BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - University of South Alabama left-hander Lance Baxter tossed five shutout innings and recorded his third consecutive complete game in as many starts to lead the Jaguars to a 7-5 win over Western Kentucky Sunday afternoon at Nick Denes Field.

Baxter (5-0) allowed five runs and scattered 13 hits while striking out six Hilltopper batters and issuing just one walk.

"I knew I needed to get ahead and make their hitters hit the pitches I wanted them to hit, especially with them being a great offensive team," Baxter said. "Their approach at the plate is the best I've ever pitched against. The last few weeks, my changeup has been back to where it was my freshman year. They have a lot of free-swingers, and I knew after putting up a lot of runs the first two games that they were going to try and do the same thing today. So I just tried to get ahead with some changeups early, and come in and get some ground balls late.

"There was a lot on the line this game, and I felt like there was a lot riding on my shoulders. I felt like I needed to dictate the tempo and pace of the game, and communicate well with the infielders and keep everyone in the game."

Tyler Vick went 3-for-5 with three doubles, two RBI and a run scored to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Third baseman Jake Overstreet went 3-for-5 with an RBI, one run scored and one stolen base. Catcher Brent Tanner added two hits in the contest.

Western Kentucky left-hander Tanner Perkins (3-2) took the loss in 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits.

Matt Payton went 3-for-4 with a runs scored, and Matt Rice went 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBI to lead the Hilltoppers at the plate.

The Hilltoppers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning when Casey Dykes reached on a fielding error which scored Matt Borgschulte, who led off the inning with a double.

WKU (26-8, 9-3 SBC) doubled its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Jake Wells that plated Logan Robbins, who reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning.

USA cut the Hilltopper lead in half in the top of the fifth inning when Sean Laird drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk that scored Taylor White, who reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning. Vick followed with a two-run double to left field to score Adam Heisler and Zach Grichor, who reached on consecutive singles, and give the Jags a 3-2 lead. Brad Hook then singled to center field to score Vick and Laird.

The Hilltoppers cut the USA lead to  5-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning on Rice's RBI triple to right field that scored Jared Andreoli, who led off the inning with a double to left field.

The Jags extended their lead to 7-3 in the top of the sixth inning with two runs on two hits. White scored on an RBI  single by Overstreet to give USA a 6-3 lead. Overstreet stole second then scored on an RBI double by Laird to center field.

WKU cut the USA lead to 7-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Rice delivered a bases-loaded single to left field to score Dykes and Payton.

Baxter then pitched three shutout innings and allowed just two hits over that stretch to clinch the win for the Jags.

"It was a huge game for us," USA head coach Steve Kittrell said. "We couldn't afford a sweep, and at least now we stayed close and only dropped a game on the series. You have to give Western Kentucky a lot of credit. They outplayed us on the weekend. We weren't quite at full strength, so I look forward to us getting healthy now and hopefully getting hot again.

"We needed to break that three-game losing streak, and Baxter threw a heck of a game. He kept bowing up and getting out of a jam, and just did a good job for us - he's a great competitor. We had some great at-bats today. Sean Laird fought for a walk with the bases loaded, and that was huge to give [Tyler] Vick and [Brad] Hook a chance to come up with big hits in that five-run inning."

USA (23-13, 11-4 SBC) returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Nicholls State at 6 p.m. 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).

- USA -

 

NOTES:  Baxter recorded his third complete game in as many starts ... Heisler extended his hitting streak to nine ... Overstreet recorded his 16th multiple-hit game, and his seventh three-hit game of the season ... USA improved to 77-48 all-time against Western Kentucky.