MOBILE, Ala. ? Miles Ethridge allowed two runs in a career-long 7.0 innings, and Adam Heisler went 4-for-5 and stole three bases to lead the University of South Alabama to a 7-2 win over University of Arkansas-Little Rock Friday night at Stanky Field.
Working as the Jags’ Friday night starter for the second consecutive week, Ethridge scattered five hits and three walks. He picked up his second win of the season by working his way out of a pair of jams in the middle innings.
“I had command of three pitches early in the game, and then I kind of hit a brick wall in the fourth inning with my fastball,” Ethridge said. “I just had to get through the rest of the game with my off-speed pitches, throwing as many strikes as possible and just letting them get themselves out.”
USA (13-18, 4-9 SBC) got on the board with a pair of runs in its first trip to the plate. Adam Heisler led off with a single, then stole second base, giving him at least one steal in five straight games. After Sean Laird walked, both runners moved into scoring position on a successful double steal.
David Doss knocked a two-run single on a 3-2 fastball, giving the Jags a lead they would never reliquish.
UALR (8-22, 4-12 SBC) cut the deficit in half with a run in the third inning, but Ethridge helped himself with a great defensive play to escape with the lead. Anthony Gower started the inning with a single, then came home on Kody Kroll’s RBI double.
After a groundout and a hit batter, the Trojans had runners on the corners with one out. Tim Emmons hit a hard liner right back up the middle, but Ethridge snagged it and fired to first base to complete the double play and escape the inning with a 2-1 lead.
The Trojans threatened again after Ethridge walked the first two batters in the fifth, but he again made a nice play to help himself. Kroll, trying to move the go-ahead run into scoring position, laid down a bunt, but Ethridge fielded it quickly and threw to Jake Overstreet at third to get the lead runner.
Matt Apfel was caught looking, and Nate Brown grounded out to end the threat. Then the Jags broke the game open with a four-run outburst after a two-out error in the bottom half of the inning.
Overstreet reached on a throwing error by Gower, Nathaniel Lami walked and Derek O'Reilly, Clint Reynolds and Heisler followed with three consecutive RBI singles. O’Reilly scored on a wild pitch with Heisler batting, and the Jags led 6-2 after five.
UALR got its only other run on a squeeze play after a pair of singles and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position in the seventh. Ethridge then struck out Apfel swinging to end the inning, and he handed the ball to Lance Baxter to get the final six outs.
Baxter gave up a leadoff single, then hit the next batter, but he got Tyson Parks to ground into a double play before inducing an inning-ending groundout from Jack Larner.
Sean Laird added an insurance run in the eighth when he collected the Jags’ 10th hit of the game on a RBI single that scored Heisler. Baxter worked around a two-out double in the ninth to finish off the 7-2 win.
The Jags return to action at 2 p.m. Saturday at Stanky Field in the second contest of a three-game set with UALR. Brandon Sage is expected to take the mound for USA, while the Trojans are planning to counted with fellow southpaw Jake Sullivan.
Notes: Adam Heisler extended his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games with a first-inning single. He stole second base, giving him at least one steal in each of his last five games. He then stole third base, making him the first Jag to steal second and third in the same inning since Ray Kruml did so on April 6, 2008 ... Heisler stole another base in the fifth, giving him three in the game. Clint Reynolds ? who has stolen three bases in a game twice this season ? is the only other Jag to do so this year ... Derek O'Reilly’s RBI single in the fifth gave him a new career-best, eight-game hitting streak ... Doss (four games), Jake Overstreet (season-long five games), Sean Laird (five games) and Ryan Bohanan (five games) all extended hitting streaks ... Doss’ single gave him 272 hits for his career, moving him to within six hits of becoming USA’s all-time leader ... The Jag offense has had 10 or more hits in five straight and nine of the last 10 games. The last time the Jags had at least 10 hits in five straight was when they did so for seven consecutive games from May 12-24, 2007 ... USA stole six bases for the second consecutive game. The Jags had not stolen that many bases in a game since stealing seven against Oral Roberts on Feb. 28, 2003.
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).
