Box Score (Game 1 PDF)
Box Score (Game 2 PDF)

JONESBORO, Ark. – The University of South Alabama baseball team split a doubleheader with Arkansas State Saturday at Tomlinson Stadium.

ASU (20-18, 8-9 SBC) defeated South Alabama (24-16, 11-6 SBC) 12-10 in game one before the Jaguars evened the series with a 12-2 win over the Red Wolves in game two.

"Thomas (Huston) has been great for us all year long," USA head coach Mark Calvi. "He didn't give us a great start, and the game revolves around pitching and defense. In the first game, we didn't get one of those first two that we needed – the pitching and defense part of it. The whole team battled. I give credit to Arkansas State; that hit some mistakes, took some walks and hit some good pitches. Thomas just didn't look like himself out there. We have a lot of belief in him, and he will be fine next week. I expect a much better outing next week; he will be good to go. But the kids fought until the end. I was proud of their effort. The walks and sloppiness in there were just too much to overcome.

"Game two was exactly the opposite. There were a lot of extra-base hits, some home runs, we took advantage of our outs and moved some guys along. We had some sacrifice flies and ground balls with men at third, dirtball reads and Randy (Bell) was really good. He was really aggressive with his fastball and located it really well. He mixed in his changeup and some curveballs in there, but for the most part he threw 80 percent fastballs tonight and located well and did a really nice job. It was a long day at the park and after losing a long first game like that, I credit our guys for the way they fought until the end. We really jumped out in game two and didn't look back the whole game or let the foot off the gas pedal. That takes some maturity and the right kind of guys to lose a game and then jump right back in to game two 40 minutes later and give a great effort. But they were allowed to have energy and have fight and do well because of that guy on the bump in the middle of the field; that's where it starts and stops. We were good one of the two games today, but the series is only two-thirds over and we have another game tomorrow. We have a lot of faith in (game three starter) Tyler Carr and who we have down in the bullpen behind him. Our pitchers believe in our hitters and our hitters believe in our pitchers. That's how it has to be. This is a team thing and these kids play really well together and get along well together. Tomorrow is a big game; it is the biggest game of the year. You would be fooling yourself to look at it any other way. Every pitch of every inning in every game matters, so that's how we approach tomorrow and we're looking for a good start out of Carr."

The series will conclude with the rubber match at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Game 1 – Arkansas State 12, South Alabama 10
Arkansas State used a seven-run second inning to defeat South Alabama 12-10 in the series opener. 

Eight ASU starters hit safely in the game, led by Justin Felix went 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored to lead the Red Wolves offensively. Wells Davis tied a career high in hits, finishing 3-for-3 with two doubles, one RBI one run scored and a pair of walks to lead the Jaguars at the plate. 

ASU right-hander Bradey Welsh (2-1) allowed five runs on six hits with one strikeout and five walks in five innings pitched to earn the win. Tyler Zuber allowed one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts in one inning to record his fifth save of the season. Jaguar left-hander Thomas Huston (4-2) allowed five earned runs on four hits with one strikeout and two walks in 2 1/3 innings pitched in the loss.

USA threatened in the top of the second inning, but failed to push across a run. Wells Davis led off the inning with a double to right-center field, and Will Luft followed with a walk. A sacrifice bunt by Colton Thomas advanced both runners into scoring position with one out. But Welsh struck out Jared Barnes for the second out of the frame, and induced an inning-ending groundout to second off the bat of Hunter Stokes to escape the jam and preserve a scoreless tie.

ASU took a one-run lead in the bottom of the second inning. Jeremy Brown reached on a one-out walk, moved to second on a groundout to first by Jake Bakamus and scored on a two-out single to center field by Alex Howard for a 1-0 lead.

Arkansas State batted around in the bottom of the third inning and pushed across seven runs, aided by a pair of home runs, for an eight-run advantage. The Red Wolves extended their lead to 3-0 on a two-run double to right-center field by Grant Hawkins. Winston Welch led off the inning with a single to center field, and advanced to third when Drew Tipton reached on a two-base throwing error by Jaguar left-hander Thomas Huston on a sacrifice bunt attempt before Hawkins doubled to the right-center gap to plate both runners. Justin Felix delivered a one-out, three-run home run to left field later in the inning for a 6-0 ASU advantage. Howard then pushed the Arkansas State lead to 8-0 on a two-out, two-run home run to left field later in the third.

The Red Wolves added a run to their lead in the bottom of the fourth. Tipton led off the inning with a single to center field, and moved to second on a walk by Hawkins. A sacrifice bunt by Joe Schrimpf advanced both runners into scoring position with one out. Rucker followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Tipton for a 9-0 ASU lead.

South Alabama answered with five runs in the top of the fifth to cut its deficit to four. Thomas led off the inning with a walk, and scored one batter later on an RBI triple off the left-center wall by Hunter Stokes to cut the ASU lead to 9-1. Dylan Hardy followed with an RBI single down the left field line to plate Stokes and cut the ASU lead to 9-2. After a groundout to second by Drew LaBounty, Brendan Donovan delivered a two-out, two-run home run to right-center field, his fifth of the season, to cut the Arkansas State lead to 9-4. Travis Swaggerty followed with a walk before Davis doubled to right field to score Swaggerty to cut the ASU lead to 9-5.

Jared Barnes delivered a one-out solo home run over the left-center field wall in the top of the sixth, his team-leading eighth of the season, to cut the ASU lead to 9-6.

The Red Wolves responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth on a one-out single to left field by Brown for a 10-6 lead. ASU loaded the bases later in the inning and pushed across its second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to left field by Howard for an 11-6 advantage.

The Jags answered with three runs in the top of the seventh on a two-out, three-run home run by Colton Thomas, the first of his career, to cut the ASU lead to 11-9. But Felix delivered a two-out RBI single to shallow right-center field in the bottom of the seventh to extend the ASU lead to three runs at 12-9.

Swaggerty led off the top of the ninth with a solo home run to left field for the final Jaguar run of the contest.

Game 2 – South Alabama 12, Arkansas State 2
Right-hander Randy Bell allowed just one run over eight innings to lead the Jaguars to a 12-1 win and split the doubleheader. 

Bell (3-3) allowed one run on only two hits with seven strikeouts against one walk to earn his third win of the season. ASU right-hander Tyler Mitzel (1-3) allowed seven runs on three hits with two strikeouts and four walks in 4 2/3 innings in the loss. 

Hardy led off the game with a walk, stole second and moved to third with one out on a wild pitch. Donovan then delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Hardy with the game's first run.

The Red Wolves answered in the bottom of the second on a leadoff solo home run to left-center field by Felix to tie the game at 1-1.

South Alabama responded with three runs in the top of the third to take a three-run lead. Stokes and Hardy reached on consecutive walks to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt by Thomas advanced both runners into scoring position with one out. Donovan struck out, but reached base on a wild pitch by ASU right-hander Tyler Mitzel to load the bases with one out for Swaggerty who reached on a fielder's choice on a grounder to shortstop that scored Stokes for a 2-1 lead. Davis then delivered an RBI single to right-center field that scored both Hardy and Swaggerty following a fielding error by ASU right fielder Bakamus while attempting to retrieve the ball for a 4-1 advantage.

The Jags pushed across a run in the top of the fourth to extend its lead to four runs. LaBounty led off the inning with a single through the left side of the infield, advanced to second on a passed ball and moved to third on a wild pitch. Barnes followed with an RBI groundout to shortstop to score LaBounty for a 5-1 lead.

Donovan extended the Jaguar lead to 6-1 in the top of the fifth on a one-out solo home run to left field. Swaggerty then reached on a three-base fielding error on a dropped fly ball in center field. Davis followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Swaggerty for a 7-1 Jaguar advantage. Luft then doubled down the right field line before LaBounty reached on a walk. Barnes then delivered a three-run home run to left field to extend the USA lead to 10-1.

South Alabama pushed its lead to 11-1 in the top of the seventh inning on a leadoff solo home run to right-center field by Davis.

Matt Bolger drew a pinch-hit walk to lead off the top of the eighth, and moved to third on a two-out single back up the middle by Donovan. A wild pitch allowed Donovan to move to second before a second wild pitch advanced him to third and scored Bolger with the final Jaguar run of the game.

ASU added the game's final run on a sacrifice fly by Bakamus in the bottom of the ninth inning.

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).

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