WACO, Texas – The University of South Alabama baseball team fell to Baylor 3-2 Friday at Baylor Ballpark.

Baylor right-hander Nick Lewis (2-0) allowed two runs on six hits and struck out seven in seven innings to earn his second win of the season. Troy Montemayor tossed one inning with two strikeouts to earn his second save of the year. Jaguar right-hander Randy Bell (0-1) allowed three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings in the loss.

"It was a great game," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "He's a Friday-night guy in the Big XII. He had a great changeup and the wind was blowing in; with a little different weather conditions, we hit some balls that probably would have gone over their heads. But (Nick) Lewis did a great job of mixing and matching. You couldn't tell his fastball from his changeup and his slider was pretty good. He had three pitches that kept us off balance. But our guys hung in there, and Randy (Bell) matched him pitch-for-pitch. It was a great college baseball game by two pretty good teams, and the fans got their money's worth tonight.

"Randy moves his fastball around and he has a good curveball. Usually in cold weather, it's hard to have a feel for that curveball because you can't stay sticky with your fingers. And I thought Randy did a really nice job of using his curveball, but his changeup was really good and he moved his fastball around; he probably threw only 15 or 20 curveballs out of all of his pitches. The rest was just fastball and changeup, and he did a nice job of mixing and matching and that's what Randy does."

Baylor (6-0) broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a three-run lead. Aaron Dodson led off the frame with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an RBI triple down the right field line by Richard Cunningham. Tucker Cascadden followed with an RBI single through the left side of the infield to double the BU lead at 2-0. An RBI groundout to second off the bat of Steven McLean pushed across the third run of the frame for the Bears.

South Alabama (4-1) answered with a run in the top of the sixth to cut its deficit to two runs. Colton Thomas reached on a fielder's choice, following a leadoff single by Jared Barnes, and moved to second on a single by Paul Russo. Travis Swaggerty followed with a two-out RBI single to right field to plate Thomas and cut the BU lead to 3-1.

The Jags added the final run of the game in the top of the seventh. Will Luft reached on a one-out single back up the middle, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out RBI single to left field by Barnes to cut the BU lead to 3-2.

Barnes went 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Jaguars at the plate, while Swaggerty finished 1-for-4 with one RBI. Cunningham went 2-for-3 with a triple, one RBI and one run scored to lead the Bears offensively.

The series will continue with game two Saturday at 3:05 p.m.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Dugout Club - the baseball-specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. Members enjoy all games from inside the Stadium Club with climate control, private restrooms, private concessions and access to listen to the radio broadcast. All donations to the Dugout Club go directly to support the South Alabama baseball program. For more information on how you can join visit JaguarAthleticFund.com.