NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama softball players Devin Brown and Kaleigh Todd were both named First-Team all-Sun Belt Conference Tuesday, while Haleigh Lowe was selected to the league's second team as announced by the conference office and selected by the 10 other Sun Belt coaches.

The first-team honors mark the third straight for both Brown and Todd, who were also selected to the preseason all-league team.  The second team selection is the second for Lowe, who also earned the honor during the 2016 season.

Brown and Todd are also the only two South Alabama players in program history to be selected to the Sun Belt's first team three times during their career.

The three all-conference selections now bring the program's total to 48.  South Alabama has now had 20th first-team honorees and at least players named to the team each year since 2013.  Lowe's selection also marks the 28th time a Jaguar has been named to the league's second team.

Brown – who was named to the preseason all-conference list for the third consecutive time during the preseason – earns the first-team nod after achieving several career milestones during her senior campaign.  This season, Brown became the first Jaguar pitcher to eclipse both the 800- and 900- strikeout marks for their career.  The Mobile, Ala., also became the program's career shutouts (31) and strikeouts (917) leader, to go along with her 39 career double-digit strikeout games, which already ranked as the program standard.  Her career strikeout tally is also the fourth-most ever by any Sun Belt Conference pitcher.

The right-hander currently leads the team with 17 wins and enters the postseason with a 2.06 earned run average and 216 strikeouts.  Brown has 23 complete games on the year and has tossed seven shutouts – six solo and one combined.  Brown also has seven double-digit strikeout games this season and she is second in the league in innings pitched (211.0), strikeouts looking (62) and strikeouts.  Her strikeout tally is 19th in the latest NCAA rankings.

Todd – also a preseason all-conference selection for the third-straight year – will leave her mark on the program when her time is up in Mobile.  The senior second baseman has started 163-straight games, which is the fifth-longest streak in program history.  During her final season, she has added three program marks to her resume as she now leads the program in all-time multi-hit games (61), career hits (226) and career stolen bases (74).  She is one of just four players in South Alabama history to eclipse the 200-hit mark for their career.  

Entering play this week, the Bessemer, Ala., native leads the team with a .383 batting average, which is sixth in the Sun Belt.  She also has 64 hits – tied for fourth-most in the conference – while she is also tied for third in the league in steals (17) and 10th in runs scored (30), to go along with her .431 on-base percentage.

This season, she had a 14-game hit streak and a 23-game reached base safely streak, which both rank top 5 all-time.  She batted .448 in conference play, and 13 of her team-high 17 multi-hit games came against league competition.  She had at least one hit in 22 of her 26 Sun Belt games, and twice tied a career high with four hits this season, while also having five three-hit games during the year.

Her 14-game hit streak was tied for the fifth longest in program history, while her 23-game reached base safely streak is also tied for fourth longest.  

Lowe has played a key role at the top of the lineup this season as she leads the team in RBI (31) and ranks second on the club in batting average (.304), extra-base hits (14) and home runs (4).  Her seven doubles are third-most.

The Prattville, Ala., native really came on in conference play hitting over .400 with all but one of her extra-base hits coming against league foes.  Of her 31 runs driven in, 23 came in conference play, and 31 over her 41 also came against Sun Belt competition.  She leads the team in multi-RBI games this season and she has hit .300 or better each of the past three seasons.  Lowe earned the second SBC Player of the Week honor of her career during Week11 of the season after helping the Jaguars pick up a midweek conference win at Troy and series win over Appalachian State the following weekend.  

This season, she has set personal single-season highs in hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs and total bases and RBI.  She also ranks among the program leaders in career batting average, on-base percentage, multi-hit games and multi-RBI games.

South Alabama (28-25, 13-13 SBC) – the sixth seed – will open up postseason play on Wednesday when the Jags take on seventh-seeded Georgia Southern in a single-elimination game at the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championship.  First pitch versus the Eagles is set for 12:30 p.m. at Lamson Park on the University of Louisiana campus.

2018 SUN BELT SOFTBALL POSTSEASON HONORS
All-Sun Belt First Team
Summer Ellyson, Louisiana (So., P, Lafayette, La.)
Devin Brown, South Alabama (Sr., P, Mobile, Ala.)
Randi Rupp, Texas State (Sr., P, Mont Belvieu, Texas)
Annie Willis, Troy (Fr., P, Huntsville, Ala.)
Ivie Drake, Georgia State (Sr., C/1B, Carlton, Ga.)
Reagan Wright, UTA (So., C, Mansfield, Texas)
Hailey MacKay, Texas State (So., 1B, Leander, Texas)
Kaleigh Todd, South Alabama (Sr., 2B, Bessemer, Ala.)
Kara Gremillion, Louisiana (Jr., 3B, Gonzales, La.)
Alissa Dalton, Louisiana (So., SS, Cypress, Texas)
Ariel Ortiz, Texas State (Sr., SS, Waxahachie, Texas)
Courtney Dean, Coastal Carolina (Fr., OF, Indian Trail, N.C.)
Sydney McKay, ULM (Jr., OF, Pearland, Texas)
Laura Curry, UTA (Jr., OF, Temecula, Calif.)
Megan Litumbe, Georgia State (Sr., DP/OF, Grayson, Ga.)

All-Sun Belt Second Team
Randi Phillips, UTA (Fr., P, Jefferson, Texas)
Haleigh Davis, Texas State (So., C, Houston, Texas)
Kourtney Gremillion, Louisiana (Fr., 1B, Gonzales, La.)
Katie Webb, Troy (So., 1B, Salem, Ala.)
Sandra Mendoza, UTA (Sr., 2B, Eagle Pass, Texas)
Hannah Farrell, Georgia Southern (Jr., 3B, Jesup, Ga.)
Skylar Mosel, Georgia State (Fr., SS/OF, McDonough, Ga.)
Jayden Mount, ULM (So., SS, Glade Water, Texas)
Logan Calhoun, Troy (So., SS, Dublin, Ga.)
Mekhia Freeman, Georgia Southern (So., OF, Senoia, Ga.)
Hunter Hogan, ULM (Sr., OF, Colwich, Kansas)
Rochelle Roberts, ULM (Sr., OF, Vacaville, Calif.)
Haleigh Lowe, South Alabama (Sr., OF, Prattville, Ala.)
Jenny Dodd, Appalachian State (Jr., DP/C, Mocksville, N.C.)

Sun Belt Player of the Year
Ivie Drake, Georgia State (Sr., C/1B, Carlton, Ga.)

Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year
Randi Rupp, Texas State (Sr., P, Mont Belvieu, Texas)

Sun Belt Freshman of the Year
Annie Willis, Troy (Fr., P, Huntsville, Ala.)

Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year
Alissa Dalton, Louisiana (So., SS, Cypress, Texas)

Sun Belt Coach of the Year
Ricci Woodard, Texas State

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_Jags. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
    
Join the Bullpen Club, the softball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  Members have access to purchase parking passes and receive Jaguar Softball gear.  All donations to the Bullpen Club go directly to support the South Alabama softball program.  For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/bullpenclub

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