NEW ORLEANS | Gabby Stagner was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday as announced by the league office, marking the third in her career that she has earned the accolade. 

The honor marked the 25th time in which the program has had a player earn the award, and the 64th time that a Jaguar has earned either a player or pitcher of the weekly honor.

Last week was a historic one for Stagner as the senior moved into a tie for the career lead in RBI at South Alabama, driving in six to put her at 136 for her career. In her four games, Stagner batted .500 (6-for-12), scored a run, tripled and stole a pair of bases for the Jags. 

Stagner began her week by tripling and scoring a run versus nationally ranked Alabama. 

Over the weekend, Stagner led the Jaguar offense as the club opened up Sun Belt Conference play with a series sweep over James Madison. Versus the Dukes, Stagner was 5-for-9 at the plate and drove in all six of her runs in the series, while also recording both of her stolen bases.

In game two of the series, Stagner was 2-for-3 with three RBI and a stolen base. Her first hit of the contest – a first-inning single to center – plated a run for the Jags to tie the game back up after JMU had taken an early advantage. After James Madison had retaken the lead, Stagner again had the answer as her two-run single to center in the bottom of the fifth gave the Jaguars the lead for good. 
 
On Sunday in the series finale, the Mobile, Ala., native had her best performance as she was 3-for-3 with three more RBI. Like in game two of the series, JMU took an early lead with a run in the top of the first, but Stagner didn't let the Dukes hold the momentum long as she answered with a RBI-single in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game back up (1-1). With the bases loaded and the game still tied, Stagner lined a single to right to drive in two and give South the 3-1 lead, a lead it would not relinquish. The two-run single moved her into a tie for the career RBI mark at South with Brittany Fowler (2009-12). 

Stagner has now had a hit in six of her last seven and 14 of her last 16, and reached base in 18 of her last 19 and 26 of her 29 games this season. She has driven in multiple runs a team-best nine times, and her three-hit performance on Sunday marked the 35th multi-hit game of her career tying her with Christin Crocker (2009-12) for 13th on the list. 

With her performance this past week, Stagner is now batting .375 with a .763 slugging percentage and a team-high 29 RBI. She is tied for first in triples, and ranks among the league leaders in home runs (second), OPS (fifth), slugging percentage (sixth), hits (eighth) and on-base percentage (ninth).

South Alabama will open a four-game road trip on Wednesday at 6 p.m. when it travels to take on Auburn.

Stagner Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Honors
2022    March 15
2024    Feb. 13
2025    March 18

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