2017 NCAA Hattiesburg (Miss.) Regional
No. 1 Southern Miss Golden Eagles (48-14)
No. 2 Mississippi State Bulldogs (36-24)
No. 3 South Alabama Jaguars (39-19)
No. 4 UIC Flames (39-15)

June 2-5 • Pete Taylor Park • Hattiesburg, Miss.

Media Information
On the Radio:  Jaguar baseball games are broadcast live in Mobile on 99.5 FM The Jag, and also available via the iHeartRadio app. 

Live Streaming:  Every game of the regional will be broadcast live by ESPN3 and available through WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app.

Live Stats:  Live stats for every game of the regional will be available through the Hattiesburg Regional Central page at SouthernMiss.com.

Twitter:  Follow the official Twitter account of South Alabama baseball — @SouthALBaseball — for news and updates.

Probable Starting Pitchers
Fri., June 2 • No. 3 South Alabama vs. No. 2 Mississippi State • 6 p.m.
USA - RHP  Randy Bell (6-3)
MSU - RHP  Cole Gordon (2-2)

All-Time Series
USA vs. MSU 
Mississippi State holds a 47-26 all-time lead over South Alabama in a series that began in 1976 ... The Bulldogs took a pair of games from the Jaguars in a round-robin tournament that also featured Columbia on March 10-11 in Starkville ... USA defeated the then-11th ranked Bulldogs 5-2 on April 18 at Stanky Field ... South Alabama is 0-2 all-time against MSU in the NCAA postseason ... The Bulldogs defeated the Jags 9-2 in the 2000 NCAA Regional in Starkville, and earned a 6-2 win over USA in the 2013 NCAA Regional which was also in Starkville. 

USA vs. USM 
South Alabama holds a 61-35 all-time lead over Southern Miss in a series that dates back to 1967 ... USM defeated USA 4-2 on March 28 in Hattiesburg earlier this year, and earned a 13-7 victory over the Jags on April 25 ... The Golden Eagles were nationally ranked in both of their matchups against the Jaguars this season ... USA is 1-3 all-time against USM in the NCAA postseason ... Southern Miss defeated USA 14-2 in the Tallahassee (Fla.) Regional last season before the Jags knocked off the Golden Eagles 7-5 in an elimination contest ... Southern Miss defeated South Alabama 20-13 and 10-9 in the 1999 Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Regional.

USA vs. UIC 
The Jaguars fell to UIC 6-4 in the only meeting between the schools, which came in 1967 ... Jaguar head coach Mel Lucas was leading a Jaguar program in just its third season of competition.

Last Time Out
South Alabama won three straight games to capture its first Sun Belt Conference Tournament title since 2005. The Jaguars defeated Georgia Southern 7-6 in 10 innings in the championship game to earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. After Georgia Southern took a two-run lead in the top of the ninth on a three-run home run by first baseman Ryan Cleveland, USA tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on back-to-back solo home runs from Dylan Hardy and Eddie Paparella. The Jaguars won the contest on an RBI walk-off single to left field by Brendan Donovan, who was named the tournament's most oustanding player.

JAGS IN NCAA POSTSEASON FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR
South Alabama's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, following a 7-6 extra-inning win over Georgia Southern in the SBC Tournament, marks the program's 27th NCAA postseason apperance. It is the second straight year the Jaguars have played in an NCAA Regional, after falling to Florida State in the Tallahassee Regional final last season, and the third in the last five seasons under head coach Mark Calvi.

JAGS RANKED BY COLLEGIATE BASEBALL
South Alabama is ranked 19th in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll, the organization announced on Monday.  The Jags moved up seven spots from last week ranking of 26th after winning three straight games to capture the 2017 SBC Tournament championship. It marks the highest the Jaguars have been ranked in any poll this season. 

JAGS IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
South Alabama leads the nation in walks (353),  which ranks as the third-highest single-sesaon total in program history. The Jags need 13 walks to tie the school record - first set in 1975 and tied by the 1987 squad - of 366. USA enters the weekend ranked fifth nationally in on-base percentage (.417) and runs scored (476), seventh in runs per game (8.2), 11th sacrifice flies (32), 16th in home runs (73), 17th in fielding percentage (.979), 19th in hits (619) and 21st in batting average (.308).

JAG VERSUS MSU THIS SEASON
South Alabama hit just .194 with one double, two home runs, 10 RBI, 11 runs scored and six stolen bases in three regular-season games with Mississippi State. Center fielder Travis Swaggerty leads the team with a .625 batting average (5-for-8) in three games against the Bulldogs, along with one double, one home run, four RBI, one run scored, one stolen base and a .769 on-base percentage.

JAGS IN NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
USA is 5-2 in seven neutral site games this season, but is hitting just .269 with eight doubles, six home runs, 29 RBI, 32 RBI and nine stolen bases in those contests. Travis Swaggerty leads the team with a .360 batting average (9-for-25) in seven neutral-site games with one double, four RBI, three runs scored and four stolen bases and a .467 OBP.
The Jaguar pitching staff has posted a 2.47 ERA and struck out 65 batters against 25 walks in 62 innings pitched in those seven games.

TWO OR FEWER TO WIN
USA is 13-1 when allowing two or fewer runs, but is 28-18 when surrendering three or more. The Jags have allowed three or more runs in 18 of their last 21 contests, but are 17-4 during that span.

LEADING AFTER SEVEN
USA is 31-1 when leading after seven innings this season, but is 2-14 when trailing and 5-4 when tied after seven frames. 

TWO-OUT RBI
Of USA's 432 team RBI, 164 have come with two outs which accounts for 38 percent of the Jaguars' team RBI total. Jared Barnes and Travis Swaggerty share the team lead the team with 23 two-out RBI this season entering the weekend.

JAG OFFENSE LEADS THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE 
South Alabama closed the regular season as the SBC leader in batting average (.307), slugging percentage (.478), on-base percentage (.416), runs scored (456), hits (582), RBI (413), total bases (908), walks (335) and sacrifice flies (31), and ranked second in home runs (66).

JAGS WITH BASES LOADED
South Alabama is hitting .442 (42-for-95) with the bases loaded this season, led by Travis Swaggerty who has seven hits and is hitting .636 with the bags full of Jags. USA has hit seven grand slams this season, led by Eddie Paparella and Wells Davis with two each, following Davis' grand slam at Appalachian State on May 13.

RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION
The Jags are batting .315 (213-for-667) with runners in scoring position. Travis Swaggerty leads the team with 27 hits with RISP. 

TEN OR MORE RUNS
USA is 15-1 when scoring 10 or more runs this season and 31-7 when scoring six or more, but is 8-12 when scoring five or less. 

EARLY/LATE-INNING RUN PRODUCTION
South Alabama has outscored the opposition 58-19 in the first inning and 39-11 in the ninth inning this season. USA has allowed more runs (56) in the third inning than any other inning this season.

ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE
Catcher Jared Barnes, shortstop Drew LaBounty and center fielder Travis Swaggerty were each named first-team all-Sun Belt Conference on Monday. First baseman Wells Davis and outfielder Dylan Hardy were each named second-team all-SBC.

BARNES IN SBC CONTESTS
Catcher Jared Barnes led the SBC in slugging percentage (.768) and on-base percentage (.504) during league games, tied for the lead in home runs (10), second in total bases (73) and ranked third in batting average (.368) and RBI (32).

LABOUNTY TIED WITH MORDECAI ON CAREER LIST
Shortstop Drew LaBounty enters the weekend tied with former Jaguar All-American Mike Mordecai (1987-89) for second in career walks (146). Mordecai played in 195 career games, while LaBounty enters the regional having played in 180 games. Mike Warren (1972-75) holds the career record in base on balls (155) at USA, which he recorded in 175 career games.

HARDY LEADS SBC IN LEAGUE GAMES
Left fielder Dylan Hardy led the Sun Belt Conference in batting average (.387) and hits (48) in league games this season, and hit safely in his final seven conference contests including three consecutive multiple-hit performances against Troy. 

DONOVAN IN SBC GAMES
Outfielder Brendan Donovan finished the regular season as the league leader in runs scored (38) in conference games, ranked second in doubles (11) and RBI (34), third in total bases (71) and walks (25), tied for fourth in hits (42), fifth in batting average (.356) and on-base percentage (.473), sixth in slugging percentage (.602) and tied for eighth in home runs (6). 

BARNES NATIONAL, CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Catcher Jared Barnes was named the National Hitter of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on May 16, after earning National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball and SBC Player of the Week on May 15. Barnes batted .556 (10-for-18) with four doubles, three home runs, 13 RBI and four runs scored while posting a 1.278 slugging percentage and .524 on-base percentage in four games in a three-game sweep at Appalachian State May 13-14. He hit safely in all four contests, tallying multiple hits in each game, and drove in at least one run in each game including three multi-RBI performances. 

SWAGGERTY AMONG SBC LEADERS
Outfielder Travis Swaggerty finished the regular season tied for the league lead in runs scored (52) and on-base percentage (.484), ranked second in batting average (.357) and RBI (55),  third in walks (44), fifth in slugging percentage (.571) and stolen bases (18), and tied for eighth in hits (70) and home runs (10).

Notes