Box score
MOBILE, Ala. – Brad Hook hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead University of South Alabama baseball to a 9-8 win over Troy Thursday evening at Stanky Field.
Hook led off the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied 8-8, and worked the count full against Troy left-hander Nathan Hill. He then hit a hanging slider from Hill on the 3-2 pitch just inside the right field foul pole for the walk-off win.
“I was sitting on the slider the whole at-bat,” Hook said. “I knew it was coming, and I just put the barrel on it and kept it fair. He broke the first couple of pitches off pretty good, but he hung that last one and I just put a good swing on it.”
South Alabama (29-24, 15-13 SBC) held an 8-6 lead heading into the top of the ninth, but Troy tied the game when Logan Pierce delivered a two-run double into the right-center gap off of Jaguar right-hander Kyle Dees.
USA Garrett Harris tossed seven innings and left the game with an 8-6 lead after giving up four earned runs, but did not factor in the decision. The right-hander issued a season-high five walks in the contest, but struck out eight Trojan batters.
Collin Blankenship (3-4) earned the win in 2/3 innings of relief after coming on to retire the final two outs in the top of the ninth inning with the go-ahead run at third base.
Hill (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season for Troy in 1 2/3 innings of relief, and allowed one run on three hits while striking out two and issuing one walk. Trojan starter Tyler Ray pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs on 10 hits with two walks, but did not factor in the decision.
Hook went 4-for-5 with a home run, double, one RBI and three runs scored to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Taylor White went 4-for-5 with a double, one RBI and a run scored, and Brent Tanner finished 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Jeff DeBlieux, Jake Overstreet, Nolan Earley and Hunt Griffith drove in one run each.
Pierce went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored to lead Troy at the plate. Tyson Workman added two hits, and Boone Shear added a two-run homer.
Adam Bryant gave the Trojans an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single to center field that scored Workman, who led off the game with a walk.
But South Alabama answered to tie the game in the bottom-half of the first on Tanner’s sacrifice fly that plated White, who singled to lead off the inning.
White then gave the Jags a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single to left that scored Hook after he singled and stole second.
Troy (38-16, 19-9 SBC) tied the game 2-2 in the top of the third on an infield single by Drew Prichard that scored Tyler Hannah. A throwing error to first base by Overstreet allowed a second run to score on the play to give the Trojans a 3-2 lead.
USA battled back to tie the game 3-3 in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly from Earley that scored Overstreet, after he reached on a hit by pitch. But the Trojans took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth when Pierce doubled and later scored on a wild pitch.
The Jags opened up a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a pair of RBI doubles by Overstreet and Tanner, and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Griffith that plated Hook. DeBlieux rounded second on Overstreet’s double to right-center field and scored after Trojan center fielder Drew Peterson collided with Prichard while trying to field the ball.
USA doubled its lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of DeBlieux, but the Trojans answered in the top of the seventh when Shear delivered a two-run pinch-hit home run to left field to cut the Jaguar lead to 8-6.
The Jags loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but Hill pitched out of the jam with a strikeout of Earley and inning-ending fly to right field off the bat of Logan Kirkland. Troy then carried the momentum into the top of the ninth where they tied the game.
The series will continue with game two Friday at 6 p.m. Prior to Friday’s first pitch, nine Jaguar seniors will be honored as part of Senior Day. The 1996 Sun Belt Conference Champion South Alabama baseball team will also be honored in the pregame festivities, as part of its 15-year reunion.
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: Hook hit his seventh home run of the season … Tanner recorded his team-leading 23rd multiple-hit and 15th multiple-RBI game of the season … Overstreet tied former Jaguar Mike Mordecai for fifth on the career RBI list when he drove in his 174th career run in the bottom of the fourth … South Alabama improved to 34-23 all-time against the Trojans, and evened the season series at two games apiece.
