NEW ORLEANS – After leading the University of South Alabama softball team to 16 league wins this season and the second seed in the conference tournament, Jaguar head coach Becky Clark was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year on Tuesday. Olivia Lackie, Mackenzie Brasher and Caroline Nichols were also named first-team all-league, while Meredith Keel and Jenna Hardy earned second team honors.
BECKY CLARK | SUN BELT COACH OF THE YEAR
The honor for Clark marks the second time that she has been named the conference's top coach as she also earned the honor during the 2011 season. South Alabama was chosen to finish fourth in the preseason poll, but contended for the top spot for much of the season, leading the league for the first five weeks of league play. The Jaguars also won nine of their first 10 conference games, which tied the 2015 club for best start to league play after the first 10 games. South Alabama got off to a 5-13 start over its first 18 games, but enters the conference tournament as one of the hottest teams having won 19 of its last 25 dating back to March 6. Under Clark's direction, the Jaguars posted 16 conference wins, the most by the program since the 2016 club won 17. South Alabama six conference series, sweeping five of those.
OLIVIA LACKIE | P | SOPHOMORE | FIRST-TEAM ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE
Lackie earned first-team all-conference honors for the second straight spring after leading the club with a 14-7 record, three saves and a 1.90 earned run average. The Walker, La., native also struck out 185 in 140.1 innings of work, while holding opponents to a .153 batting average. She made 28 appearances in the circle, while going the distance in 15 of her 19 starts. She also recorded eight shutouts – seven solo – on the year.
The sophomore right-hander led the Sun Belt in opposing batting average and saves, while ranking third in ERA, strikeouts, strikeouts looking (60), and fourth in innings pitched and wins. She earned her fifth career SBC Player of Week honor after tossing a pair of complete-game shutouts against Coastal Carolina in leading South Alabama to a series sweep.
Of her 15 complete games, 12 game against league foes with six of her shutouts also coming in conference play. Lackie's other numbers have been even better against the Sun Belt. She holds a sub-2.00 ERA at 1.61, while striking out 129, only allowing 50 hits, issuing 25 walks and holding league opponents to a .149 batting average. All five of her double-digit strikeout performances have come in SBC play.
MACKENZIE BRASHER | OF | JUNIOR | FIRST-TEAM ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE
A preseason all-Sun Belt selection as well as a league all-tournament and second-team honoree a year ago, Brasher earned first-team accolades for the first time in her career this spring for the Jags. She was one of the most consistent hitters not only on the South Alabama roster, but in the Sun Belt as she has recorded a hit in 18 of her 22 conference games, while reaching base safely at least once every time out against league foes with the exception of two games.
The Orange Beach, Ala., leads the team at the plate with a .349 batting average, which ranks just outside the top 10 of the conference, and her 19 stolen bases are tied for sixth in the conference. She has a team-best 11 multi-hit games, eight of which have come in conference play. Brasher has scored a team-best 27 runs this spring for the Jags and had a career-best 11-game hit streak, which ranked 10th on the program records list, and a 21-game reached base safely streak, which ranked sixth, during the second half of the season.
Brasher has also made several outstanding catches in center field her she hasn't committed an error in a SBC game and just two in her 64 opportunities this season. She leads the team with a .643 batting average in runner advancement situations as she is 36-for-56 at the plate. In her 22 conference games, she has posted a .394 batting average and recorded 26 of her team-high 44 hits.
CAROLINE NICHOLS | OF | SENIOR | FIRST-TEAM ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE
The first-team all-conference honor for Nichols marks the first in her career. She has started 36 of the 42 games that she has appeared in this spring with a majority of those coming in left field. The Hoover, Ala., native is batting .321 entering the postseason and has recorded three triples at the plate while being successful in seven of her nine stolen base attempts. This spring, Nichols has driven in a career-best 10 runs with most of her time coming in the leadoff spot.
Her eight multi-hit games are tied for second most on the club with Keel. Nichols held a 12-game reached base safely streak earlier during the spring, and has had at least one hit in all but four of her conference games this season with six of her eight multi-hit performances coming in those outings. Two of her three triples have come against SBC opponents and she holds a .441 batting average leading off an inning and a .571 average (24-of-42) advancing runners.
Nichols enters the post season having had a hit in 15 of her last 19, including a pair of three-hit performances, and has scored a run in 14 of her last 17 games.
JENNA HARDY | P | JUNIOR | SECOND-TEAM ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE
Hardy – a second-team all-SBC selection – emerged toward the latter part of the 2021 campaign and earned all-tournament honors after helping the Jaguars advance to the championship game. This spring, the Whitehouse, Ohio native has been solid in the circle holding a 2.52 earned run average in 102.2 innings of work, while striking out 82 and issuing just 17 walks this spring. She ranks among the conference leaders in earned run average and strikeouts looking.
The junior pitcher has been even better in SBC play holding a 1.97 ERA and a 6-2 record against league competition. Earlier this spring, Hardy had a streak earlier in the spring of 37 straight innings without allowing an earned run. She tossed three-straight shutouts – at UTA, vs. Nicholls State, vs. Texas State – during that stretch, and was selected as the SBC Pitcher of the Week during Week 5 of the season after she was responsible for two of the three series wins at UTA.
MEREDITH KEEL | 3B | SENIOR | SECOND-TEAM ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE
Keel earned all-conference honors at third for the second straight season, a year after picking up first-team all-SBC and NFCA all-South Region honors. This spring, she is again batting over .300 as she ranks third on the team in batting average (.308) and eight of her 33 hits have gone for extra bases. Her four triples lead the team in the category and are tied for second-most in the Sun Belt with three other players. Of those four triples, three have come during conference play. Keel's eight multi-hit games are tied for second-most on the Jaguar roster.
The Ashville, Ohio native holds a .487 batting average in runner advancement situations. She has recorded at least one hit in 12 of her 19 conference outings, including six two-hit performances. One of Keel's better conference series came in a three-game road sweep of ULM where she batted .727, had two hits each game and recorded a triple and her first career home run in the series opener versus the Warhawks.
The Jaguars (24-19, 16-6 SBC) received a first-round bye will open up tournament play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Jaguar Field against the winner of the No. 7 seed Georgia State (19-31, 9-15 SBC) / No. 10 seed Georgia Southern (13-33, 6-18 SBC) matchup as the two clubs will play in an elimination game on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
2022 SUN BELT CONFERENCE SOFTBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS
Player of the Year
Melissa Mayeaux, Louisiana (Sr., 2B – Le Barcares, France)
Pitcher of the Year
Jessica Mullins, Texas State (So., P – Tarkington, Texas)
Newcomer of the Year
Jourdyn Campbell, Louisiana (So., 3B – Kingwood, Texas)
Freshman of the Year
Ciara Trahan, Texas State (Fr., OF – Santa Fe, Texas)
Coach of the Year
BECKY CLARK, South Alabama
All-Sun Belt – First Team
Leanna Johnson, Troy (Jr., P – Brantley, Ala.)
OLIVIA LACKIE, South Alabama (So., P – Walker, La.)
Jessica Mullins, Texas State (So., P – Tarkington, Texas)
Sophia Piskos, Louisiana (So., C – Paris, Tenn.)
Caitlyn Rogers, Texas State (Sr., C – Magnolia, Texas)
Kennedy Johnson, ULM (Jr., 1B – Houston, Texas)
Kelly Horne, Troy (Jr., 1B – Tallahassee, Fla.)
Melissa Mayeaux, Louisiana (Sr., 2B – Le Barcares, France)
Hannah Earls, Texas State (So., SS – Willis, Texas)
Jourdyn Campbell, Louisiana (So., 3B – Kingwood, Texas)
MACKENZIE BRASHER, South Alabama (Jr., OF – Orange Beach, Ala.)
Kayt Houston, App State (So., OF – Rock Hill, S.C.)
CAROLINE NICHOLS, South Alabama (Sr., OF – Hoover, Ala.)
Makiya Thomas, Coastal Carolina (Gr., OF – Tacoma, Wash.)
Karly Heath, Louisiana (Jr., DP – North Augusta, S.C.)
All-Sun Belt – Second Team
JENNA HARDY, South Alabama (Jr., P – Whitehouse, Ohio)
Kandra Lamb, Louisiana (Jr., P – Kurrajong, Australia)
Sam Landry, Louisiana (Fr., P – Mont Belvieu, Texas)
Morgan Rios, UTA (Gr., C – Mansfield, Texas)
Stormy Kotzelnick, Louisiana (RS Fr., 1B – Carmel, Ind.)
Alexis Chavez, ULM (Fr., 2B – Riverside, Calif.)
Alexa Langeliers, Louisiana (Fr., SS – Keller, Texas)
MEREDITH KEEL, South Alabama (Sr., 3B – Ashville, Ohio)
Lourdes Bacon, ULM (So., OF – San Antonio, Texas)
Maddie Hayden, Louisiana (Fr., OF – West Monroe, La.)
Mary Pierce Barnes, App State (Sr., OF – Waxhaw, N.C.)
Jade Sinness, Troy (So., OF – Sebring, Fla.)
Ciara Trahan, Texas State (Fr., OF – Santa Fe, Texas)
Cat Crenek, Texas State (Sr., DP – Cypress, Texas)
Iyanla De Jesus, Coastal Carolina (Jr., DP – Mill Creek, Wash.)
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.
—USA—
