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MOBILE, Ala. – Austin Bembnowski tossed eight scoreless relief innings to lead the University of South Alabama baseball team to a 7-4 win over Auburn Tuesday at Stanky Field.

Bembnowski (1-0) retired 13 of the first 14 Auburn batters he faced, and allowed just three hits while striking out six and issuing a pair of walks.

"We were down early and we needed to get something going," Bembnowski said. "I was able to just come in and do my job. It was a little cold tonight. I really didn't have my offspeed stuff, so I stuck with my fastball most of the time and I was able to pound it for strikes."

South Alabama (4-0) scored six unanswered runs en route to the win, highlighted by a three-run sixth inning. After the Jaguars tied the game 4-4 in the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Jared Barnes, and took a one-run advantage in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single to center field by Bud Collura that scored Ryan Raspino. A sacrifice fly by Garrett DeGallier and a bases-loaded walk by Barnes pushed across the final two runs of the game.

"It was tough falling behind early like that," head coach Mark Calvi said. "But our guys kept fighting and we put some good at-bats together. They kept playing hard and we got back into it. We had one strikeout tonight, which was outstanding. We made them (Auburn) work for everything, and made them field every ball.

"Bembnowski was really good; he settled the game down for us. I didn't plan to use him that long. It was going to be a long-relief role but he kept going out there and getting back in on offense. He's an extremely strong kid, and he was ready to go out there and compete."

Auburn jumped out to a three-run lead in the top of the first inning. USA starter Jared Gates issued consecutive walks to Anfernee Grier and Damon Haecker to start the game, and each moved up one base on a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Ebert. Bo Decker then delivered a two-run double down the left field line for a 2-0 Tiger advantage. Cody Nulph followed with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to plate Decker and push the Auburn lead to 3-0.

USA loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first when DeGallier singled through the right side, Cole Gleason reached on a hit by pitch and Martinez reached on an error by Auburn center fielder Anfernee Grier. The Jags then pushed their first run of the game across on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of Barnes.

Auburn increased its lead to 4-1 in the top of the second when Kyler Deese led off the inning with a walk, and later scored on a wild pitch by Bembnowski.

USA answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut its deficit back to one run. Barnes and Connor Hawthorne reached on consecutive singles to lead off the inning, and moved up one base each on a groundout to third by Raspino. Adam Ballew followed with a two-run single to left field to cut the Tiger lead to 4-3 before the Jags added four runs over the next two frames.

Barnes went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored to lead South Alabama at the plate. Ballew finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Collura added two hits – extending his hitting streak to nine games – along with an RBI and a run scored, and Raspino finished with two hits and a run scored.

Grier went 3-for-4 with a run scored to lead Auburn at the plate. Auburn right-hander Keegan Thompson (1-1) allowed six runs on eight hits with one walk in 5 1/3 innings pitched in the loss.

South Alabama will return to action this weekend when it hosts Arkansas, No. 13 Maryland and Central Florida to Stanky Field as part of a round-robin tournament. USA will open the weekend tournament Friday evening against Maryland at 6:30 p.m.

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).