Box Score (PDF)

NEW ORLEANS – The University of South Alabama baseball team scored seven first-inning runs en route to a 15-9 win over New Orleans Wednesday at Maestri Field.

Carter Perkins homered twice for South Alabama (22-13), which extended its winning streak to five games with the victory.

USA will return to action Fri., April 20, when it faces Texas State in the series opener of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series in San Marcos, Texas, at 6 p.m.

GAME FACTS
-  Dylan Hardy drew a one-out walk in the top of the first, and moved to second when Brendan Donovan reached on a hit by pitch. Carter Perkins followed with a walk to load the bases with one out for Wells Davis, who delivered a two-run single through the right side of the infield to score Hardy and Donovan for a 2-0 Jaguar lead. Michael Sandle followed with an RBI single to left field to plate Perkins and push the Jag lead to 3-0. Hunter Brittain then reached on a fielding error by UNO shortstop Darren Willis to load the bases with two outs before Will Luft reached on a walk to score Davis for a 4-0 Jaguar advantage. Travis Swaggerty then reached on a hit by pitch that scored Sandle for a 5-0 lead. Hardy followed with a two-run single to right field that scored Luft and Brittain to extend the USA lead to 7-0. 
- Collin Morrill and Owen Magee reached on consecutive singles to start the bottom of the first inning. A wild pitch by Jaguar left-hander Ryan Terry allowed both runners to move into scoring position with one out. Orynn Veillon then reached on a throwing by Donovan on a grounder to third that allowed Morrill to score with UNO's first run of the game. Pearce Howard then delivered an RBI double to right field that scored Magee and cut the Jag lead to 7-2. Jacob McFadden drew a walk to load the bases with one out before Jared McKay delivered an RBI single to right field to score Veillon and cut the Jag lead to 7-3.
- USA responded in the top of the second when Perkins led off the inning with a solo home run to right-center field on a 3-1 pitch from UNO left-hander Matthew Gillis for an 8-3 Jaguar lead. 
- Swaggerty and Hardy reached on consecutive two-out walks in the top of the third before Donovan delivered an RBI double to left field that scored Swaggerty for a 9-3 Jag advantage. 
- The Privateers answered with a run in the bottom of the third on a two-out RBI single up the middle by McKay to cut the USA lead to 9-4.
- Willis drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth inning, and advanced to third on a single to left field by Collin Morrill to put Privateers at the corners with no outs. An RBI groundout to second by Beau Bratton later in the inning scored Willis and cut the USA lead to 9-5. Veillon followed with a two-out RBI double down the left field line that scored Morrill and cut the Jag lead to 9-6.
- Paul Russo drew a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth inning, and advanced to second on a one-out walk by Swaggerty. Donovan delivered a two-out RBI single to right field later in the inning to score Russo for a 10-6 Jaguar lead. Perkins followed with a three-run home run to right field, his second of the game, on an 0-2 pitch for a 13-6 Jaguar advantage. 
- A one-out RBI single by Bratton in the bottom of the sixth scored Collin Morrill, who led off the inning with a single, to cut the USA lead to 13-7. A sacrifice fly to left field by Howard two batters later cut the Jaguar advantage to 13-8. McKay drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning to score Bratton and cut the USA lead to 13-9. 
- Hardy led off the top of the seventh with an infield single to third, and moved to second when Donovan reached on a hit by pitch. A bunt single up the third base line by Perkins loaded the bases with no outs. An RBI groundout to first by Davis then scored Hardy for a 14-9 Jag lead. 
- Perkins led off the top of the ninth with a double to center field, and was lifted for pinch-runner Andrew Cash. Davis followed with an RBI single down the left field line to score Cash with the game's final run.

NOTES
- Swaggerty extended his on-base streak to 17 games when he reached on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the first inning, and extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a one-out single in the eighth inning. 
- Perkins recorded the first multiple-home run game of his career, tallied a career-high four hits, including two home runs and a double, and tied his career high in RBIs (4), finishing 4-for-5 along with three runs scored.
- Davis went 2-for-5 with four RBIs and one run scored, while Donovan finished 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Hardy went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored.
- Russo extended his hitting streak to five games with a one-out single in the sixth inning.
- With their seven runs in the top of the first, South Alabama has outscored the opposition 50-12 in the first frame this season.
- Jaguar right-hander Zach Greene (2-2) struck out a career-high eight batters in 3 1/3 scoreless relief innings to earn the win.
- UNO left-hander Chris DeMayo (0-1) allowed seven runs on two hits with one strikeout against three walks in two-third of an inning in the loss.

QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Calvi
- On the win:
"I credit New Orleans, they didn't quit and kept swinging the bats. It was good to jump on the board (early) and score some runs. I thought (Ryan) Terry, all things considered, went three innings and six strikeouts and had a couple of balls that found some holes and we made two errors behind him, which is unfortunate because we are such a sound defensive team – Ryan probably could have gone four innings with the same pitch total but I thought he held his composure really well and worked right through it. He didn't get frustrated, and Carter Perkins did an outstanding job catching him, because Ryan has a pretty good breaking ball and he threw some down in the dirt. It was good to see Terry get out there; he ate up three innings and I was proud of his poise and composure out there."

- On Carter Perkins:
"Carter dealt with the passing of his grandfather this morning, and I thought about not starting him tonight. I knew how much he loved his grandfather and how close he was to him. He played a great game tonight with a heavy heart, and his teammates rallied around him. He was kind of the unsung hero today; it was a great team win, but I thought Carter led the way. He was a true leader out there on the field with a lot on his mind."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Fri., April 20, when it faces Texas State in the series opener of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series in San Marcos, Texas, at 6 p.m. 

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