SAN MARCOS, Texas — Six South Alabama softball players earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors, and the No. 23 Jaguars collected the league’s Team Academic Award for the second straight season, the conference announced as its 2015 tournament got under way.
The awards were presented at Bobcat Stadium on the campus of Texas State during the tournament’s Family Night.
Two First-Team Selections
Freshman right-hander Kalen McGill and sophomore designated player Chloe Rathburn were named to the All-Sun Belt first team. Senior pitcher Farish Beard, senior shortstop Kaitlyn Griffith and outfielders Stephanie Pilkington, a junior, and Amanda Minahan, a sophomore, were second-team picks.
The Jaguars posted a team grade-point average of 3.44 over the past year to earn the Team Academic Award, up from 3.36 a season ago.
Individual Seasons
Kalen McGill finished the regular season 16-2 with a team-best 1.82 ERA. Her four saves lead the Sun Belt and rank 17th nationally, and she is seventh in the country in fewest walks allowed per seven innings at 0.97. McGill went 8-1 in league games and was twice named Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week.
Chloe Rathburn leads South Alabama with a .387 batting average, 53 hits and 48 RBI. She is four RBI shy of the school single-season record of 52, set by Brittany Fowler in 2011. It is Rathburn’s second first-team All-Sun Belt selection.
Farish Beard went 6-1 in conference play with 53 strikeouts in 40 innings. She allowed nine earned runs, threw three shutouts and held league opponents to a .162 batting average. Beard ranks 15th nationally in hits allowed per seven innings at 4.33. The selection is the third all-conference honor of her career.
Kaitlyn Griffith set the school single-season home run record with her 12th last weekend against Troy. She also set a school mark with six sacrifice flies, a total that ranks sixth nationally. It is her second all-conference honor.
Stephanie Pilkington led the Jaguars all season in on-base percentage at .485 and drew a team-high 28 walks. She also earned her second all-conference honor.
Amanda Minahan, a first-time all-conference pick, is batting .354 with a .555 slugging percentage, third on the team, and a .418 on-base percentage, fourth on the team. She is tied for second on the club with five home runs and hit .345 in conference play, second on the team.
Tournament Outlook
Louisiana-Lafayette, ranked 10th nationally, won the regular-season title with a 20-3 conference record and is the tournament’s top seed. The Ragin’ Cajuns beat South Alabama in last season’s tournament championship game in Lafayette, La., ending the Jaguars’ run of tournament titles in 2012 and 2013.
South Alabama opens play Thursday at 5 p.m. against the winner of Game 4, which pairs third-seeded Texas State with the winner of the opening-round game between sixth-seeded Louisiana-Monroe and seventh-seeded UT Arlington.
2015 All-Sun Belt Softball Teams
First Team
- P — Randi Rupp, Texas State
- P — Kalen McGill, South Alabama
- P — Jordan Wallace, Louisiana-Lafayette
- P — Jaycee Affeldt, Troy
- C — Lexie Elkins, Louisiana-Lafayette
- C — Ivie Drake, Georgia State
- 1B — Kelsey Vincent, Louisiana-Lafayette
- 1B — Kendall Wiley, Texas State
- 2B — Haley Hayden, Louisiana-Lafayette
- SS — Taylor Anderson, Georgia State
- 3B — Callie Alford, Georgia State
- OF — Shellie Landry, Louisiana-Lafayette
- OF — Ashley Christy, Georgia State
- OF — Rochelle Roberts, Louisiana-Monroe
- DP — Chloe Rathburn, South Alabama
Second Team
- P — Farish Beard, South Alabama
- P — Alex Stewart, Louisiana-Lafayette
- C — Sarah Warnock, Appalachian State
- 1B — Alexis Cacioppo, Louisiana-Monroe
- 1B — Lauren Coleman, Georgia State
- 2B — Miyuki Navarette, Louisiana-Monroe
- SS — Ariel Ortiz, Texas State
- SS — Kaitlyn Griffith, South Alabama
- 3B — Courtney Harris, Texas State
- 3B — Samantha Walsh, Louisiana-Lafayette
- OF — Taylor Rogers, Georgia Southern
- OF — Amanda Minahan, South Alabama
- OF — Stephanie Pilkington, South Alabama
- OF — Becca Hartley, Troy
- DP — Leandra Maly, Louisiana-Lafayette
Individual Awards
- Player of the Year — Lexie Elkins, Louisiana-Lafayette
- Pitcher of the Year — Jaycee Affeldt, Troy
- Freshman of the Year — Ivie Drake, Georgia State
- Co-Coaches of the Year — Beth Mullins, Troy, and Michael Lotief, Louisiana-Lafayette
