Box score

JONESBORO, Ark. – Jaguar left-hander Jared Gates pitched into the ninth inning and struck out a career-high nine batters to lead the University of South Alabama to a 2-1 series-clinching win over Arkansas State Sunday at Tomlinson Stadium.

Gates (2-1) allowed just four hits and one unearned run while issuing eight walks in a career-high 8 1/3 innings pitched. Right-hander Ben Taylor tossed two-thirds of an inning in relief and struck out one to earn his fourth save of the season while extending his scoreless streak to 17 1/3 innings.

"I went out there and didn't have my best stuff, but I felt okay and just tried to grind it out and do my best for the team," Gates said.

USA spotted Gates two runs before he threw his first pitch of the contest. Cole Billingsley led off the game with a single to center field, and stole second before Adam Ballew reached on two-out walk. Danny Martinez followed with a two-run double to right field to score Billingsley and Ballew for the Jags' only two runs.

"That (two-run first inning) changed the whole mindset," Gates said. "I went out there with a lead, and I just tried to fill up the zone and let the defense make plays."

ASU (13-17, 4-10 SBC) loaded the bases three times against Gates, but each time the southpaw pitched out of the jam.

A leadoff walk by Ty White and a hit by pitch from Gates to Joe Schrimpf put the first two ASU batters on base in the bottom of the second. Lucas Feddersen advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Gates induced a popup to shortstop off the bat of Jeremy Brown for the second out of the frame before a two-out walk to Zach George loaded the bases. But the left-hander escaped the inning to preserve a two-run Jag lead with a strikeout of Austin Baker.

Gates did not allow a hit until the fourth inning when Schrimpf and Feddersen reached on consecutive one-out singles to center field. A sacrifice bunt by Brown moved both runners into scoring position with two outs. A walk to George from Gates loaded the bases for Baker, but Gates worked out of the spot for the second time in the game with an inning-ending flyout to center field to keep the USA lead at two runs.

The Red Wolves loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth with two outs after a leadoff single by Tanner Ring and consecutive two-out walks issued by Gates. But the left-hander stranded all three runners with an inning-ending flyout to right field to keep the Jaguar lead at 2-0.

"The mark of a good pitcher is what he does when he is in trouble," head coach Mark Calvi said. "Gates was in plenty of it today, but he made some pitches to get out of it. I was super-proud of his performance."

ASU pushed its lone run of the game across in the bottom of the ninth on a sacrifice fly to center field by Matt Burgess.

USA (22-11, 9-6 SBC) earned its third consecutive Sun Belt Conference series win in Sunday's victory.

"Gates has competed for us, he just hasn't gone deep," Calvi said. "He and Coach Keller made a good adjustment in his delivery this week. I hate to see eight walks, but he got us deep into the ballgame. He put the team on his back and said 'I got you from here.' It was great to see a great effort out of Gates today.

"This team has been playing with confidence and playing together as a team for the last six weeks. They show a lot of trust in each other. It's good to win two out of three on the road, especially in the conference. I'm really proud of the way the guys played all weekend."

USA went 6-2 in its eight-game stretch which spanned just 10 days after a series win at Louisiana-Monroe last weekend and a pair of midweek wins over Mississippi State and Jackson State earlier this week before capturing the ASU series.

"It was phenomenal how these guys handled that stretch," Calvi said. "They handled it like professionals. We have some older kids on this team who help show the way for some of the younger guys. I have been proud of our guys, but we're at the halfway point of the conference season. We're two-thirds of the way through with the season, and there is still a long way to go so we need to keep playing at a high level.

"We did plenty of things wrong this weekend as well. We'll have to clean some things up moving forward; it's tough when you don't have many practice days when you have been on the road. We will do the best we can as a coaching staff. Our guys know there are some areas of weakness that need to be addressed, but moving forward we will get that done."

Martinez went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI and extended his on-base streak to 28 games to lead USA at the plate. Billingsley added a hit and a run scored while extending his hitting streak to eight games, and Ballew finished with a hit and a run scored. Burgess went 1-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Red Wolves offensively.

South Alabama will return to action Tue., April 7, when it travels to Hammond, La., for a 6 p.m. contest.

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).