MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann announced Friday that women’s basketball coach Rick Pietri has been relieved of his duties after 13 seasons, while the Jaguar baseball and softball teams each won two of three games to open Sun Belt Conference play.
Pietri Out After 13 Seasons
Pietri leaves as the winningest coach in the history of the South Alabama women’s program, with a 220-167 overall record and a 111-104 mark against Sun Belt opponents. He had three 20-win seasons, most recently in 2008-09. The Lady Jaguars finished this season 17-13 and lost in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.
“We will begin a national search immediately and look far and wide and near and far for who the next coach will be,” Erdmann told AL.com. “Obviously, we are looking for someone who has ties to competitive success and winning, while at the same time maintaining their eye on excellence in the classroom and managing a tremendous overall program.”
In a phone interview with AL.com, Pietri thanked former athletic director Joe Gottfried for hiring him from the boys’ high school coaching ranks in 2000 to take over a program that had struggled for several years. Pietri noted that all but one of his seasons were better than any of the 10 seasons before his arrival.
Erdmann said he hopes to hire a new coach quickly, possibly as soon as April.
Men’s Basketball Accepts CIT Bid
The South Alabama men’s basketball team will play in the postseason for the first time in five years after accepting a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. The Jaguars (17-12, 14-6 Sun Belt) will face Tulane (19-14) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans. Tulane’s win total is its highest since the 1999-2000 season.
The 32-team CIT is in its fifth year. Previous champions are Old Dominion (2009), Missouri State (2010), Santa Clara (2011) and Mercer (2012).
The bid extends the tenure of interim head coach Jeff Price, who is a candidate in the university’s ongoing search for a permanent head coach.
Baseball Takes Series From Troy
South Alabama opened Sun Belt play by winning two of three games against Troy.
The Jaguars scored seven unanswered runs over the final two innings Friday night, capped by Nick Zaharion’s game-winning home run, for an 11-10 victory.
South Alabama clinched the series with a 7-5 win Saturday. Dylan Stamey threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and one walk with a career-high five strikeouts, to earn his fourth win of the season. Kyle Bartsch pitched a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout for his sixth save.
Troy won Sunday’s finale 8-7. The Jaguars led 5-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, but the Trojans scored five runs in the inning, helped by an error, a two-run double and a three-run home run. South Alabama scored twice more but could not tie the game.
The Jaguars are 17-4 overall and 2-1 in the Sun Belt, while Troy is 12-6 and 1-2. South Alabama plays at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La., on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Softball Wins Series Over No. 22 Louisiana-Lafayette
The South Alabama softball team took two of three games from No. 22 Louisiana-Lafayette at Jaguar Field, winning 7-3 and 8-4 on Saturday.
Senior Brittany Fowler went 5-for-6 on Saturday with three home runs, four runs scored and seven RBIs.
Hannah Campbell and Farish Beard each pitched complete games Saturday. Campbell struck out two and improved to 10-4, and Beard struck out three and allowed four hits to improve to 10-0.
Louisiana-Lafayette won Sunday’s game 2-1. Kaitlyn Griffith gave South Alabama an early lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning, but the Ragin’ Cajuns scored twice in the fourth and held on. Louisiana-Lafayette pitcher Jordan Wallace struck out 15 batters.
South Alabama is 23-5 overall and 2-1 in the Sun Belt. Louisiana-Lafayette is 19-11 and 2-4.
The Jaguars host UAB at Jaguar Field on Wednesday at 4 p.m. South Alabama beat the Blazers 8-2 on March 2 at the Magic City Classic.
Football Resumes Spring Practice
The South Alabama football team returns from spring break to resume spring practice Tuesday morning at about 6 a.m. at the Jaguar Practice Facility.
