MOBILE, Ala. – The 24th-ranked University of South Alabama baseball team will travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., Tuesday for a 6 p.m. contest with Southern Mississippi.
The game will be broadcast live on WNSP 105.5 FM in Mobile, and can be accessed nationwide at WNSP.com. Live stats for every South Alabama game are available through the multimedia section at USAJaguars.com. In-game Twitter updates will also be provided at Twitter.com/SouthALBaseball.
Jaguar right-hander Matt Bell (4-0) will make his fifth start of the season for USA. Bell carries a 2.05 ERA into Tuesday’s contest, along with 18 strikeouts and seven walks in 22 innings pitched. He has limited the opposition to a .192 batting average in five appearances this year.
Southern Mississippi will send left-hander Luke Lowery (0-0) to the mound, which will mark the redshirt-freshman’s first career start. In five innings this season, Lowery has allowed six runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and six walks. He carries a 10.80 ERA into Tuesday’s contest, while opponents are hitting .333 against him.
South Alabama (21-4) enters the game on a four-game winning streak after taking a midweek matchup at Southeastern Louisiana last week before sweeping a three-game Sun Belt Conference series from UALR. The Jaguars have won eight of their last nine games dating back to March 10 when they defeated North Florida 9-8 at Stanky Field.
USA enters the week ranked 24th in both the Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America polls, and are 28th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.
The Jaguars are 56-29 all-time against Southern Miss in a series that dates back to 1967. USA defeated the Golden Eagles 6-5 on March 6 at Stanky Field to earn its third consecutive win over USM dating back to last season. The Jags are 19-13 all-time at Southern Miss, and have dropped six of the last seven meetings in Hattiesburg dating back to 2006. USA last defeated USM in Hattiesburg last season by a final of 5-3.
South Alabama leads the SBC in runs scored (199), hits (268), RBI (177) and sacrifice flies (16). The Jaguar pitching staff leads the league with 10 saves, and ranks second in the conference in strikeouts (236). USA is third in the Sun Belt in walks allowed (69).
USM (9-14) enters the game having lost three of its last four contests after dropping two of three games to Rice last weekend to open Conference USA play, and falling in a midweek contest to Auburn last week in Mobile.
The Golden Eagles carry a .264 team batting average into Tuesday’s matchup with USA. The USM pitching staff enters the week with a 4.37 ERA, and has 190 strikeouts to 98 walks in 203 2/3 innings this season while opponents are batting .257 against them.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
—USA—
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