NEW ORLEANS | After leading South Alabama to a program-best 20 Sun Belt Conference victories Jaguar head coach Becky Clark was named the league's Coach of the Year, while junior Olivia Lackie became the first player in program history to be selected as the SBC Pitcher of the Year as announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

The honor for Clark marks the second-straight year the Jag skipper has received the accolade and the third time in her career. South Alabama is having one of the best seasons in program history as it stands with a 38-13 record entering the postseason. The Jaguars have also won 13-straight games and 24 of their last 28. The program finished league play with a 20-4 record and earned the third seed in this week's conference tournament. 

The Jaguars lead the conference in earned run average (1.65), and holding opponents to a .199 batting average, while the Jags are third in the conference in strikeouts (346) and lead the SBC in strikeouts looking (101).

Leading the way in the circle this spring for South has been Lackie who holds a 20-6 record with two saves and a 1.58 earned run average. The junior right-hander has been one of the top pitchers in the Sun Belt and the NCAA during the 2023 season. She has been named Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week on six occasions this spring, which tied Devin Brown's single-season mark. The six selections are the fourth-most in a season by a SBC pitcher, and the most since Summer Ellyson (Louisiana, 2019). She also has received the honor 11 times in her career, which also tied a standard set by Brown.

The Walker, La., native has set both the single-season (12) and career (31) marks for shutouts at South Alabama this spring, and she ranks second in the NCAA in shutouts, while also ranking among the Top 35 nationally in wins, strikeouts and ERA. Lackie leads the Sun Belt in shutouts and ranks in the top three in opposing batting average, ERA, strikeouts and wins. She has struck out 30.2 percent (201/665) of the batters she's faced this season and in her three seasons in the circle with the Jags, the junior RHP has struck out 32.2 percent (659/2,085) of the opposition.

Lackie is also the first player to earn an individual award from the conference since the 2013 season when Brittany Fowler was named the player of the year and Haley Fagan was selected as the freshman of the year. Along with becoming the first player to earn pitcher of the year honors, Lackie becomes just the third player to earn first-team all-league honors for three-straight seasons, joining Brown and Kaleigh Todd who each did so from 2016-18.

Joining Lackie on the first team were seniors Meredith Keel and Victoria Ortiz. The honor is the third overall for Keel and her second first-team accolade (2021). Keel has been outstanding at the top of the lineup for the Jaguars this spring. The graduate senior has had at least one hit in 35 of South's 51 games, including 14 multi-hit efforts, which are second-most on the club this season. Keel leads the team in hits (54), while she has scored 42 runs – tied for seventh most in the SBC – recorded 10 doubles, three home runs and 29 RBI. Her 23 walks also lead the club and she has set career highs in hits, runs scored, home runs and RBI.

Keel has had at least one hit in 20 of her 24 conference games, including six multi-hit efforts, and there has been only one league game in which she hasn't reached base safely. She has recorded 11 extra-base hits driven in 15 runs and scored 25 times at the top of the Jaguar lineup in conference play. Keel has scored multiple runs in eight of her SBC games this spring, and has committed just one error in 64 defensive chances at third base in league games.

Keel had a storybook "Senior Day" on Saturday as she recorded a three-run home run in game one of the doubleheader with Troy and then lined a two-run, walk-off double to left center in extra innings in the series finale to complete the series sweep of the Trojans. 

Ortiz – who also earned first-team all-SBC honors as a freshman – has made the most of her final campaign becoming South's career leader in multi-RBI games (37), extra-base hits (81) and doubles (46), while ranking among the career leaders in hits, home runs and RBI. Her 49 RBI this season are fourth-most in program history. 

The redshirt senior has ranked among the conference leaders in doubles and RBI, while sitting just outside the top 10 in several other categories. Ortiz leads the club in batting average, slugging percentage, home runs and RBI, while ranking second on the club in hits and doubles. Ortiz has been even better in conference play as she is hitting .409 and 28 of her 49 RBI have come against league foes, including eight of her 16 multi-RBI games. She has recorded a hit in 19 of her 24 SBC outings, and driven in a run in 15 of those contests. Ortiz has reached base safely in every conference game this spring and recorded 11 extra-base hits, scored 17 runs and recorded 27 hits. Her current 28-game reached base safely streak is the second-longest overall streak and the longest for a single season.

Ortiz has been outstanding in several clutch situations, as she is batting .462 with runners in scoring position, .867 with runners on third and less than two outs, .419 in two-out situations, .607 in opportunities to advance runners and driven in a team-best 16 runners with two outs. 

Also receiving all-conference recognition on Tuesday were Jenna Hardy and Mackenzie Brasher, who were named to the second team. The honor for Hardy marks the second-straight spring in which she has been selected to the team. Hardy has posted the best numbers of her career in the circle in her senior season. Hardy (17-7, 2 SVs) holds a career-best 1.62 earned run average, while striking out 136 in her 155.2 innings of work. Hardy has been just as solid in conference play as she holds a sub-two earned run average against league foes and allowed just 15 runs in her 12 appearances. She was named to four all-tournament teams during the non-conference portion of the schedule.

Brasher – who earned her third all-SBC nod – is one of the top slap hitters and outfielders in the Sun Belt Conference enters the postseason hitting .306 and has recorded 12 multi-hit games in 2023. Her .345 batting average in SBC play is third-highest on the team and she hasn't committed an error in any of her league games. 

Brasher ranks fourth in the conference leaders in stolen bases with 25 – 14 of which have come against league foes. Brasher has reached base safely in 20 of her 24 SBC outings and had a hit in 19 of those contests, eight of which have been multi-hit efforts. The Orange Beach, Ala., native has scored 25 runs in conference play and recorded seven of her 12 RBI in those contests.

South Alabama will open up play at the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Championship on Thursday morning against sixth-seeded James Madison. First pitch versus the Dukes is set for 10 a.m. at Yvette Girouard Field at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La.

2023 SUN BELT CONFERENCE POSTSEASON AWARDS
Player of the Year: Karly Heath, Louisiana (SR, OF - Alvin, Texas)
Pitcher of the Year: Olivia Lackie, South Alabama (JR, P - Walker, La.)
Newcomer of the Year: Sydney Bickel, Marshall (JR, SS - Peoria, Ariz.)
Freshman of the Year: Mihyia Davis, Louisiana (FR, OF - Lovelady, Texas)
Coach of the Year: Becky Clark, South Alabama

FIRST TEAM
Olivia Lackie, South Alabama (JR, P - Walker, La.)
Sydney Nester, Marshall (R-SR, P - Hillsville, Va.)
Hannah Shifflett, James Madison (GR, 1B - North Garden, Va.)
KK Mathis, James Madison (FR, 2B - West Chester, Ohio)
Sydney Bickel, Marshall (JR, SS - Peoria, Ariz.)
Meredith Keel, South Alabama (GS, 3B - Ashville, Ohio)
Autumn Owen, Marshall (JR, C - Mill Spring, N.C.)
Iyanla De Jesus, Coastal Carolina (SR, DP - Mill Creek, Wash.)
Karly Heath, Louisiana (SR, OF - Alvin, Texas)
Mihyia Davis, Louisiana (FR, OF - Lovelady, Texas)
Victoria Ortiz, South Alabama (R-SR, OF - Mobile, Ala.)
Jessica Mullins, Texas State (JR, P - Tarkington, Texas)
Lauren Allred, Louisiana (FR, 1B - Texarkana, Texas)
Alex Coleman, Marshall (SO, OF - Asheboro, N.C.)
Grace Chelemen, Marshall (5th, OF - Woodhaven, Mich.)

SECOND TEAM
Meghan Schorman, Louisiana (SR, P - Hazelwood, Mo.)
Jenna Hardy, South Alabama (SR, P - Whitehouse, Ohio) 
Libby Baker, Troy (JR, 1B - Skipperville, Ala.)
Taylor McKinney, Troy (SO, 2B - Montgomery, Ala.)
Alexa Langeliers, Louisiana (SO, SS - Keller, Texas)
Sara Vanderford, Texas State (SR, 3B - Pasadena, Texas) 
Sophie Piskos, Louisiana (JR, C - Paris, Tenn.)
Kelly Horne, Troy (SR, DP - Tallahassee, Fla.)
Emily Brown, Georgia State (SR, OF - Suwanee, Ga.)
Mackenzie Brasher, South Alabama (SR, OF - Orange Beach, Ala.)
Kayt Houston, App State (JR, OF - Rock Hill, S.C.) 
Hannah Borden, Southern Miss (SR, C - Trussville, Ala.)
Sam Landry, Louisiana (SO, P - Mont Belvieu, Texas)
Emma Davis, Georgia Southern (FR, OF - Grayson, Ga.)
Leanna Johnson, Troy (SR, P - Brantley, Ala.)
Diamond Williams, Coastal Carolina (SR, OF - Evans, Ga.)

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