WACO, Texas ? Casey Stevenson delivered a walk-off single to score Francis Larson and No. 5 UC Irvine knocked off the University of South Alabama 6-5 Sunday at Baylor Ballpark.
With the game tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Larson led off with a single and Dillon Bell advanced him to third with another single. After Ryan Fisher was intentionally walked to load the bases, USA reliever Greg Johnson turned the ball over the Michael Logan, who gave up the walk-off single that sent the Jags home with their third straight loss.
UC Irvine (7-4) got on the board in the bottom of the second when Larson led off with a home run to left-center off USA (5-7) starting pitching Lance Baxter. Eric Deragisch followed with a bunt single and later came around to score on Cory Olson’s two-out single to give the Anteaters a 2-0 lead.
The Jags responded in the third when Nathaniel Lami doubled and Derek O'Reilly singled to put runners on the corners with no outs in the inning.
UCI starter Crosby Slaught nearly escaped the jam when he struck out Jake Overstreet and Clint Reynolds, but O’Reilly stole second base and Lami came home when Larson threw the ball away during a rundown. Adam Heisler followed with an RBI single to even the score at 2-2.
Slaught was chased from the game in the fifth after he allowed a two-out single to Grichor that moved O’Reilly to third base. Heisler gave the Jags a 3-2 lead when he brought in O’Reilly with a bunt single off reliever Noel Avison.
Baxter settled down and retired eight of nine batters before D.J. Crumlich hit a one-out single in the fifth. A sacrifice bunt put Crumlich at second, and Baxter walked Tony Asaro and Jeff Cusick to load the bases for Larson. The junior catcher drove a 2-1 offering to left-center, where Lami made a running catch to save at least two runs.
USA added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth when David Doss led off with a single and Nathaniel Lami delivered his second double of the game with one out. O’Reilly was unable to get Doss home when he hit a shallow flyout to right, but Overstreet came through with a two-out, two-run single to give the Jags a 5-2 advantage.
Heisler finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, and Lami went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. O’Reilly also crossed the plate twice.
Baxter kept the Jags’ lead at three with a scoreless sixth, but he turned the ball over to Johnson after walking the leadoff batter in the seventh. Johnson gave up RBI singles to pinch hitters Jordan Fox and Dillon Bell to cut the USA lead to 5-4 before inducing an inning-ending groundout.
Johnson was unable to escape trouble in the eighth. Olson led off with a single, and three batters later he came home to score on Asaro’s two-out single. Johnson struck out Fox to end the inning and send the game to the ninth tied at 5-5. He took the loss, while Eric Pettis got the win for the Anteaters with 2.0 perfect innings.
USA returns to action when it hosts Memphis Tuesday and Wednesday at Stanky Field. Both games are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The Jags will be playing their first home games since defeating then No. 6 Ole Miss in the finale of the Coca-Cola Classic on Feb. 22.
Notes: Clint Reynolds extended his career-long hitting streak to 10 games with an infield single in the sixth inning ... Ryan Bohanan’s career-high-tying 10 game hitting streak was snapped with his 0-for-4 ... David Doss extended his hitting streak to six with a single in the sixth.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
