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MOBILE, Ala. – Ryne Long tossed four scoreless relief innings, and the University of South Alabama baseball team pushed across a pair of runs in the sixth inning to defeat Middle Tennessee 3-2 Saturday at Stanky Field.

Long (1-0) allowed just one hit and struck out two Blue Raiders in four innings to earn the win. Right-hander Austin Bembnowski allowed two runs on eight hits with a pair of strikeouts in five innings without factoring in the decision.

"I thought (Austin) Bembnowski did a really nice job," head coach Mark Calvi said. "They (Middle Tennessee) have a lot of tough outs. Bembnowski hung in there; he had some traffic and he pitched his way through it. And Ryne Long was fantastic today out of the bullpen. He got his leadoff out every time, and I couldn't be prouder of those two kids today. They both did a fantastic job."

Middle Tennessee (5-5) broke a scoreless tie with the game's first run in the top of the fourth. Brad Jarreau singled to center field to lead off the top of the fourth, and moved to second on a one-out single to left-center by Kevin Dupree. Austin Dennis later delivered a two-out RBI single to right field to score Jarreau for a one-run Blue Raider lead.

The Blue Raiders doubled their lead an inning later. Sullivan led off the top of the fifth with a single to right field, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Chaz Vesser. Riley Delgado followed with a one-out RBI single to left field to score Sullivan and push the Middle Tennessee lead to two runs. 

USA (9-2) answered with its first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. The Jags loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive walks from Blue Raider left-hander Tyler Troutt to Danny Martinez, Adam Wolfe and Eddie Paparella drew consecutive walks to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Cole Billingsley then drove in the first Jaguar of the game later in the inning with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Martinez and cut the MT lead to one run.

South Alabama plated the decisive runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jared Barnes drew a leadoff walk, and Ben Gann followed with a single down to left field. A sacrifice bunt by Matt Bolger moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Martinez followed with a two-run single to right-center field to score Barnes and Gann for a 3-2 Jaguar lead. 

"For whatever reason, we're not clicking offensively right now," Calvi said. "We haven't swung the bats well for the last week. We have gotten our share of hits, but we weren't clicking offensively again today. Our guys worked hard at the plate. We gave away some at-bats, but our guys pitched well and played defense and that's how we won the ball game."

Troutt (1-1) allowed three runs on four hits with four strikeouts and five walks in 5 1/3 innings in the loss. 

Barnes went 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Martinez added a hit, two RBI and one run scored, and Billingsley drove in one run.

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).