Box Score (PDF)

LAFAYETTE, La. – Left-hander Jared Proctor tossed a shutout and the fourth-seeded University of South Alabama baseball team scored nine runs in the first two innings in a 12-0 run-rule win over No. 5 Georgia Southern Friday in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Russo Park. 

Proctor (5-1) tossed a career-high seven innings, and tied his career high with five strikeouts without issuing a walk while limiting Georgia Southern (30-26) to three hits to earn his fifth win of the season.

South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it faces Coastal Carolina at 9 a.m. in the SBC Tournament semifinals at Russo Park. 
 
GAME FACTS
- Dylan Hardy and Travis Swaggerty reached on consecutive walks to start the game. Brendan Donovan followed with an RBI double off the right-center field wall to score Hardy with the game's first run. Carter Perkins the delivered an RBI groundout to shortstop to plate Swaggerty and double the Jaguar lead at 2-0. Wells Davis drew a one-out walk to put runners at the corners with one out, which chased Eagle right-hander David Johnson from the game. Hunter Stokes delivered a two-out, three-run home run to right field on the first pitch he saw from Eagle right-hander Braxton Johns to extend the Jaguar lead to 5-0. Paul Russo followed with a single back up the middle, stole second before Will Luft delivered an RBI single to center field to score Russo for a 6-0 Jag advantage.
- Swaggerty led off the top of the second inning with a single to center field, and Donovan reached on a hit by pitch. Carter Perkins followed with an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Swaggerty for a 7-0 lead. Davis then reached on a hit by pitch to load the bases with no outs for Michael Sandle, who followed with an RBI infield single back to the pitcher to score Donovan for an 8-0 Jaguar advantage. Russo delivered a one-out RBI single through the right side of the infield later in the inning to score Perkins and push the USA lead to 9-0. 
- Donovan drew a two-out walk in the top of the fifth inning, and advanced to second on a single through the right side of the infield by Perkins. Davis followed with a walk to load the bases with two outs for Sandle, but Eagle right-hander Lawson Humphries escaped the jam with a grounder to shortstop for the final out of the inning.
-  Hardy and Swaggerty reached on consecutive singles to center field to lead off the top of the seventh inning. A wild pitch by Humphries allowed both runners to move into scoring position with no outs. Donovan followed with a two-run triple to center field for an 11-0 Jaguar lead. Davis delivered a one-out RBI single to right-center field later in the inning to plate Donovan with the game's final run.

NOTES
- Davis extended his on-base streak to 18 games with a one-out walk in the top of the first inning.
- Perkins extended his on-base streak to 15 games with an RBI single in the top of the second inning.
- Every Jaguar hit safely in the game, led by Donovan who went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, three RBIs and three runs scored. Perkins finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored, Davis had two hits, two RBIs and one run scored and Sandle finished with two hits and one RBI. Stokes added a home run, three RBIs and one run scored, while Russo went 2-for-5 with an RBI and one run.
- Johnson (3-3) allowed four runs on one hit with three walks in one-third of an inning in the loss.
- South Alabama's 12 runs are the most by a Jaguar team in the SBC Tournament since defeating Georgia State 14-4 in 2015 in Troy, Ala.
- The game marked the first Jaguar shutout in the SBC Tournament since USA defeated UT-Arlington 3-0 in the 2016 tournament in San Marcos, Texas.
- Proctor's shutout was the first shutout by a Jag hurler in the SBC Tournament since right-hander Randy Bell shut out UTA in the 2016 tournament. 

QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Calvi
- Opening Statement:
"The story of the day was Jared Proctor. We scored some runs for him early, but he just kept pouring it in there. After last night, it didn't feel good. I was very proud of Jared and our team for their performance and the way they bounced back today."

On the offense:
"We knew (David) Johnson, Georgia Southern's starter, had a good arm. He threw an inning against us earlier this year when we played them at our place. He's up to 91 (mph) and has a good slider, we just hadn't seen much of him. We didn't have a lot of information on him from the scouting report, but our guys did a good job. We laid off some close pitches early, and he got into some bad counts and didn't execute some pitches. They (Georgia Southern) walked us a little bit early and hit a few guys, and we got a couple of big hits. When we get at least two RBIs six through nine (in the lineup), we probably win 85 percent of our ballgames. I thought Hunter Stokes had a really good day today, along with Paul Russo, Will Luft and Mike Sandle. There really wasn't a game plan today because we hadn't seen him and weren't familiar with him. That kid is going to be good; he's a freshman and he will be just fine. He has a really good arm."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Saturday when it faces Coastal Carolina at 9 a.m. in the SBC Tournament semifinals at Russo Park.

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