NEW ORLEANS | A pair of South Alabama softball players earned all-Sun Belt Conference honors on Tuesday as announced by the league office. Olivia Branstetter was selected to the league's first team, while Gabby Stagner was named to the second team.

The honor marked the first of either Jags' career and the 67th and 68th all-conference selections in program history, while Branstetter is the 33rd first team and Stagner's is the 35th second team.

Branstetter was once again outstanding at the "hot corner" making several outstanding defensive plays. Over her final 26 games of the spring, the sophomore committed just one error at the position. Branstetter started all 48 games in which she played and ranked second on the club in batting average (.320), hits (40), doubles (7) and RBI (26). She walked 24 times and was hit by a pitch 11 times – which ranked fifth in the Sun Belt. Her .460 on-base percentage ranked ninth in the league.

Branstetter recorded eight multi-hit games this season and seven multi-RBI games.  Twice this season she reached base safely in 10+ games, including a team-high 18 straight games at one point. The Liberty, Mo., native closed out the season on a 14-game reached base safely streak.

Branstetter also held a .347 batting average with runners in scoring position and batted .857 with runners at third with less than two outs. Of her 26 RBI, 11 came with two outs, which were the most of any Jag, and she also had three walk-off RBI.

Branstetter was even better in conference play as her .365 batting average and her .492 on-base percentage was 10th highest. She was hit by pitch six times, which is tied for tops in the SBC. She has already been hit 20 times during her Jaguar career, which ranks sixth most at South Alabama.

Playing her final season in a Jaguar uniform, Stagner led the team in batting average (.366), hits (48), home runs (12), RBI (45) and slugging percentage (.710). She also paced the team in multi-hit (12) and multi-RBI (15) games, the latter ranking third most in a single-season at South. Stagner reached base in all but five of her 48 games this season.

Stagner batted .432 with runners in scoring position and hit .684 with runners at third with less than two out. She ended the regular season tied for fourth in the SBC triples (3), and also ranked among the league leaders in OPS (sixth), on-base percentage (eighth), RBI (ninth), and was tied for ninth in home runs. 

Stagner was even better in conference play, batting .407, which was eighth best in league play, with 22 RBI, which was tied for eighth. She was also tied for sixth in on-base percentage and ranked ninth in OPS against Sun Belt foes.

On March 4, Stagner was ranked No. 15 at first base for her play during the opening month of the season by Softball America. She entered the 2025 campaign ranked as one of the top players at the position, as she was ranked No. 9 by D1 Softball on their Top 15 First Basemen List during the preseason. 

The Mobile, Ala., native was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on March 16, marking the third for her career.

Stagner ended her Jaguar career holding the program marks in home runs (39), RBI (152) and extra-base hits (81). Stagner also leaves South holding the program record for career multi-RBI games (41), while ranking among the career leaders at South Alabama in slugging percentage (second), doubles (t-sixth) and triples (t-ninth). Her 38 multi-hit games are 10th most on the list.

Stagner Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Honors
Player of the Year: Aiyana Coleman, Texas State (Jr., 1B – College Station, Texas)
Pitcher of the Year: Nicolette Picone, Coastal Carolina (Sr., LHP – Bethpage, N.Y.)
Freshman of the Year: Emily Smith, Louisiana (Fr., 1B – Kountze, Texas)
Newcomer of the Year: Aiyana Coleman, Texas State (Jr., 1B – College Station, Texas)
Coach of the Year: Molly Fichtner, ULM
 
All-Sun Belt First Team 
P Madison Azua, Texas State (So., LHP – Round Rock, Texas)
P Maddie Johnson, Georgia Southern (Fr., RHP – Athens, Ga.)
P Nicolette Picone, Coastal Carolina (Sr., LHP – Bethpage, N.Y.)
C Megan Kelnar, Texas State (Jr., C – Kyle, Texas)
1B Aiyana Coleman, Texas State (Jr., 1B – College Station, Texas)
2B Morgan Brown, ULM (R-Fr., 2B – Katy, Texas)
2B Makayla McClain, App State (Jr., 2B – Liberty, N.C.)
3B Olivia Branstetter, South Alabama (So., 3B – Liberty, Mo.)
SS Grace Barrett, App State (So., SS – Milton, Ga.)
OF Meagan Brown, ULM (So., OF – Katy, Texas)
OF Hannah Christian, Southern Miss (Fr., OF – Hoover, Ala.)
OF Diamond Leslie, Marshall (Fr., OF – Alpharetta, Ga.)
OF Brooklin Lippert, ULM (So., OF – Loganville, Ga.)
OF Taylor McKinney, Troy (Sr., OF – Montgomery, Ala.)
DP Payton List, James Madison (R-So., DP – Beaver, Pa.)
 
All-Sun Belt Second Team 
P Alana Barnard, Georgia Southern (Jr., RHP – Statesboro, Ga.)
P Alyssa Faircloth, Troy (So., LHP – Northport, Ala.)
P Sophie Moshos, App State (Jr., LHP – Brazil, Ind.)
C Maddie Jennings, Coastal Carolina (Sr., C – Belton, S.C.)
1B Georgia Hood, Coastal Carolina (Jr., 1B – Mount Gambier, Australia)
1B Emily Smith, Louisiana (Fr., 1B – Kountze, Texas)
1B Gabby Stagner, South Alabama (Sr., 1B – Mobile, Ala.)
2B Keirstin Roose, Coastal Carolina (Sr., 2B – Wolcottville, Ind.)
3B Sam Roe, Louisiana (Sr., 3B – Destin, Fla.)
SS Haleigh Adkins, Marshall (So., SS – Hamlin, W.Va.)
SS Delanie Thames, Georgia Southern (So., SS – Statesboro, Ga.)
OF Kayla Falterman, Louisiana (Sr., OF – The Woodlands, Texas)
OF Maddie Hayden, Louisiana (Sr., OF – West Monroe, La.)
OF McKinnon Howard, Troy (So., OF – Smiths Station, Ala.)
DP Layla Thompson, ULM (Sr., DP – Gonzales, La.)

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