MOBILE, Ala. ? Ryan Bohanan broke a 5-5 tie when he drove in Adam Heisler with a RBI single in the seventh, and D.D. Hanks worked 2.2 innings of hitless relief to compete the University of South Alabama’s 6-5 win over Troy Thursday night at Stanky Field.
Bohanan finished the night 4-for-4 with one run and one RBI, while David Doss, Jake Overstreet and Derek O'Reilly each went 2-for-4 as the Jags pounded out 15 hits.
“I’m really proud of our guys tonight,” head coach Steve Kittrell said. “They hung in there in a tight, one-run game, and we really swung the bats well.”
With the victory, USA (24-27, 12-15 SBC) moved within one win of securing a berth in next week’s Sun Belt Conference Championship.
Troy (31-20, 17-9) fell behind early as starting pitcher Tyler Ray gave up 12 hits and five runs in 5.0 innings of work. The Jags knocked six singles and a sacrifice fly to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning.
Doss and Bohanan each singled, then Overstreet loaded the bases with a bunt single before O’Reilly brought in the Jags first run with a single of his own. One out later, Chris Davis and Clint Reynolds each knocked RBI singles, and Zach Grichor brought O’Reilly home with a sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, Jag starting pitcher Miles Ethridge was perfect through the first three frames before Chad Watson and Charley Williams hit back-to-back singles leading off the fourth. Watson came home to score on a groundout before Ethridge struck out the next two batters to escape the inning with a 4-1 lead.
Troy cut further into the lead with a pair of runs after back-to-back doubles leading off the fifth, but Doss answered with his 11th home run of the season in the bottom half of the inning to extend the USA lead to 5-3.
Trevor Tyre cut the deficit in half with a solo home run leading off the sixth, and after a single and a two-out walk, Ethridge handed the ball to Phillip Byrd, who induced an inning-ending foul popout.
Ethridge worked 5.2 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and one walk with five strikeouts. Byrd went back out for the seventh and got a strikeout before giving up a single and a RBI double. He then turned the ball over to Hanks, who went the rest of the way.
Hanks (3-0) threw a wild pitch to move the potential go-ahead run to third with one out. After a walk to Tyre, Hanks struck out Ryan Ditthardt and got Brett Henry to ground into a fielder’s choice to escape the jam with the game tied at 5.
Trojan reliever Andrew Dickinson (2-1) allowed a one-out single to Heisler in the seventh, and after Doss was retired, Heisler got into scoring position with a steal of second base to set up Bohanan’s game-winning RBI single.
Hanks retired Miles Hoyle with a ground out leading off the eighth, then struck out four straight before issuing a two-out walk to Williams in the ninth. With Troy’s leading home run hitter representing the go-ahead run at the plate, Hanks got Tyre to fly out to left field to end the game and earn his third win of the season.
The series resumes at 6 p.m. Friday when Matt Jackson takes the mound for the Jags against Troy’s Travis Burge.
Notes: The Jags extended their streak of games with 10 or more hits to nine straight and 17 of the last 18. The nine-game streak is the longest since 2002 ... David Doss (nine games), Jake Overstreet (career-best nine games), Adam Heisler (eight games) and Clint Reynolds (five games) all extended hitting streaks ... Doss (24 games), Heisler (19 games) and Reynolds (17 games) each extended career-long streaks of consecutive games reaching base safely ... There are a number of scenarios in which the Jags could make the SBC tournament without winning another game, but one more win would guarantee USA a spot in the tournament for the 24th straight season ... USA leads the all-time series 29-17.
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).
