MOBILE, Ala. ? Brandon Brown and David Doss collected four RBI apiece, and Matt Jackson worked 6.1 innings to earn the win as the University of South Alabama clinched a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Championship with a 13-6 win over Troy Friday night at Stanky Field.
“The guys clutched up with some huge hits when we had to have them, and they battled from behind,” head coach Steve Kittrell said. “The guys know we didn’t play well at home last weekend and we needed to show up this weekend.”
Jackson (5-3) allowed six runs ? five earned ? on 12 hits, but he worked into the seventh inning for the first time since March 20. He struck out four and did not issue a walk.
USA (25-27, 13-15 SBC) relief pitcher Lance Baxter worked 2.1 innings of hitless relief to end the game, and Greg Johnson bridged the gap with a crucial seventh-inning strikeout.
Troy (31-21, 17-10 SBC) jumped out to an early lead when it plated an unearned run in the first inning after an error was followed by consecutive singles. Three straight hits led to a pair of runs in the second that gave the Trojans a 3-0 lead.
The Jags responded with a four-spot in the bottom of the second. Ryan Bohanan and Jake Overstreet led off the inning with singles, and after Bohanan was forced out on an attempted sacrifice bunt, Nathaniel Lami was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Brandon Brown stepped to the plate and cleared the bases when he drilled the first pitch he saw off the left-field wall for a double. He advanced to third on an error and came home to score on a sacrifice fly from Clint Reynolds to give the Jags a 4-3 lead.
USA added an insurance run an inning later when Bohanan doubled and scored on an Overstreet RBI single. Troy cut the deficit in half when Michael Precise doubled and scored on Steven Felix’s RBI single, but the Jags built an even bigger lead by plating five runs in their next trip to the plate.
Derek O'Reilly reached on an error leading off the bottom of the fourth, then Lami and Brown drew walks to load the bases. One out later, Zach Grichor brought O’Reilly home with a sacrifice fly, and Doss followed with a three-run homer; it was his second home run in as many nights.
Doss later added a sacrifice fly for his fourth RBI of the night, while Heisler, Grichor, Bohanan, Overstreet and Brown each had two hits for the Jags. Every USA starter recorded a hit, except for Lami, who didn’t record an official at-bat; he walked twice, was hit by a pitch and laid down a sacrifice bunt.
The Trojans got one run back on another double and a RBI single, but the Jags plated two more off the bat of Brown in the bottom of the fifth. Overstreet walked, O’Reilly reached on an infield single, and Lami moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.
Brown then looped a two-run single over a drawn-in infield to put the Jags on top 12-5. Jackson worked his first perfect inning of the night, striking out the last two batters in the sixth. He was lifted with two runners on and one out in the seventh.
Johnson gave up a RBI single to Ryan Ditthardt, who went 4-for-5 on the night, but he struck out Brett Henry, and then turned the ball over to Lance Baxter to get the final seven outs. Baxter escaped the inning with a strikeout of Jake Sullivan, and the Trojans never threatened again against the lefty reliever.
Baxter was nearly perfect, allowing just a one-out walk in the ninth. He needed just 21 pitches to record the final seven outs and secure the Jags’ berth in the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
Travis Burge (5-2) took the loss for Troy. He worked 3.0 innings and allowed five runs on eight hits.
The Jags and Trojans complete their regular seasons with the series finale at 2 p.m. Sunday. USA sends Brandon Sage to the mound as the Jags go for their first sweep of Troy since 1976.
Notes: The Jags extended their streak of consecutive games with at least 10 hits to 10 straight and 18 of the last 19 ... Jake Overstreet (career-best 10 games), David Doss (10 games), Adam Heisler (nine games) and Clint Reynolds (six games) all extended hitting streaks ... Doss (career-best 25 games), Heisler (career-best 20 games), Reynolds (career-best 18 games) and Overstreet (10 games) all extended streaks of games reaching base safely ... USA could finish anywhere from fifth to seventh in the conference, depending on what happens on the season’s final day ... The Jags lead the all-time series 30-17.
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).
