Box score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Austin Roussel's walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 17th inning lifted Southern Mississippi to a 7-6 win over University of South Alabama baseball Wednesday at Pete Taylor Park.

Breck Kline reached on a one-out walk from Jaguar right-hander Justin Flores, and advanced to third on a single to center field by Tim Lynch. Roussel chopped a 1-2 pitch toward first base, just out of the reach of Flores, to reach safely and allow Kline to score the game-winning run.

Nick Johnson (1-0) tossed two perfect relief innings and struck out four to earn the win. Flores (1-1) allowed one run on three hits with one walk and a career-high five strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings pitched in the loss.

USM (25-16-1) jumped out to a one-run lead in the bottom of the first when Connor Barron hit the first pitch he saw from USA right-hander Cameron Cochran over the right-center field wall.

But USA (29-17) answered with four runs in the top of the third to take a three-run lead. Ryan Raspino led off the inning with a single to left field, and Cole Billingsley followed with a double to right field to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Bud Collura then tripled down the right-field line to score both runners for one-run advantage. Ben Gann followed with an RBI groundout to second base to plate Collura and extend the USA lead to 3-1. Matt Bolger followed with a two-out single to right field before Adam Ballew tripled to right-center field to score Bolger and push the Jaguar lead to 4-1.

Southern Miss answered to cut the South Alabama lead in half in the bottom of the fourth on a one-out solo home run to left field by Taylor Braley. The Golden Eagles followed with a double from Chase Scott, walk from Cochran to Tim Lynch and a single to center field by Matt Durst to load the bases with one out. Chuckie Robinson followed with a two-run single down the right-field line to tie the game 4-4.

Michael Sterling led off the bottom of the seventh with a bunt-single to third, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Nick Dawson. Dylan Burdeaux then delivered a two-out RBI double to right field to score Sterling for a 5-4 USM lead.

Consecutive singles from Cole Gleason and Ballew led off the Jaguar eighth inning. A sacrifice bunt from Jared Barnes moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Garrett DeGallier then reached on a fielder's choice to second, which USM second baseman Dawson threw wide of home plate to allow both runners to score and give the Jags a 6-5 lead.

But USM answered to tie the game 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out RBI single to left field from Robinson which eventually forced extra innings.

Collura went 3-for-6 with a triple, two RBI, one run scored and a stolen base to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Lynch finished 3-for-7 with an RBI to lead the Golden Eagles offensively.

USA will return to action this weekend when it travels to Statesboro, Ga., for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series with Georgia Southern.

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).