MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama softball was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference regular-season standings in the 2013 preseason poll of the league’s head coaches, and three Jaguars were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team.
South Alabama, the defending Sun Belt Tournament champion, received eight of the nine second-place votes. Louisiana-Lafayette, the five-time defending regular-season champion, was picked to finish first.
Junior pitcher Hannah Campbell, sophomore outfielder Blair Johnson and senior Britany Campbell, an at-large selection, were named Monday to the 17-player team, which was also chosen by a vote of the conference’s head coaches.
Hannah Campbell, Pitcher
Hannah Campbell won 24 games last season with a 2.03 ERA. She struck out 199 batters and threw 28 complete games.
In the 2012 Sun Belt Tournament, she won four straight games, struck out 14 batters and posted a 0.32 ERA. She was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as South Alabama won its first postseason conference championship.
Campbell was the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year in 2011 and the league’s Preseason Pitcher of the Year in 2012. She is a two-time All-Sun Belt selection and a two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region pick. She is from Satsuma, Ala.
Blair Johnson, Outfielder
Johnson started all 57 games as a freshman last season. She ranked fourth on the team with a .315 batting average, with a .414 slugging percentage and a .372 on-base percentage.
She tied for the team lead with 57 hits and 14 doubles, scored 33 runs and drove in 27. Johnson had 12 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games. She is from Kimberly, Ala., and attended Mortimer Jordan High School.
Britany Campbell, At-Large
Britany Campbell, South Alabama’s regular center fielder, did not commit an error in 2012, finishing with a 1.000 fielding percentage. She led the team with 24 stolen bases.
She batted .237 with 24 runs scored and 13 RBIs. Her six RBIs in a game against Southeastern Louisiana set a South Alabama single-game record. She also put together a five-game hitting streak and a nine-game on-base streak last season. She is from Phoenix and attended Thunderbird High School.
