Official Box Score
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. ? South Alabama jumped out to a 7-0 lead after four innings and rode the arms of Eric Gonzalez and Miles Ethridge to a 10-5 victory over Middle Tennessee Friday night in the opening game of a Sun Belt Conference series. The win was the third straight for the Jaguars and snapped a string of two straight Friday losses in league play.
Ryne Jernigan went 4-for-6 with four RBIs, including a two-run home run in the first inning. Sean Laird went 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Ryan Bohanan drove in three runs with his two hits. Jake Overstreet also had a pair of hits.
USA (25-18, 10-9) plated three runs in the first, one in the third and three in the fourth. In the first frame, Ray Kruml struck out, but reached when the third strike went to the backstop. He was sacrificed to second, then stole third before scoring on a single by David Doss. Jernigan hit the next pitch over the right field wall to put the Jags up 3-0.
A Laird triple and run-scoring single by Bohanan added the run in the third, while a Blue Raider error led to three runs in the fourth. Overstreet started with a triple, but the next two batters did not get the ball out of the infield. Doss hit a ball up the middle that second baseman Taylor Dennis could not handle, allowing Overstreet to score. Jernigan, Laird and Bohanan each singled for two more runs.
Middle Tennessee (21-19-1, 9-12) slowly closed the gap, scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth. But the Jaguars answered back with two runs in the seventh. Overstreet walked and Kruml doubled to put runners at second and third. A groundout and intentional walk to Doss loaded the bases for Jerningan and the second baseman made the Blue Raiders pay. He laced an 0-2 pitch to left field to pick up his third and fourth RBIs of the contest.
Gonzalez (6-4) struck out seven over five innings to snap a two-game personal losing streak. He allowed nine hits and three runs before giving way to Ethridge, who held MTSU to just one hit before a single and giving up a two-run home run in the ninth. With his four innings of work, Ethridge became the first Jaguar besides Greg Johnson to record a save in 2008.
South Alabama outhit Middle Tennessee 15-12, but also left a season-high 14 runners on base.
"Eric Gonzalez threw a very good game and Miles had a great relief effort," Head Coach Steve Kittrell said. "Middle Tennessee loves fastballs and we were able to throw our off-speed pitches for strikes. We had errorless defense and got some clutch hitting. When all that happens, you can win a lot of games."
The Jaguars and Blue Raiders continue their series Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WNSP Radio (105.5-FM) beginning with the Steve Kittrell Show at 3:30 p.m.
