MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Will Skinner hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lead Middle Tennessee to a 13-11 series-clinching win over University of South Alabama baseball Sunday afternoon at Reese Smith Jr. Field.

Justin Guidry reached on a two-out single before Skinner delivered the game-winner over the left-center field wall on the first pitch he saw from Jaguar reliever Carlton Paris.

Paris (1-2) suffered the loss in 1 2/3 innings in relief, allowing two runs on three hits with one strikeout.

Facing a 11-9 deficit heading into its last at-bat, South Alabama tied the game on solo home runs to right field by Jordan Patterson and Brad Hook off of Middle Tennessee right-hander Paul Mittura.

Cody Tollison (1-1) earned the win in 1 1/3 innings of scorless relief for the Blue Raiders, and did not allow a hit while issuing two walk.

Skinner went 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored to lead Middle Tennessee at the plate. Guidry finished 2-for-5 with a homer, three RBI and two runs scored,

Jaguar catcher Brent Tanner went 3-for-5 with two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored to lead USA at the plate. Patterson finished 4-for-5 with a homer, one RBI and four runs scored. Hook went 2-for-2 with a home run, one RBI, a run scored and three walks. Trey Sorrells went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Jake Overstreet added two hits and an RBI, and Jeff DeBlieux drove in one run.

Tanner gave the Jags a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning when he delivered a two-run home run over the right field wall to score Nolan Earley, who led off the inning with a walk.

DeBlieux extended the Jaguar lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth when he singled to left field to score Patterson, who singled earlier in the inning.

Middle Tennessee (8-18, 2-7 SBC) took a 4-3 lead bottom of the fourth  inning with four runs on five hits. Guidry cut the USA lead to 3-2 with a two-run homer to right-center field. Ryan Ford singled home Skinner later in the inning to tie the game 3-3, and the took a 4-3 lead when Earley mishandled Ford’s single allowing Johnny Thomas to score from first base.

USA answered with four runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 7-4 lead on RBI singles by Overstreet and Tanner, and a two-run single by Sorrells.

MTSU tied the game 7-7 in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Ford and two-run double by McNabb, and took an 8-7 lead later in the inning on an RBI double down the left field line off the bat of Tyler Acker. Later in the inning, LaRue tripled to right-center field to score Acker and give the Blue Raiders a 9-7 lead. One batter later, Guidry drove in LaRue with a groundout to shortstop to give Middle Tennessee a 10-7 lead through six innings.
 
Tanner answered to cut the Blue Raider lead to 10-8 in the top of the seventh inning when he led off the inning with his second home run of the game – a solo blast over the right field wall. USA went on to load the bases on consecutive singles by Patterson and Sorrells and a walk by Hook. DeBlieux then followed with  a fielder’s choice which scored Patterson to cut the MTSU lead to 10-9.

Miller led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo home run to left field to extend the Middle Tennessee lead to 11-9. The Blue Raiders held a two-run lead until the top of the ninth when the Jags tied the game on homers by Patterson and Hook.

South Alabama (14-13, 4-5 SBC) will return to action Tue., April 5, when it travels to Hammond, La., for a midweek contest against Southeastern Louisiana.

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:  Tanner recorded his first multiple-home run of the season … Kirkland extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single in the top of the ninth inning … USA hit a season-high four home runs in the game … With the loss, South Alabama fell to 36-19 all-time against Middle Tennessee and 12-8 all-time in Murfreesboro.