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#OURCITY
Randy Bell
Bobby McDuffie
3
Alabama State ALST 38-17
6
Winner South Alabama USA 41-21
Alabama State ALST
38-17
3
Final
6
South Alabama USA
41-21
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Alabama State ALST 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 1
South Alabama USA 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 3 X 6 13 0

W: Bell, Randy (7-1) L: Howe,Tyler (10-3)

Game Recap: Baseball |

BELL TOSSES COMPLETE GAME, LEADS NO. 3 JAGS PAST NO. 4 ASU

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Randy Bell tossed a complete game to lead the third-seeded University of South Alabama baseball team to a 6-3 win over No. 4 Alabama State Saturday in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional at Dick Howser Stadium.

Bell (7-1) struck out a career-high eight batters without issuing a walk, and allowed three runs on seven hits to record his team-leading fifth complete game of the season. 

"Randy was efficient with his pitches," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "He didn't walk anybody, and we played really good defense behind him. He throws strikes; that's what he does. He doesn't shy away from the swing and doesn't pick around the strike zone. He goes at you, and that's what he did. I thought he got better as the game went along. He gets tougher and stronger the further he goes. And I think our team saw that and leaned on him. We have a tough group, and we have been all year. That has been our trademark; these kids are tough both mentally and physically. And I think they got a little bit tougher feeding off of Randy today."

Bell retired seven of the last eight batters he faced in the game, and allowed only two hits over his final five innings.

"I was just throwing strikes and going after them," Bell said. "They got some good swings on some of my mistakes early on; I knew if I could limit the mistakes then I would be in control of the game. My game plan was just to let them hit it and let the defense work, and again today they made some outstanding plays. It was an all-around good defensive day again. I wanted to finish it out – it's always good to get that complete game. We got those three runs in the eighth (inning) and had all the momentum going into the ninth, so I wanted to finish it."

ASU (38-17) threatened in the top of the first inning, but did not push across a run. Yamil Pagan led off the game with a double to right-center field, and advanced to third on a one-out bunt single to third by Carols Ocasio to put runners at the corners. But Bell escaped the jam with a strikeout of Dillon Cooper and an inning-ending groundout to shortstop off the bat of Chris Biocic.

Alabama State took a two-run lead in the top of the second inning. Hunter Allen reached on a one-out single down the left field line, and Eriq White followed with a two-run home run to left field for a 2-0 Hornet lead.

South Alabama (41-21) answered with its first run of the game in the bottom of the third to cut its deficit to one. Cole Billingsley reached on a one-out bunt single to third, and advanced to third on a single through the right side of the infield by Travis Swaggerty to put runners at the corners with one out. Danny Martinez followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to left-center field to plate Billingsley with the first Jaguar run of the game.

The Hornets responded in the top of the fourth on a one-out solo home run to left field by Ray Hernandez for a 3-1 advantage.

USA pushed a run across in the bottom of the fourth to cut its deficit back to one run. Jared Barnes led off the inning with a double down the left field line, and moved to third on a single to left field by Ben Gann to put runners at the corners with one out. Drew LaBounty followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to score Barnes and cut the ASU lead to 3-2.

The Jaguars then tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. Swaggerty led off the inning with a triple to center field, and scored one batter later on an RBI double to left-center field by Martinez to knot the score at 3-3.

South Alabama then pushed across the game's decisive runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a three-run lead. Gann reached on a hit by pitch with one out in the inning, and was lifted for pinch-runner Dylan Hardy who then moved to second on a one-out single to right field by LaBounty. Billingsley followed with a two-run double to right-center field to score Hardy and LaBounty for a 5-3 lead. A throwing error by ASU third baseman Hernandez on a grounder off the bat of Swaggerty one batter later allowed Billingsley to score the final run of the contest.

Swaggerty and Martinez each tied a career high with three hits apiece to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Swaggerty went 3-for-4 with a triple and one run scored, while Martinez finished 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Billingsley went 2-for-5 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored, and LaBounty added one hit, one RBI and one run scored. White finished 1-for-2 with a home run, two RBI and one run scored to lead the Hornets offensively.

"Today was a matter of our team just finding a way to win the ballgame," Calvi said. "It didn't look good early; it could have been easy to sulk and pout after getting it handed to us pretty good yesterday by a very good Southern Miss team. But that's not who our team is or who our guys are, and they came out and were relentless in their pursuit of trying to win a ballgame today. I have the utmost amount of respect for our team. It was good to get a win in a (NCAA) regional. 

"Alabama State hit some balls really hard. They hit the two home runs, and were getting some good swings at (Randy) Bell early on. He just didn't give in and kept making them put the ball in play. They (Alabama State) are a very good offense and very good team. It felt like a conference game. Alabama State is no joke; we knew that coming in. Their starter was 90-93 (miles per hour) with three good pitches. They have very talented players and are coached very well. We knew we had our hands full today, but I am extremely proud of our team and program. I am very thankful to all of our fans and families that showed up and helped us get this win today."

USA will return to action Sunday in an elimination game against the loser of No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Southern Mississippi at 11 a.m. at Dick Howser Stadium.

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).
 
—USA—


 
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