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JONESBORO, Ark. – Every University of South Alabama baseball starter hit safely, led by Dylan Hardy, in a 15-5 series-clinching win over Arkansas State in Sunday's rubber match at Tomlinson Stadium.

Hardy tied a career high in hits, finishing 4-for-6 with a triple, three RBI, three runs scored and two stolen bases. Wells Davis finished 2-for-6 with three RBI, Drew LaBounty went 2-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored and Brendan Donovan added two hits, one RBI and four runs scored.

Jaguar right-hander Matt Peacock (1-2) struck out a career-high five batters against one walk and allowed just three hits in a career-high five scoreless innings to earn his first career win. ASU right-hander Peyton Culbertson (3-5) allowed seven runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and four walks in four innings pitched in the loss.

"We went 4-1 this week, and when we started the week I said I would really love to go 5-0 or 4-1 but thought it was going to be a tough task," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "But our kids competed. I was proud of our kids' effort. We're on the road and had two midweek games – that's hard to do and to go 4-1 this week, I was really proud of their effort. But this week is over and we need to get ready. We have a very good Southern Miss club at our place, and it's a big ballgame for us. It's a big RPI game for us, and is very important so we need to be ready to go Tuesday."

South Alabama (25-16, 12-6 SBC) jumped out to a two-run lead in the top of the first inning. Colton Thomas drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a single through the right side of the infield by Brendan Donovan. Wells Davis delivered a two-out RBI single to left field that scored Thomas from second with the game's first run. Drew LaBounty followed with an RBI single to center field to score Donovan from third and double the Jaguar lead at 2-0. 

ASU (20-19, 8-10 SBC) loaded the bases in the bottom of the first on consecutive one-out singles by Joe Schrimpf and Garrett Rucker, and a two-out fielding error by Will Luft on a grounder to third off the bat of Jeremy Brown. Jake Bakamus then reached on a two-base error by LaBounty on a dropped popup into shallow left-center field that plated all three runners for a 3-2 Red Wolf lead. 

The Jaguars responded with three runs in the top of the second inning to re-take the lead. Hunter Stokes reached on a one-out single to second, and scored one batter later on an RBI triple to the right-center gap by Dylan Hardy to knot the score at 3-3. Colton Thomas followed with an RBI single back up the middle to score Hardy for a 4-3 USA advantage. Thomas then advanced to second with one out on a passed ball, and moved to third after tagging up on a flyout to right field by Donovan. A wild pitch by ASU right-hander Peyton Culbertson allowed Thomas to score and extend the Jaguar lead to 5-3.

USA doubled its lead with a run in the top of the third inning. Luft and Jared Barnes reached on consecutive one-out walks in the top of the third. Hardy delivered a two-out RBI single to right field later in the inning to score Luft from second for a 6-3 lead.

ASU answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on a leadoff solo home run to left center field by Schrimpf and a two-out RBI single to center field by Alex Howard to cut the USA advantage to 6-5.

South Alabama responded with a run in the top of the fourth to extend its lead to two runs. Donovan reached on a two-base fielding error by Howard on a grounder to third to lead off the inning, and advanced to second on a groundout to second by Swaggerty. Davis followed with an RBI groundout to second to plate Donovan and push the Jaguar lead to 7-5.

USA added two runs in the top of the sixth to take a four-run lead. Hardy singled through the left side of the infield to lead off the inning then stole second with one out before Donovan drew a walk. Davis delivered a two-out RBI single to right field later in the inning to score Hardy from second and extend the South Alabama advantage to 8-5. LaBounty followed with an RBI bunt single down the third base line to score Donovan for a 9-5 lead.

The Jaguars added six additional runs in the top of the ninth inning. LaBounty drew a leadoff walk, and advanced to third on a single to right field by Will Luft to put runners at the corners with no outs. LaBounty then scored on a wild pitch following a walk to Barnes to double the USA lead to 10-5. A pinch-hit sacrifice bunt by Matt Bolger moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Hardy followed with an RBI single into left-center field to plate Luft for an 11-5 Jaguar lead. Hardy then stole second before Eddie Paparella delivered a two-run pinch-hit double down the left field line to score Barnes and Hardy and extend the lead to 13-5. Donovan followed with an RBI single to left-center field to score Paparella for a 14-5 lead. A single by Swaggerty put runners advanced Donovan to third to put runners at the corners with one out before Donovan scored the game's final run on a balk.

"We swung the bats very well," Calvi said. "We knocked their (ASU) starter (Culbertson) out in four innings; he used 100 pitches. We looked for good pitches to hit and took some walks. When you have multiple guys with RBI – (Dylan) Hardy had a big day today, and Eddie Paparella and Colton Thomas drove in two runs, Wells Davis had three RBI and a couple of hits and Drew LaBounty had two RBI. We scored three runs in the second inning, after back-to-back walks from Will Luft who was in a 1-2 count and Jared Barnes who was also in a 1-2 count; they got on base and we scored three. That's what our offense is all about – being selfless and taking pitches that you can't really do a whole lot with. Sometimes you have to give the pitcher a pitch or two. I don't know how many starters we have knocked out in the fifth (inning) or before the fifth this year, but our guys are willing to work up there and get good pitches and take some strikes that they can't hit hard even when they are  behind in the count. Our guys keep working and never give in. So I was as happy with those two at-bats out of Luft and Barnes – those guys really willing to work in there even when they have two strikes and get it (count) to even and take some walks. That typifies our offense right there. 

"Defensively, I felt bad for Tyler (Carr). He could have slumped his shoulders – he deserved a better fate; he probably deserved to go six innings today. But he kept us in the ballgame and I just didn't want a slugfest. It came to the point where we didn't play great defense behind him and they (ASU) were getting a good look at him, and I felt as though it was time to go to the bullpen. But I am super proud of Tyler Carr; he kept pitching and competed. And (Matt) Peacock came in and did a really nice job and kept the momentum in our dugout. I believe in in-game momentum, and I am always looking for it; we're always trying to get it. In between games I don't believe in it, but in-game you have to have it and it is important that you get it and hold on to it as long as you can or take it away from somebody and I thought that is what Peacock did. I thought momentum was on their side a little bit and we were a little bit flat there in the fourth (inning), but Matt changed the energy and brought back into our dugout. I am super proud of both of those kids, Carr and Peacock, for competing the way they did today."

South Alabama will return to action Tue., April 25, when it hosts No. 16 Southern Mississippi at 6:30 p.m. at Stanky Field.

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