MOBILE, Ala. -- South Alabama's Eric Gonzalez retired the first 16 batters he faced, but Louisiana-Monroe exploded for 10 unanswered runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, in a 10-4 victory over the Jaguars in the opening game of the Sun Belt Conference weekend series. The league-leading Warhawks tallied four runs in the seventh to take the lead, then added five more in the eighth to send USA to its second straight loss.
Ray Kruml was 3-for-5, while Ryne Jernigan and Jake Overstreet each had a pair of hits to lead the Jaguars (26-20, 11-11), who outhit ULM 10-8 in the contest. But the Warhawks capitalized with timely hits and took advantage of two sacrifice flies, a walk and a hit batter in the decisive seventh.
South Alabama jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third as Overstreet and Kruml hit home runs on consecutive pitches. Overstreet cleared the wall in left center, while Kruml followed with a blast to centerfield. The round-trippers marked the sixth time this year that two straight USA batters have homered.
Gonzalez (6-5) cruised along until the sixth, inducing seven groundouts and five flyouts, while striking out four to start the game. But with one out, Nick Wade hit a 1-0 pitch up into the wind for a home run that cut the lead to 2-1. In the seventh, a leadoff double followed by a walk and hit batter loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly and walk put ULM ahead to stay. A second sacrifice fly and a single capped the four-run rally on just two hits and made the score 5-2.
In the eighth, the Warhawks broke the game open with five more runs, the biggest eighth inning allowed by the Jaguars all season. With runners on first and second with one out, ULM loaded the bases with a single, then gained a 6-2 advantage with another walk. Three straight singles plated four more runs.
Bunky Kateon hit a two-run homer in the ninth to make the final score 10-4.
"It's tough because Eric pitched the way he did," Head Coach Steve Kittrell said. "The problem was that we only had two solo home runs up to then. We are better than our record indicates, but we just aren't consistent."
Drew Graham (2-2) earned the win for ULM, striking out eight Jaguars in 7.1 innings. He allowed eight hits, but walked only three. Derek Ward finished the eighth, while Josh Lett pitched the ninth.
The two teams continue their series Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in a game that will be televised live by CSS. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as the University of South Alabama holds its spring graduation one hour before at the Mitchell Center, creating traffic and parking problems at Stanky Field.
