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MOBILE, Ala.  – The University of South Alabama baseball team defeated Southern Mississippi 8-7 Wednesday evening at Stanky Field.

USA left-hander James Traylor (1-0) earned his first career win in 1 1/3 innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits. Kyle Bartsch pitched one shutout inning to earn his sixth save of the season.

Paxton King (1-1) took the loss for the Golden Eagles, allowing four runs on four hits with a strikeout and a walk in two innings.

“Any time you can win against such an outstanding program like Southern Miss, it’s a good win,” USA head coach Mark Calvi said. “They have been to the College World Series and they are coached extremely well. Their kids play extremely hard. They are, as a program, where we aspire to be. Any win is good, but it’s really good when your guys beat a great team like Southern Miss.”

Southern Miss (20-16) pushed across the game’s first run in the top of the second on an RBI single by Ashley Graeter, and doubled its lead to 2-0 in the top of the third on an RBI groundout off the bat of Dillon Day.

South Alabama (14-23) loaded the bases in the bottom of the third on consecutive singles by Robby Campbell and Nolan Earley, and a hit by pitch to Whitt Dorsey. Jordan Patterson drew a walk to score Campbell and cut the USM lead to 2-1. Nick Zaharion followed with a two-out walk with the bases full to force home Earley and tie the game 2-2.

The Golden Eagles scored two runs in the top of the fourth on an RBI double by Kameron Brunty and RBI groundout by Connor Barron to take a 4-2 lead.

But the Jags rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run bases-loaded single down the left field line by Patterson. USA loaded the bases in the inning on consecutive singles by Campbell and Earley, and a hit by pitch to Dorsey.

Zaharion drew a walk on four straight pitches to lead off the bottom of the fifth, and later scored on an RBI groundout by Griffith to give the Jags a 5-4 lead. Campbell followed with an RBI single to left field to score Dustin Dalken, who singled earlier in the frame, to push the USA lead to 6-4.

USM cut the Jaguar lead to 6-5 in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Chase Fowler that scored Graeter, who singled earlier in the frame.

The Jags loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth on a singles by Dorsey and Brad Hook, and a two-out walk by Zaharion. Dalken followed with a walk that pushed home Dorsey and increased the USA lead to 7-5. Hook scored on a wild pitch following a Golden Eagle pitching change to give the Jags an 8-5 lead.

Southern Miss cut the Jaguar lead to 8-6 in the top of the seventh on an RBI double to left field by Mason Robbins, and scored the game’s final run later in the inning on an RBI single to right field by Brunty.

Campbell went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Earley finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and Patterson had one hit and three RBI. Dalken added a hit and an RBI, and Zaharion drove in one run.

Robbins and Graeter each went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored to lead the Golden Eagles at the plate. Blake Brown had three hits, and Brunty had two hits, including a double, and two RBI.

South Alabama will return to action this weekend when it hosts Louisiana at Lafayette in a three-game series at Stanky Field, with the series kicking off at 6:30 p.m. Friday evening.

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).