Official Box Score
MOBILE, Ala. -- South Alabama broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of unearned runs in the seventh inning Tuesday night to defeat Auburn, 4-3, at Stanky Field. The win is the fourth in a row for the Jaguars, who also snapped a four-game slide against the Tigers.
Ray Kruml went 3-for-5 with a double and Bunky Kateon drove in two runs with a pair of doubles to lead South Alabama (17-11). Mike Bianucci homered and scored three runs as part of a trio of Tigers who has two hits each.
The Jaguars finished the game with eight hits, but three Auburn errors paved the way for USA to equal its longest winning of the year. The most costly Tiger miscue came in the seventh with the score tied at two. Kruml led off the frame with a single to left field, putting Clint Toomey in a position for a sacrifice bunt. His near-perfect attempt down the first-base line was thrown into right field by Evan Crawford, bringing Kruml in and sending Toomey all the way to third. After an out, Ryne Jernigan singled up the middle to make the score 4-2.
Auburn (18-11) had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Bianucci reached on a fielder's choice and later scored on a passed ball. But South Alabama went ahead 2-1 in the fourth on a two-run double by Kateon. A Ryan Bohanan walk and a bunt single by Chris Davis set the table for the Jaguar shortstop.
The Tigers tied the game with three straight singles in the sixth. Reliever Lance Baxter, who improved to 2-4 with the win, got the first out of the inning, but then allowed Bianucci and Hunter Morris to single to left field. Joseph Sanders hit the next pitch into left field to bring home Bianucci from third.
The Tigers tried to rally in the eighth inning, closing to 4-3 on Bianucci's home run and putting a pair of runners on base. But Greg Johnson closed the door by picking off Sanders off second base to end the inning. After issuing a leadoff walk in the ninth, Johnson struck out the side to earn his seventh save of the season, a figure that ranks tied for 10th in South Alabama's single-season record book.
Jaguar starter Kevin Nabors had one of his better outings of the season, allowing only an unearned run in five innings of work. He gave up four hits and walked two, while striking out six. Baxter was solid in his 2.2 innings of relief, giving up two runs on four hits.
"It was nip-and-tuck there for a while," Head Coach Steve Kittrell said. "Pitching and defense came through for us; we didn't make any errors again tonight. I thought Kevin Nabors showed us the Kevin Nabors of last year and Lance was effective for us. And we got timely hits when we needed them."
South Alabama returns to action on Friday when it opens a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m. at Stanky Field. The Owls were picked as one of the preseason favorites in the league and were 6-1 before being swept at front-runner Louisiana-Monroe this past weekend.
