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MOBILE, Ala. – No. 25 Southern Mississippi pushed 10 runs across in its first four at-bats en route to a 13-7 win over the University of South Alabama baseball team Tuesday at Stanky Field.

Eight USM starters hit safely in the game, led by Cole Donaldson who went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Mason Irby finished 2-for-6 with a triple and a game-high four RBI. Travis Swaggerty tied a career high in hits, finishing 4-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored to lead the Jaguars at the plate. 

USM (31-12) pushed across the game's first run in the top of the first inning. Dylan Burdeaux led off the game with a double to the right field corner, moved to third with one out on a groundout to second by Irby and scored one batter later on a 3-4-3 groundout to second off the bat of Hunter Slater for a 1-0 lead. 

South Alabama (25-17) answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first for a one-run lead. Dylan Hardy led off the inning with a single to center field, and moved to third on a single to center by Brendan Donovan. Swaggerty followed with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to plate Hardy and tie the game 1-1. Swaggerty stole second before an RBI groundout to shortstop scored Donovan for a 2-1 Jaguar lead. 

The Golden Eagles responded with three runs in the top of the second for a two-run advantage. Donaldson doubled down the left field line with one out in the inning, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Matthew Guidry drew a one-out walk to put runners at the corners before LeeMarcus Boyd singled through the left side of the infield to score Donaldson and tie the game 2-2. Irby then delivered a two-out, two-run triple to the right-center gap to score Guidry and Boyd and double the USM lead at 4-2.

USA pushed across a run in the bottom of the second to cut its deficit to one. Will Luft and Jared Barnes drew consecutive walks to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt by Hunter Stokes put both runners in scoring position with one out. Hardy then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Luft and cut the USM lead to 4-3. 

USM scored four runs in the top of the third inning to take a five-run lead. Taylor Braley drew a leadoff walk, and moved to second on a single through the right side of the infield by Matt Wallner. Jaguar left-hander Zach Melton hit USM pinch-hitter Daniel Keating to load the bases with no outs for Donaldson, who reached on an RBI fielder's choice on a flare into shallow right field that scored Braley and extended the USM lead to 5-3. Guidry drew a one-out walk to load the bases for Boyd, who reached on a walk to score Wallner and double the Golden Eagle lead at 6-3. Irby delivered a two-out, two-run single to left field later in the inning to push the USM lead to 8-3. 

The Jags answered in the bottom of the third on a one-out solo home run over the left-center field wall by Swaggerty, his seventh of the season, to cut the USM lead in half at 8-4. 

Southern Miss increased its lead to 10-4 in the top of the fourth on a one-out, two-run home run to center field by Daniel Keating.

South Alabama cut the USM lead in half in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out RBI single to right field by LaBounty that scored Swaggerty, who reached on a two-out walk, to cut the Golden Eagle lead to 10-5. 

USM added to its lead in the top of the seventh on a one-out RBI single to left field by Burdeaux for an 11-5 advantage. 

The Jags responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to cut their deficit to four. Donovan and Swaggerty reached on consecutive one-out singles before a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position with one out. Wells Davis drew a walk to load the bases with one out for LaBounty, who lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Donovan and cut the Golden Eagle lead to 11-6. Luft drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Barnes, who reached on an RBI infield single to third that scored Swaggerty and cut the USM lead to 11-7. 

Southern Miss added the game's final runs in the top of the eighth on a two-out RBI single to right field by Donaldson and RBI infield single by Boyd for a 13-7 advantage. 

USM left-hander Stevie Powers (3-0) allowed two runs on three hits with four strikeouts and one walk in 3 1/3 innings in the win. Jaguar right-hander Sean Trimble (2-1) allowed six runs on six hits with two walks in two innings pitched in the loss.

"I give credit where credit is due," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "We knew how good Southern Miss is. They are coached very well. I have as much respect for Coach (Scott) Berry and his staff as any staff in this country. We knew we had to pitch it tonight; we knew we couldn't give free bases. They (USM) are hitting .313 as a team – that's no fluke. They play a very good schedule like we do. When you add their hits and some walks, that's when you get some crooked numbers. 

"We just couldn't do enough offensively to stay up with them. They pitched it a little bit better than we did tonight. Those second, third and fourth innings were too much to overcome. We couldn't get enough offense against their pitching staff, and that was the story of the game. Our guys swung the bats pretty well all night, they (USM) just made some pitches when they had to and we didn't. They got a couple of hits when they needed to and we didn't. The free bases were the story of the night tonight."

South Alabama will return to action this weekend when it hosts Texas State in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Stanky Field, with the series opener set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on Friday. 

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