OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – No. 22 University of South Alabama softball senior pitcher Farish Beard has been named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, which honors student-athletes that excel on and off the field.
 
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
 
Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. Fan voting will be available today at www.seniorCLASSaward.com. Online voting will be available through May 11.
 
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2015 Women's College World Series.
 
On the Field
The Fairhope, Ala., native was recently selected by the Dallas Charge in the 2015 National Pro Fastpitch Draft, becoming the second South Alabama student-athlete selected at the event in as many years and the second-ever female student-athlete from the university to be drafted professionally.
 
Beard is 5-2 on the year with a team-low 1.40 ERA. She has recorded 55 strikeouts to 19 walks and has allowed only nine earned runs in 45 innings pitched this season.
 
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, Beard 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.
 
In the 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.
 
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).