VIEW COMPLETE CONFERENCE RELEASE (PDF)
For Immediate Release
Monday, March 10, 2014
Media Contact: Randy Lieberman (504-556-0872 or lieberman@sunbeltsports.org)
WKU Defeats No. 2 Tennessee; Beard, Wright Honored as Weekly Award Winners
NEW ORLEANS – The Western Kentucky University softball program posted the highest-ranked win of the season amongst the conference teams with a 3-2 win at No. 2 Tennessee on Saturday to highlight a successful week for Sun Belt Conference softball teams. South Alabama’s Farish Beard went 3-0 to earn her second-consecutive and third overall Pitcher of the Week honor while Troy’s Ebony Wright took home her first Player of the Week award this year.
Beard improved her record to 12-1 this season while competing at FAU’s Parents’ Weekend event last weekend. Beard struck out 28 batters and allowed only a pair of earned runs and walks in 22 innings pitched, including her first complete-game shutout, to service her team-leading 0.64 ERA. Beard retired 19 straight Marshall batters to see the game out and allow USA to garner its slim winning margin. Beard now has 118 strikeouts on the year and has allowed only three earned runs in 69 1/3 total innings pitched.
Troy senior Ebony Wright was solid for the Trojans all week, hitting .611 over six games. Wright picked up multiple hits in four games and three hits once. Wright was also extremely consistent, hitting below .500 in a game just once over the six-game span.
In WKU’s program-best victory at No. 2-ranked Tennessee, senior Emily Rousseau posted her best pitching performance of the season. She struck out a season-high 10 batters and allowed her only runs against the Lady Vols on a two-run home run late in the game. WKU was led by junior Preslie Cruce, senior Olivia Watkins and sophomore Brooke Holloway who each had two hits. Cruce added one of the Lady Toppers’ runs while Holloway scored the other two.
South Alabama wrapped up a successful weekend slate on Sunday with an extra-inning win vs. Illinois. The Jags finished the FAU Parents’ Weekend slate with a 4-1 record with their only loss coming by a 1-0 margin to Virginia Tech. Troy also posted a 4-1 record on the weekend in Orlando, Fla. The Trojans defeated Bowling Green, before they won back-to-back extra-inning games on Friday and Saturday prior to splitting on Sunday.
Conference play for the 2014 Sun Belt Conference softball season begins on Saturday, March 22. All eight teams will advance to the conference tournament held May 7-10 in Lafayette, La., on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
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Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Week 5)
2014 Sun Belt Conference Composite Schedule
2014 Sun Belt Conference Standings
2014 Sun Belt Conference Statistics
WEEK 5 SUN BELT CONFERENCE SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ebony Wright (Troy, Senior, OF)
Wright was solid for the Trojans all week, hitting .611 over six games. Wright picked up multiple hits in four games and three hits once. Wright was also extremely consistent, hitting below .500 in a game just once over the six-game span.
WEEK 5 SUN BELT CONFERENCE SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Farish Beard (South Alabama, Junior, P)
University of South Alabama’s Farish Beard (12-1) went 3-0 last weekend at FAU’s Parents’ Weekend, moving to 12-1 on the season. Beard struck out 28 batters and allowed only a pair of earned runs and walks in 22 innings pitched, including her first complete-game shutout, to service her team-leading 0.64 ERA. Beard retired 19 straight Marshall batters to see the game out and allow USA to garner its slim winning margin. Beard now has 118 strikeouts on the year and has allowed only three earned runs in 69 1/3 total innings pitched.
RECENT RESULTS
Monday, March 3
LSU at UL Monroe Cancelled
Wednesday, March 5
McNeese State at UL Lafayette Cancelled
Georgia Tech 2, Troy 1
Texas A&M 9, Texas State 2
Thursday, March 6
UL Lafayette 14, Lamar 3
Friday, March 7
South Alabama 1, Marshall 0
Virginia Tech 1, South Alabama 0
UT Arlington 5, New Mexico State 3
UT Arlington 8, Northern Colorado 3
Troy 3, Bowling Green 0
Troy 6, Penn 4
WKU 9, Holy Cross 1
WKU 2, Campbell 1
Saturday, March 8
South Alabama 5, Illinois 3
South Alabama 7, Florida Atlantic 1
WKU 3, Tennessee 2
Troy 8, UT Martin 7
Abilene Christian 2, UT Arlington 1
Texas Tech 8, UT Arlington 1
Sunday, March 9
South Alabama 5, Illinois 2
New Mexico State 4, UT Arlington 3
Troy 4, Western Carolina 1
WKU 3, Georgia Southern 0
College of Charleston 5, WKU 4
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, March 11
WKU at UAB
Texas A&M-CC at Texas State
Texas A&M-CC at Texas State
Wednesday, March 12
Nicholls State at South Alabama 5:00 PM
Mississippi State at Georgia State
Ole Miss at UL Monroe
Ole Miss at UL Monroe
WKU at Tennessee Tech
Troy at Auburn
Thursday, March 13
Sam Houston State at Texas State
Friday, March 14
Long Beach State vs. UT Arlington
UT Arlington at San Diego State
Troy at Coastal Carolina
Oklahoma at UL Lafayette
Minnesota vs. Georgia State
Georgia State at Coastal Carolina
Saturday, March 15
New Mexico vs. South Alabama 1:00 PM
South Alabama at Oklahoma State 3:00 PM
Fordham vs. Georgia State
Coastal Carolina vs. Georgia State
Oklahoma at UL Lafayette
Oklahoma at UL Lafayette
Fordham vs. Troy
Minnesota vs. Troy
Long Beach State vs. UT Arlington
UT Arlington at San Diego State
UL Monroe at Texas State
UL Monroe at Texas State
Sunday, March 16
South Alabama at Oklahoma State
UL Monroe at Texas State
Harvard vs. UT Arlington
Minnesota vs. Troy
College of Charleston vs. Georgia State
NOTES
NO. 2-RANKED TEAM TOPPED ON ROCKY TOP
WKU defeated its highest-ranked opponent in program history by downing No. 2 Tennessee by a score of 3-2 on Mar8. at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. Senior Emily Rousseau struck out a season-high 10 batters in a complete-game effort. Rousseau allowed five hits with both runs earned.
TROY WINS BACK-TO-BACK IN EXTRAS
For the second straight game the Troy softball team went to extra innings, and for the second straight game the Trojans came out on top, when they defeated UT Martin 8-7 on Mar. 8. This followed up a 6-4 win vs. Penn on the previous night.
BEARD GOES BACK-TO-BACK
South Alabama junior Farish Beard became the first Sun Belt Conference softball student-athlete to earn back-to-back weekly awards this season by earning the Pitcher of the Week honor on Mar. 10. She earned her conference-high third weekly honor with the award as well.