Box Score

STATESBORO, Ga. – University of South Alabama right-handers Tyler Carr and Matt Peacock combined to shut out Georgia Southern 5-0 in Sunday's series finale and clinch the three-game series at J.I. Clements Stadium.

Carr (1-0) struck out a career-high 10 batters against two walks, and scattered six hits in 6 2/3 innings to earn his first career win. Peacock allowed two hits and struck out three in 2 1/3 innings to earn his third save of the season. Eagle right-hander Chase Cohen (1-2) allowed three runs on three hits with nine strikeouts and four walks in 4 1/3 innings in the loss.

"Those two kids (Carr and Peacock) competed like crazy," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "They had a full team and dugout behind them, and I was proud of every player's effort on this team – guys who played every day or who played sparingly. Hopefully, we can be a version of this weekend moving forward. We've had some guys in and out of the lineup with guys sick and injured, but our guys make no excuses; they keep playing hard, playing the game the right way and pressuring the other team. It's not easy to win a series against a very good team like Georgia Southern when you lose on Friday, but our guys just came out and battled, played the game the right way and competed every pitch of every inning. I couldn't be more proud of their effort.

"I just like the way we competed in the batter's box, defensively and on the mound. And that's what it should be – it's a competition. You don't just compete in the game, you compete in the small parts of the game which make up the game and that's pitch-to-pitch. I thought our guys competed much better this weekend pitch-to-pitch than we had leading up to this. I think moving forward that it's a great lesson to be learned with a bunch of new players and pitchers – how important it is to compete every pitch and not just at-bat to at-bat or inning-to-inning. It's every single pitch because that's what makes up the at-bats and the innings, and ultimately makes up the game. When you compete every pitch, you look up in the ninth inning and you are either winning or have a chance to win, and that's where we have been a lot of times this year. We've given some at-bats and pitches away – we haven't competed every single pitch and therefore we have a few too many one-run losses. But I think our guys learned how to compete every single pitch over the last couple of games, and I am really proud of them for that."

The Eagles threatened in the bottom of the first, but did not push across a run. Steven Curry drew a leadoff walk, and advanced to third on a one-out single through the right side of the infield by Ryan Cleveland to put runners at the corners. But Carr induced a 6-3 inning-ending double play off the bat of Mason McWhorter to escape the frame and preserve a scoreless tie.

South Alabama (11-9, 2-1 SBC) took a two-run lead in the top of the second inning. Carter Perkins drew a two-out walk and scored one batter later on a two-run home run to left field by Jared Barnes, his third of the season and second of the series, for a 2-0 Jaguar lead. 

The Jaguars threatened in the top of the third, but did not come away with a run. Brendan Donovan singled down the first base line with one out in the inning, and moved to second on a walk by Travis Swaggerty. A double steal put both runners into scoring position with two outs, but Cohen recorded an inning-ending strikeout of Eddie Paparella to escape the jam and keep the Eagle deficit at two runs.

South Alabama added to its lead in the top of the fifth. Donovan doubled down the right field line with one out, and advanced to third with two outs on a wild pitch from Eagle left-hander Connor Simmons. Donovan scored two pitches later on a second wild pitch from Simmons for a 3-0 USA lead. 

The Jaguars added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Hunter Stokes led off the inning with a single to left-center field, and advanced to second on a bunt single down the first base line by Dylan Hardy. A sacrifice bunt by Donovan moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Swaggerty drew a one-out walk to load the bases for Wells Davis, who followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to score Stokes and extend the USA lead to 4-0. 

Georgia Southern threatened in the bottom of the seventh, but did not produce a run. Jordan Wren doubled to right field to lead off the inning, and advanced to third on a two-out pinch-hit single by Cameron Hankins. Evan McDonald followed with a walk to load the bases for Curry, but Peacock, who entered in relief of Carr to face Curry, recorded an inning-ending strikeout to escape the jam and preserve a four-run USA lead. 

South Alabama added the game's final run in the top of the eighth inning. Barnes reached on a one-out infield single to third, and moved to second on a groundout to third by Will Luft. Adam Wolfe drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Donovan, who drew a four-pitch walk to plate Barnes.

Barnes went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored to lead the Jaguars offensively. Donovan added two hits and one run scored, and Davis drove in one run. Hankins finished 2-for-2 to lead the Eagles at the plate.

USA will return to action Tue., March 21, when it travels to Montgomery, Ala., for a 6 p.m. contest with Alabama State.

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/dugoutclub.