USA-MSU Box Score (PDF)
USA-Columbia Box Score (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of South Alabama baseball team split a doubleheader Sunday at Dudy Noble Field. USA fell to Mississippi State 8-6 in game one before rebounding with a 4-3 win over Columbia to close the weekend.

"I am glad to be leaving here 2-2," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "I would have loved to have beaten Mississippi State earlier. We were in two close ballgames with them and Columbia. This was a very good tournament. It follows suit with the way we have scheduled; we've scheduled extremely tough and I am glad games are tight. We played good competition. I'm proud of our guys for how we bounced back a half-hour after an emotional game like that. It can be hard on a club, but our guys hung in there and came back and beat a very good Columbia team. They had three tight ballgames with Florida, they were right there at the end with Mississippi State today and played tight games with us. They are a good club with some good players. 

"I am just proud of our guys. We haven't had some things go our way as far as tight ballgames, some personal situations and a few guys nicked up here and there; our guys continue to compete and fight. The game means a lot to them and winning means a lot to them. You could see it in this game. (Sean) Trimble did a nice job, Jason Lott came in and did a nice job and so did Matt Peacock. I am proud of the team's effort. It was a long day, and our kids ended up hanging in there. We ended up splitting, so we go home feeling pretty good about ourselves today."

Mississippi State 8, South Alabama 6
Mississippi State scored eight runs over the final three innings to defeat South Alabama 8-6 in game one of Sunday's doubleheader.

MSU (10-6) sent 10 batters to the plate in the sixth frame, and pushed four runs across on three hits. The Bulldogs added their final runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run by Brent Rooker, a two-run double to right field by Hunter Stovall and an RBI single to right-center field by Luke Alexander.

Four Bulldog hitters recorded multiple hits in the game, led by Rooker who went 2-for-3 with a home run, one RBI and two runs scored. Travis Swaggerty finished 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, three RBI and one run scored to lead the Jaguars offensively.

South Alabama (8-7) broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth on a one-out solo home run to right field by Travis Swaggerty, his second of the season, for a 1-0 lead.

MSU answered with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a three-run lead. Stovall led off the inning with a walk, and moved to second on a single to left field by Jake Mangum. A sacrifice bunt by Alexander advanced both runners into scoring position with one out. Ryan Gridley followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Stovall with the Bulldogs' first run of the game. Cody Brown then delivered a two-out RBI single to right field for a 2-1 MSU advantage. Brant Blaylock reached on a hit by pitch from Jaguar right-hander Nick DeSantis with the bases loaded to score Rooker for a 3-1 lead, and Dustin Skelton followed with an RBI single to left field to extend the Bulldog lead to 4-1.

USA responded in the top of the seventh on a one-out home run by Will Luft to cut the MSU lead in half at 4-2. USA loaded the bases later in the inning on a walk by Cam Cummings, pinch-hit single to right field by Matt Bolger and a walk by Eddie Paparella. Swaggerty then delivered a two-out, two-run single to right field to tie the game 4-4.

Mississippi State broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth on a leadoff home run to left field by Rooker, and added three insurance runs on a two-run double to right field by Stovall and an RBI single to right-center field by Alexander.

USA loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth on a hit by pitch to Bolger and Paul Russo, and a walk by Swaggerty. Wells Davis followed with a walk to score Bolger and cut the MSU lead to 8-5. Jared Barnes then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that scored pinch-runner Andrew Cash with the game's final run.

Graham Ashcraft (2-0) allowed two runs on one hit with four strikeouts and one walk in two innings pitched to earn the win. Jaguar right-hander Avery Geyer (0-1) allowed two runs on one hit with one strikeout and one walk in the loss. Mangum walked one in two-thirds of an inning to record his first save of the season. 

USA 4, Columbia 3
South Alabama homered twice in its 4-3 win over Columbia to close the weekend

Columbia jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on an RBI single back up the middle by AJ DeFillipo. But USA answered in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back solo home runs by Carter Perkins and Brendan Donovan for a 2-1 lead.

The Jaguars added to their lead in the bottom of the seventh when Donovan doubled to the right-center gap with one out, and scored two batters later on a two-out RBI infield single to shortstop by Eddie Paparella for a 3-1 USA advantage. Matt Bolger reached on an error by Columbia first baseman Liam McGill later in the inning that allowed Paparella to score from third for a 4-1 Jag lead. 

The Lions responded in the top of the eighth on a two-run home run to left field by Randell Kanemaru with the game's final runs.

Donovan and Perkins each went 2-for-3 with a double, one home run and one RBI apiece to lead the Jaguars offensively. Kyle Bartelman finished 3-for-4 with one run scored to lead Columbia at the plate.

Jaguar right-hander Jason Lott (2-0) allowed two runs on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk in three innings pitched to earn the win. Ty Wiest (0-1) allowed two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and one walk in five innings pitched in the loss. Matt Peacock pitched two scoreless innings and allowed one hit to earn his second save of the season.

USA will return to action Tue., March 14, when it hosts Southeastern Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. at Stanky Field.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Dugout Club, the baseball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. Members enjoy all games from inside the Stadium Club with climate control, private restrooms, private concessions and access to listen to the radio broadcast. All donations to the Dugout Club go directly to support the South Alabama baseball program. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/sports/2013/3/13/Dugout%20Club.aspx?id=21