaguars 7-3 with both teams committing an error. The only Jaguar run came on Chloe Rathburn’s sacrifice fly to score pinch runner Gwen Jones in the fourth inning.
Freshman Holly McKinnon got the start for the Jags, only her third of the season. She allowed four earned runs on four hits and six walks while striking out two in four innings of work. This was her first recorded loss of the season.
Senior Hannah Campbell came in for relief and allowed two unearned runs on three hits but hit four batters in two innings of relief.
LSU got on the board early after McKinnon walked the first four batters she faced. Then a sacrifice fly would score another run. Then a two-out RBI double would score the third run of the inning as LSU led 3-0 after one.
The Jags plated their only run in the top of the fourth but LSU would respond in the bottom half of the inning on another two-out RBI double.
Two more runs would be put on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Kaitlyn Griffith mishandled Taylor Rodgers’ flip to second that would have been the second out of the inning. But a two-out single to third would score the pinch runner then another single to left center would score the final run.
The Jags will travel to Western Kentucky for a three-game weekend series on Saturday and Sunday as they play their final regular season road series of the year.
USA Men’s Golf Fall One Stroke Shy In SBC Championships
Photo: Mike Kittrell al.com
The South Alabama Jaguars men’s golf team shot an 8-under par 280 as a group in the final round of the Sun Belt Championships to have the low round of the tournament and finish second in the team standings.
Senior Blake Kelley led the team with a season-best 4-under 68 with Lane Hulse and Tyler Klava both shooting 2-under 70’s. Ryan Pope added an even-par round of 72 while Michael Garretson shot a 74 as the Jags shot an even-par 864 over three days.
The Jags fell just one shot short of tying Georgia State, who shot a 287 on the final day and a three-day total of 863 to win the Sun Belt Conference Championship by one stroke. They also earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals next month.
Texas State’s Stuart Smallwood finished with a 54 hole score of 208 for an 8-under total to take the top spot in the individuals. Klava finished tied for second, three strokes behind while Hulse also recorded a top-10 finish with a tie for 10th. Kelley finished tied for 14th with a three-round score of 220.
The 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship selections will be announced live via the Golf Channel on Monday, May 5 from 9-10 CDT during the Morning Drive. She show will also be streamed online on the Golf Channel website and will then be posted on the NCAA website.
20th Ranks USA Softball Faces LSU In Baton Rouge This Evening
The #20 ranked South Alabama softball team will travel to Baton Rouge for a game against LSU at Tiger Park. They defeated the then 21st ranked Tigers on February 15 by a score of 2-1.
This is the Jaguars final non-conference game of the season where they have a record of 23-4 against non-conference foes this season. They also have a 3-1 record against SEC schools this season.
Stephanie Pilkington leads the Jags at the plate with a .340 batting average with a team-leading 48 hits. She also drove in both of the Jaguars runs against the Tigers in USA’s win back in February.
Amanda Minahan is second on the team in batting average as she is hitting .298 with a .500 slugging percentage. Kaitlyn Griffith is third with an average of .288 as she is currently ranked eighth in the nation in hit by pitch per game at .049. She also leads the team in on-base percentage at .441.
Hannah Campbell is fourth in the NCAA rankings with an ERA of 0.84, sixth in walks allowed per seven innings and ninth in the country in saves with 4. Farish Beard ranks seventh in the nation in ERA with a 0.99, ranks third in the nation in hits allowed per seven innings with 3.02 average and ranks 11th in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings with 9.6.
Live play-by-play audio can be heard as part of Jaguar All-Access.
USA Baseball Falls To Auburn 6-1
The South Alabama baseball team fell to Auburn by a score of 6-1.
The Jags (17-23) had a 1-0 lead through four-and-a-half innings after scoring on a wild pitch in the first inning. Jared Gates worked himself out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth but walked the leadoff batter to start the bottom of the fifth. He would eventually get to third base with two outs before three-consecutive two-out RBI doubles would give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.
In the sixth, the Tigers would two more runs on a one-out RBI single to right field and a two-out RBI single to right field to take a 5-1 lead.
The final run of the game came in the bottom of the seventh after a leadoff single before the runner would eventually score on a wild pitch by USA’s Matt Peacock.
The Jags will return home to host Louisiana-Monroe over the weekend for a three-game SBC series at Eddie Stanky Field.
Hulse Leads USA In Second Round at SBC Championships
Photo: Mike Kittrell al.com
The second round of the Sun Belt Conference men’s golf championships is in the books and the third and final round is today to determine the champions.
Yesterday Lane Hulse led the Jaguars with a 1-under par 71 while Michael Garretson carded an even-par 72 after the two combined to shoot 9-over par in Monday’s first round. Tyler Klava shot a 1-over 73, Ryan Pope improved four strokes over his first round with a 3-over 75, and Blake Kelley shot an 80 as the Jaguar team posted a 291 team score for a 36 hole score of 584.
USA is still in third place trailing Georgia State by eight strokes and also trailing second place Texas-Arlington by six strokes.
Klava continues to lead the Jaguars in the individual with a 3-under par 141 through two rounds. He continues to be tied for third place among the 50 individuals in the field. Through 12 holes on Tuesday he was sitting at 3-over with only one birdie so far coming on the 3rd hole. But he closed the round with three birdies including back-to-back birdies at holes 13 and 14.
Garretson began with two pars before making birdie at the third. Two holes later he would go to 3-under with an eagle at the 5th. He would make the turn at 2-under with birdies coming on the 10th and 15th holes.
Texas State’s Stuart Smallwood carded another 4-under round for a two-day total 8-under par for the championship. He leads the pack by four shots.
The third and final round gets underway at 7:30am today.
Tyler Klava Tied For Individual Lead At SBC Championships After First Round
The Junior shot a 4-under par 68 in the opening round to tie for the lead. He shot 6-under on the par 5’s with two birdies and two eagles. | Photo: usajaguars.com
After shooting an opening round 4-under-par 68 on the opening day of the Sun Belt Championships, Tyler Klava is tied for the individual lead and helping the Jaguars to a third place standing as a team.
Klava was 6-under on the par-five holes at Grand Bear Golf Club, a 7,072-yard par-72 course in Saucier, Mississippi. He carded birdies on holes 2 and 5 and eagled holes 11 and 15.
Blake Kelley shot an even-par 72 as the Jaguars stand at 5-over-par 293 group score. Texas-Arlington leads the after shooting a 2-under 286 while Georgia State finished the first round with an even-par 288.
Lane Hulse shot 1-under on the back nine to shoot a 76 on the day. He had a boey and a double bogey on the front nine.
Michael Garretson shot a 79 with two of his three birdies on the day coming on the back nine on holes 11 and 15.
Stuart Smallwood of Texas State is tied with Klava for the lead in the individual standings with two of his three birdies on the day coming on the back nine. Klava and Smallwood were two of the nine golfers out of the 50 in the field to finish under par on the day.
Day two will get underway at 8am this morning with spit tees. The Jags will begin play at 8:45am on the first hold alongside Georgia State for the second day in a row and they will be joined by Texas-Arlington as well.
Illegal Pitch Calls Against Farish Beard To Be Examined By SBC Officials
Junior Farish Beard (17-5) was charged with eight illegal pitch calls in the first inning of the first game of a double-header on Saturday against Georgia State. Conference officials will review the video this week. | Photo usajaguars.com
During the Jaguar softball team’s opening game of the Saturday double-header, Farish Beard was on the receiving end of eight illegal pitch calls in the first inning of the Jaguars game against Georgia State. Those calls were critical in the game as on each illegal pitch call, the runners advance a base which scored their only two runs of the game.
First base umpire Destinee Robinson called all eight illegal pitches against Beard and the Jaguars. Eventually Hannah Campbell came in as relief and shut down the Panthers for the rest of the game, but the Jaguars could only manage one run to fall to the Panthers 2-1 in the game.
The illegal pitch call was because Robinson said that Beard’s foot came off the mound before the pitch was thrown.
Beard returned to the mound in game two with Robinson behind home plate umpiring and pitched all nine innings of the game and was not called for an illegal pitch in the game.
Since the call is a judgement call made by an official, the likelyhood that it is appealable is very slim, but the Sun Belt office is aware of it and almost certainly going to review the video.
Head coach Becky Clark said after the double-header, “You’ve got a pitcher who has thrown 117 innings (this season) and hasn’t had that called all year, and you get it called eight times in one inning.”
South Alabama Sports – Weekend Review
Baseball
After capturing the opening game, the Jags fell in the next two games as Western Kentucky won the series two games to one.
In game one the Jags overcame a three-run deficit over the final three innings to earn a 13-10 win over the Hilltoppers.
The Jags opened up with one run in the top of the first inning. WKU answered in the bottom of the first inning with two runs to take the lead. USA would regain the lead two two runs in the fourth inning.
WKU would retake the lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to go ahead 5-3. WKU would add another run in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 6-3 lead.
Then the Jags would shave a run off of the Hilltopper lead with a run in the top of the seventh inning. Three more runs in the top of the eighth would put the Jags ahead 7-6 going into the final frame.
The top of the ninth saw the Jags explode for six runs to go up 13-6, but Western Kentucky would not give up as they plated four runs in the bottom of the ninth before the Jags finally ended the game.
In game two WKU would even the series after they scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 7-2 win over the Jaguars.
Righty Kevin Hill would throw 6 1/3 innings and only allowed four hits before WKU finally put their first run on the board.
The Jags fell in the final game on Sunday 6-3 as WKU clinched the series with a 6-3 win over USA. With the game tied at 2-2, WKU would break the tie in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs.
The Jags fell to 17-22 overall and 7-10 in Conference play. They will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Auburn for a midweek game.
Softball
The 19th ranked Jaguars run-ruled Georgia State 8-0 in five innings in the first game on Friday. Freshman Amanda Minahan went 2-for-3 with three RBI, a walk and a run scored. That was her fourth game of the season where she recorded three-RBI in a game. Junior catcher Alex Breeden also went 2-for-3 with one RBI.
In game two, the opening game of a double-header on Saturday, the Jags fell to the Panthers 2-1. USA was outhit 5-4 in the game. But the bizarre thing about the game was starter Farish Beard being called for eight, yes eight, illegal pitches in the first inning by the first base umpire. That led to the Panthers only two runs of the game as each illegal pitch advanced the runners a base. Hannah Campbell came in for relief and shut down the Panthers but the damage was already done as the Jags could only muster one run the rest of the game.
In game three, the Jags and Panthers were scoreless through the first five innings before both teams scored a run in the sixth inning to keep the tie game going into extra innings. But in the bottom of the ninth inning Minahan walked and Emily Messer singled to set up Stephanie Pilkington to hit a two-out single to the left center gap to score Minahan to end the game with a 2-1 win.
They will travel to Baton Rouge to face LSU on Wednesday for their final non-conference game of the season.
Men’s Golf
The Jaguar Men’s Golf Team will play in the Sun Belt Conference Championships beginning on Monday in Saucier, Mississippi. They have a pair of top-5 finishes as they head into the championships and have shot par or better four times in the last three events.
The will get underway at Grand Bear Golf Course Monday as Michael Garretson has recorded five rounds of par or lower in his last three outings including a 6-under 66 to open the LInger Longer Invitational on March 22. He enters with a 72.45 stroke average to lead the Jaguar team. Fellow junior Tyler Klava enters with a stroke average of 72.83, which is fourth in the conference.
Men’s Tennis
The 2nd seeded Jaguar men’s tennis team fell to top-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette in the finals of the Sun Belt Championships on Sunday. The Jags defeated 3rd seeded Georgia State 4-0 on Saturday to advance to the finals.
Women’s Tennis
The lady Jags fell in the Sun Belt Conference finals to top-seeded Georgia State 4-1 as their run for the Conference crown ended. The Panthers will claim the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as the Jags season likely ends with a 16-3 mark.
USA Men’s and Women’s Tennis Honored At SBC Awards Banquet
Men’s Tennis
At the SBC Awards Banquet held in New Orleans on Thursday, South Alabama Junior Daniel Leitner was named the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year and was named to the All-Conference team.
Freshman Tuki Jacobs, senior Sayann Vaezzadeh, junior Manuel Belda and sophomore Gerhard Gruindelingh were also named to the All-Conference team.
Leitner and Jacobs were named to the first team in singles, Vaezzadeh was named to the second team in singles, Belda and Gruindelingh were named to the second team in doubles. This is the most All-Conference honorees by the program since five were named in 2001.
Women’s Tennis
The USA Women’s Tennis team had four named to the All-Conference team. Freshman Laura Valkova was named to the First Team All-Sun Belt Conference team with freshman Monica Mitta was named to the second team for doubles and for singles. Junior Emily Newton and sophomore Michaela Meszorosova were named to the doubles second team.