USA Softball Team Earns All-Academic Team Honors
The South Alabama Softball team earned All-Academic team award from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
They were ranked 37th, up 12 spots from last season, as the Jags earned a 3.32 GPA. Since the program began in 2007, South Alabama’s program has either been ranked in the top-50 or had a handful of individuals named to the All-Academic Scholar Athletes by the NFCA.
“I am extremely proud of our student-athletes and their effort in the classroom,” said Jags head coach Becky Clark. “I think it says a lot about the kind of young ladies we have in our program for them to have had the success they did on the field, but to also have had that same success in the classroom. They are truly student-athletes and they do a tremendous job representing our program and South Alabama.”
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Lady Jaguar Softball Team, Sun Belt Champions
The South Alabama Lady Jaguar Softball team is in Tuscaloosa and will play Georgia Tech today at 3:30 pm in their first ever appearance in NCAA Regional play after defeating rival Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference Championship. This will be the first time both schools have faced each other on the diamond. Georgia Tech season record stands at 36-21 overall. Most recently, the Yellow Jackets beat Virginia, No. 19 Florida State and Virginia Tech to become the 2012 ACC Tournament champions to get the #2 seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional. Visit the USAJaguars.com page for links to information about the Tuscaloosa regional and for links to live radio coverage this afternoon.
Coach Joey Jones and the South Alabama Football team announced recently that they have promoted Brendt Bedsole from Director of Football Operations to be an on-field coach. Last month coach Kurt Crain died unexpectedly. Coach Brian Turner will return to coaching the entire defensive line, defensive coordinator Bill Clark will coach the inside linebackers and Coach Bedsole will coach the outside linebackers according to an interview on WNSP’s Morning Sports Show. Coach Bedsole has coached at three Universities before; Samford, Murray State and Auburn as well as Hoover High School before joining the Jaguar staff.
Myles Gibbon takes in Carter-Finley Stadium before the team takes the field for warm-ups.
Myles Gibbon, the Jaguars first starting quarterback, graduated on Saturday and will be transferring to a school closer to his native home in Canada. He has two years of eligibility remaining and can play immediately since he has graduated with his undergrad degree. Gibbon was responsible for the throw to Courtney Smith for the first ever touchdown in Jaguar history against Hargrave Military Academy.
Gibbon started six of the programs seven games in it’s first season, missing the last game with an injury. That season he led the team in total offense with 632 yards, was 29-of-51 passing for 538 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 94 yards and two more touchdowns. He then started the first two games of the 2010 season and played in seven of the Jags 10 games that year, passing for 325 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 68 yards and a touchdown. Last season, however, he played sparingly yet rushing for 105 yards and passing for just 82 yards and one touchdown. His career totals as a Jaguar stand at 865 yards passing with nine touchdowns and ran for 267 yards and three touchdowns, a total offense of 1,132 yards. He was responsible for 12 scores total.
Congratulations on your graduation Myles, you have been an excellent ambassador for the South Alabama program and remain a role model for student-athletes entering the program.
USA Softball Heading To Tuscaloosa For NCAA Regionals
The South Alabama Lady Jaguar Softball team won their first Sun Belt Conference Championship on Saturday when they defeated top seeded, and ranked #6 nationally, Louisiana-Lafayette Rajin’ Cajuns 3-1 in Boca Raton Florida. This was only ULL’s fourth loss of the season.
On Sunday evening it was announced on the national selection show aired on ESPNU that South Alabama will participate in the regionals being held in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on May 18-20. The opening game of the double elimination tournament will being at 3:30pm on Friday, May 18 and will feature the Lady Jags (39-15) vs Georgia Tech (36-21) at Rhodes Stadium on the campus of the University of Alabama, who is the #2 seed. Alabama will open tournament play against Tennessee-Martin (39-20) at 6pm on Friday night. South Alabama will be the #3 seed in the regional. Alabama is the #1 seed, Georgia Tech is the #2 seed and Tennessee-Martin is the #4 seed.
The winner of the Tuscaloosa regional will play the winner of the Louisville Regional which includes the teams from Louisville, Kentucky, Valparariso and Michigan, in the NCAA Super Regional.
“The biggest thing is how proud I am of our program,” said USA head softball coach Becky Clark. “There’s a lot of work that has gone into to this by a lot of different people. I think one of the biggest things is what a great job they do of representing the university. Our athletic department is about citizenship, graduation and championships and I think of a better group that represents that than our softball team.”
Go Jags!!