MOBILE, Ala. ? With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, David Doss knocked the first pitch he saw for a RBI single off the wall in left field to give the University of South Alabama a 4-3 walk-off win Friday night at Stanky Field.
USA (21-20, 9-10) got its sixth straight win, and with his second RBI of the night, Doss moved past Luis Gonzalez and into the all-time lead with 184 RBI in his career at USA.
“Zach Grichor’s at-bat really helped me out because he let me know how the ball was moving,” Doss said. “I knew I was going to get a fastball right there, so I made sure it was the pitch I wanted.”
Middle Tennessee (28-12, 16-6 SBC) battled back twice from one run down, but the Sun Belt Conference leaders were unable to mount any offense against reliever D.D. Hanks in the eighth and ninth innings.
Hanks earned the win with 2.0 perfect innings of relief, improving to 2-0 on the season. After getting two flyouts and a groundout in his first inning, Hanks struck out all three batters in the ninth to set up the walk-off win, and lowered his team-leading ERA to 1.74 in the process.
The Jags got on the board in the first inning when Zach Grichor and Adam Heisler singled to set up the first RBI from Doss on a fielder’s choice, but Middle Tennessee quickly tied the game in its next trip to the plate.
Nathan Hines hit a one-out triple off Jag starter Miles Ethridge, and Ben Darlington followed with a sacrifice fly that evened the score at 1-1.
Blake McDade gave the Blue Raiders their only lead of the night when he brought home Bryce Brentz with a RBI single in the top of the fourth. Brentz entered the night leading the SBC with a .489 batting average, but Jag pitchers held him to a lone single in four at-bats.
Brentz also got the start on the mound for Middle Tennessee, but he was pulled after just 4.0 innings when the Jags regained the lead with a pair of runs in the fourth.
Ryan Bohanan and Matt Drake tied the score with back-to-back doubles, and Chris Davis’ sacrifice fly gave USA a 3-2 lead.
Darlington again tied the game when he hit a solo home run with one out in the sixth. Ethridge retired the next five batters he faced before handing the ball to Hanks to start the eighth with the game tied 3-3.
It was the third straight outing in which Ethridge has worked 7.0 innings. He has allowed six hits or less and no more than three earned runs in each of those three starts.
Middle Tennessee’s Brett Wilson took the loss after allowing a leadoff single to Derek O'Reilly in the bottom of the ninth. Wilson then turned the ball over to closer Coty Woods.
Chris Davis’ sacrifice bunt moved O’Reilly to second, then after Clint Reynolds was intentionally walked, Grichor advanced both runners with a grounder to the right side. The Blue Raiders chose to intentionally walk Adam Heisler and pitch to Doss, who had been 0-for-4 and was the only Jag starter yet to record a hit in the game.
The series resumes Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. Matt Jackson takes the mound for the Jags, and he’ll be opposed by lefty Kenneth Roberts.
Notes: Derek O'Reilly’s single in the sixth inning extended his hitting streak to eight straight and 17 of the last 18. He has also reached base safely in a career-best 20 games, which ties Jake Overstreet and Chris Davis for the longest by any current Jag ... Ryan Bohanan has a career-long streak of 18 straight games reaching base safely, while Jake Overstreet has done so in his last 15 games ... Davis tied his career-best by extending his hitting streak to five straight, while Overstreet (six games), Adam Heisler (four games) and Clint Reynolds (four games) also extended hitting streaks ... USA now leads the all-time series 33-14, including a 21-8 mark in games played at Stanky Field.
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).
