Farish Beard

Classroom

Beard has a 3.4 GPA and was named a 2013-14 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Scholar-Athlete. She was part of a 2014 Jaguar squad that was given Sun Belt Conference Team Academic Award with 3.36 overall GPA.

Character

Says Beard: “Throughout my childhood I was told that whatever you do, ‘do your best,’ and I’ve tried to apply that to everything I do. Throughout my four years here at South I have had the honor of speaking to several different elementary school groups. I spoke to kids about how important it is to do well in school. As critical as it is for student-athletes to do their job on the field, I think it is even more important to do the job off the field.  Student-athletes are looked up to by children across the nation as role models, and with that comes a huge responsibility to the next generation. It is absolutely a privilege to play the sport you love, and with that privilege comes an opportunity to be someone’s role model. Student-athletes have the obligation to show respect for the game, their teammates, their opponents and coaches. More importantly, student-athletes must demonstrate character off the field. We must use the opportunities we are given to help steer young athletes in the right direction and show them that not only should you work as hard as you can on the field every day, but also in the classroom and in the community.”

Community

“Being a member of the South Alabama Jaguars has given me the opportunity to participate in community service. We visited the Ronald McDonald House and cooked for the guest families on three occasions. I am always touched by the response from the people being helped and the expressions on their faces. I feel like I am the one receiving the biggest blessing. We helped build houses for the Habitat for Humanity in Mobile, and I have spent time at our local women and children’s hospital playing with some of the sick children. Visiting those children has been my most memorable service. I expected my role to be one of giving, but there turned out to be just as much receiving on my part.”

Competition

Beard was a top-25 finalist for the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. She was named to the NFCA All-South Region Second Team and the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team. She led the NCAA in ERA for three weeks and topped the country in hits allowed per 7 innings for two periods. Beard finished fifth in the NCAA in hits allowed per seven innings (3.40), sixth in ERA (1.23) and ninth in strikeouts per seven innings (9.5). She was a three-time SBC Pitcher of the Week and led the SBC in opposing batting average (.141), strikeouts (224), hits allowed (80), runs allowed (40) and doubles allowed (9), while ranking among top four in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts looking, wins and fewest earned runs, walks, triples and home runs allowed. She held opposing batters to the second-lowest average in a season in program history and recorded the second-best strikeouts-per-seven-innings ratio in school history. Her win and shutout totals were third-most in a single season for a US pitcher.

In 2013, she was voted to the NFCA All-South Region Second Team and earned Second-Team All-SBC honors. She was voted Co-Most Valuable Pitcher of the Samford Invitational and recorded a perfect 23-0 record on the year, the second-most wins in USA single-season history, and threw eight total shutouts, the school’s second most ever.