MOBILE, Ala. ? Nathan Hines hit for the cycle as Middle Tennessee jumped out to an early seven-run lead and cruised to an 11-5 series-clinching victory over the University of South Alabama Sunday at Stanky Field.

USA (21-22, 9-12 SBC) dropped the rubber game to the Blue Raiders (30-12, 18-6 SBC) after winning Friday’s opener 4-3 and losing 14-1 on Saturday. The Jags hadn’t lost consecutive games since dropping the first two games at Florida Atlantic on April 3-4.

“You’ve got to get some big two-out hits, and we couldn’t get that,” head coach Steve Kittrell said. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and not let this weekend change the fact that we were playing good baseball.”

Hines went 4-for-5, drove in four runs and scored twice. He singled in the first, doubled in the second, tripled in the third and completed the cycle with a two-run home run in the eighth. Bryce Brentz improved his league-leading batting average to .490 after going 4-for-5 with a double and a run scored.

Jag starting pitcher Phillip Byrd took a tough-luck loss when he left the game with an injury after throwing just two pitches. Greg Johnson gave up four earned runs in the next 1.1 innings before Lance Baxter came out of the bullpen.

Baxter went 6.0 innings and held the Blue Raiders to three runs, only two of which were earned, but the Jags were unable to take advantage of scoring opportunities, and they stranded nine baserunners over the last six innings.

Middle Tennessee starter Chad Edwards improved to 7-1 on the season by allowing four runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings. Brett Smalley, Justin Guidry and Coty Woods held the Jags to just an unearned run over the final 3.2 innings to secure the series victory.

Woods came on in relief with Middle Tennessee leading 10-5 with one out in the eighth, but the Jags had the potential tying run on deck with the bases loaded. The junior relief pitcher notched his 10th save of the season by escaping the jam with consecutive strikeouts and working around a David Doss double in the ninth.

Jake Overstreet went 3-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs, while Clint Reynolds, Derek O'Reilly and Doss had two hits apiece.

The Jags return to action Wednesday when they travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take on 22nd-ranked Alabama at 6:30 p.m. USA defeated the Crimson Tide 21-16 in front of a record crowd at Stanky Field on Wednesday.

Notes:  Derek O'Reilly’s fifth-inning single extended his hitting streak to a career-long 10 games. He has hit safely in 19 of the last 20 and has reached base safely in 22 straight ... David Doss has reached base safely in 18 consecutive games ... The cycle for Nathan Hines was the second in the last four games at Stanky Field. Alabama’s Josh Rutledge did so in a losing effort on Wednesday.

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).