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BOONE, N.C. – Hunter Soleymani tossed his first career complete game to lead the 21st-ranked University of South Alabama baseball team to an 8-1 win over Appalachian State Saturday at Smith Stadium.

Soleymani (3-1) allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in nine innings to earn his third win of the season. The right-hander did not allow a run until the eighth inning, and retired the final six batters he faced in the game to even the series at one game apiece. 

"I had four pitches going so it was easier to keep them off-balance," Soleymani said. "When you don't have all of your pitches, then they can start to sit on them so it was good to keep mixing it up. The defense was outstanding, and it is always fun pitching with the lead. It helps you to keep going out there; they are working for you so you want to work for them and keep putting up zeros. After last night, we had to do everything we could to come out and win today. The biggest thing about that is I like how our guys didn't let last night's game affect them today. They came out here with the right mentality and ready to play."

App State right-hander Breydan Gorham (1-4) allowed five runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings in the loss. 

USA (27-9, 16-1 SBC) spotted Soleymani a one-run lead in the top of the fourth. Drew LaBounty reached on a fielding error by App State third baseman Grayson Atwood to lead off the inning, and scored one batter later on a double to the right-center gap by Danny Martinez.

The Jags increased their lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Adam Wolfe led off the inning with a ground-rule double to left field, and moved to third on a groundout to second by Travis Swaggerty. Cole Billingsley followed with a one-out RBI single back up the middle to plate Wolfe and double the Jaguar lead to 2-0. LaBounty then delivered an RBI double down the right-field line to score Billingsley and extend the lead to 3-0. 

App State (9-26, 4-13 SBC) threatened when it loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth. Tyler Stroup led off the inning with a single back up the middle, and moved to second on an infield single to first base by Colin Schmid. A hit by pitch from Soleymani to Chandler Seagle loaded the bases with two outs, but the right-hander induced an inning-ending groundout to shortstop off the bat of Tanner Mann-Fix to escape the jam.

USA then added two more runs to its advantage in the top of the sixth. Jared Barnes doubled to left-center field with one out in the inning, and Wolfe followed with a two-run home run to left field – his fourth of the season – for a 5-0 Jaguar lead. 

The Jags added their final runs of the contest in the top of the seventh. Martinez led off the inning with a walk, and advanced to second when Carter Perkins reached on a fielding error by Myers at second base. A sacrifice bunt by Brendan Donovan moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Barnes followed with a walk to load the bases for Ben Gann, who reached on a fielder's choice to score Martinez and push the USA lead to 6-0. A double steal of second by Gann and home by Perkins extended the Jaguar advantage to 7-0. Wolfe followed with an RBI single to left field to plate Gann for an 8-0 USA lead. 

The Mountaineers scored their lone run of the game on a leadoff home run to left field by Grayson Atwood in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Wolfe recorded a career-high three hits, finishing 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, three RBI and two runs scored to lead the Jaguars offensively. Billingsley went 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored while LaBounty added a double, one RBI and one run scored and Gann finished with one hit, one RBI and scored once. 

"Hunter Soleymani was great," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "After an emotional loss last night, it's good to have such a steady person on the mound. Soleymani is that steady guy who is never too up and never too down. He has been fantastic for us this year. Almost every start he has this season has been a quality start. He was really good, and their (App State) guy (Gorham) was good. But our guys hung in there, battled and got his pitches up. They saw a lot of his pitches; we weren't getting first- or second-pitch outs. We might have looked bad the first time around on some changeups, but it paid dividends in the later innings when we got to him. I am super proud of Soleymani and the team for the way they responded."

South Alabama will attempt to clinch its sixth consecutive Sun Belt Conference series in game three Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT).

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).