BOX SCORES
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -The University of South Alabama had never been eliminated from a Sun Belt Tournament in two straight games, a trend that continued Thursday morning, as Joey Doan and the Jags defeated the Arkansas State Indians 5-3, at Nick Denes Field in Bowling Green, Ky.
Doan picked up his fourth complete game of the season, in a game that took only two hours and six minutes. Doan threw just 94 pitches, retiring 13 Indians with ground outs. David Doss keyed the USA offense. Doss, a second team All-Sun Belt selection and the freshman of the year, went 4-for-4 with three runs scored.
“The more the game went on, the stronger Joey got,” said USA head coach Steve Kittrell. “He made some big pitches and let the defense play behind him. It was huge to get two complete games in a row from Joey. Hopefully, we can come back and play well tomorrow at 9 a.m.”
The Jags opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the second inning. Jeff Cunningham bounced a single up the middle to open the inning. David Doss then hammered an 0-2 fastball up the box, to put two on with nobody out. After an Aaron George ground out which moved the runners up, Guillermo Martinez singled through the left side, plating Cunningham. Jeff Morris produced the second run with an RBI fielder’s choice, making the score 2-0 Jags.
Arkansas State got one run back in the bottom of the third inning. Josh Allison blooped a single to center with one out, which was followed by a Tyler Doke single to right field, putting runners on the corners with one out. Doan punched out Elliot Jacobs with a fastball, but Martinez committed a throwing error on a Brett Kinning grounder, to score the first ASU run.
South Alabama added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning. Doss singled up the middle and went to third when George’s ground ball to third was thrown into right field. ASU starter Brandon Eller then uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Doss. A Joel Collins fielder’s choice moved George to third, and Morris drove in his second run of the game with another RBI ground out to second base, giving USA a 4-1 lead.
Arkansas State got right back in the game with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Kevin Kull led off with a single to left field. Mike Williams followed with a blooper to right center to put two on with nobody out. Todd Boucher dropped a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up. Josh Allison drove in Kull with a ground out to Freese at third, making the score 4-2. Doke then picked up an RBI infield single to score Williams and cut the Jags lead to 4-3, with only one hard-hit ball in the inning.
South Alabama pushed across its fifth run in the top of the eighth. Doss led off with his fourth hit of the game, a double to left field. Lance Heisler pitch hit and did his job, with a perfect sacrifice bunt. Martinez was then drilled by reliever Tim Egart, to put runners on the corners. USA then executed a 1st and 3rd play where Martinez got in a rundown between first and second. Doss hustled home as Martinez was tagged out, giving USA a 5-3 lead.
Doan continued to dominate, throwing just five pitches in the ninth inning, retiring the Indians in order with three consecutive ground outs.
Next up the Jags will take on the loser of the Middle Tennessee, Louisiana-Lafayette game at 9 a.m. Friday morning. The game can be heard on WNSP 105.5 FM in Mobile. Live stats can be accessed at www.usajaguars.com.
