Box score

MOBILE, Ala. – A trio of Jaguar pitchers combined to shut out Arkansas-Little Rock Saturday at Stanky Field to lead the University of South Alabama baseball team to a 1-0 win.

Right-handers Ryne Long, Hunter Soleymani and Cody Van Aken allowed just three combined hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts. Long tossed seven scoreless innings, and allowed three hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. Soleymani (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings to earn the win, while Van Aken tossed two-thirds of an inning to record his first career save at USA.

"Long was very good," head coach Mark Calvi said. "Soleymani came in and did a nice job for us, and Van Aken was outstanding at the end. But I am super-proud of Ryne Long and Soleymani. This is Soleymani's third year in the program. He was one of the first high school kids I offered here, and in a game like this I was willing to go down to the wire as long as the game dictated it. I felt great bringing in a guy who has been in the program as long as anyone in him, so my hat's off to Soleymani and Van Aken."

UALR (4-6, 1-1 SBC) threatened in the top of the fourth. Tanner Rockwell and Kyle Kirk reached on consecutive singles to lead off the inning. A sacrifice bunt by Sam Vogel moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Hayden Martin then reached on a hit by pitch from Long to load the bases for the Trojans. Long induced a fielder's choice off the bat of Drew Merten, which Bud Collura fielded at third and threw home for the force out at the plate. The right-hander then fielded a grounder off the bat of Joseph Paulino behind his back and threw to first for the final out of the frame and escape the jam without allowing a run.

"I don't know how the ball ended up going in Ryne Long's glove, but it did and I'm not going to ask any questions," Calvi said. "When we do pitchers' fielding practice (PFPs), Long is one of our best guys. He is big and burly, but he moves around really well. If anyone was going to make a play like that, it doesn't surprise me that it was Long. (Danny) Martinez did a really nice job at first base moving around and giving those pitchers good feeds. We needed every good play we could get today."

USA (10-5, 1-1 SBC) scratched the game's lone run across in the bottom of the eighth. UALR right-handed reliever Dyllon Brownmiller hit Cole Billingsley with a pitch to lead off the inning. Garrett DeGallier then singled through the right side of the infield with two outs to put runners at the corners. Ryan Raspino drew a walk to load the bases for Danny Martinez, who drew a walk from UALR right-hander Reed Willenborg to plate Billingsley with the eventual game-winning run.

UALR left-hander Jarrid Garcia (0-1) tossed six scoreless innings, allowed six hits and struck out six while issuing two walks without factoring in the decision. Brownmiller (0-1) took the loss in 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit with a strikeout and a walk.

Martinez went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a pair of walks to lead the Jags at the plate. Rockwell, Kirk and Sam Vogel had one hit apiece for UALR.

The series will conclude with the rubber match at 1 p.m. Sunday at Stanky Field.

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).