Box Score (PDF)
Postgame Quotes

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – University of South Alabama right-hander Randy Bell tossed a complete game to lead the third-seeded Jaguars to a 6-3 win over No. 2 Mississippi State in the NCAA Hattiesburg (Miss.) Regional Friday at Pete Taylor Park.

Bell (7-3) allowed three runs on six hits with three strikeouts against two walks in nine innings pitched to record his seventh win and second complete game of the season. He retired 11 of the last 12 batters faced in the game to lead the Jaguars to their first postseason win over the Bulldogs.

"I'm very excited to open up the regional with a win against a very good Mississippi state team," USA head coach Mark Calvi said. "This is our fourth time playing them this year and first time seeing Cole Gordon, but he's been really hot as of late. This time of year you need to play well. For us, our guys have been playing playoff-caliber baseball, I would say, for the last six weeks. This is the only team that I've been a part of that everyone on the team understands the RPI, and understands what's been going on the last six weeks. They understand the importance of winning to get here. I had a feeling, I knew when they got here, and it meant so much to them to get here, that there wouldn't be a letdown. I knew they'd played their same brand of baseball and they'd be who they are. That's a bunch of guys who work extremely hard and play together as a unit very, very well.

"The story of tonight was Randy Bell. He went all nine and threw 130, 132 pitches. That was a function of his teammates. We had some guys make some great plays for him, we had some guys score runs for him. So, there is no one guy that's bigger than our ball club. We have some good guys and they play well together. Tonight is an indication of that. We've got about two hours to enjoy this, because you should. It's a big deal to win one in a regional, in the post season. It's a big deal to win one game. But the tournament isn't over. We have a lot of baseball left to be played. There are so very, very good teams in this thing. I'm excited about our win tonight. I'm excited for my players mainly. I'm so happy for this group because the effort they have given all year long. They understand the important of winning. Sometimes, in today's day age, kids that are 18 to 22, they don't understand how important it is to win. We have a bunch of guys who understand how important it is to win and to take their opponent seriously, respect their opponent, play the game the right way and do things the right way on and off the field."

South Alabama (40-19) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Dylan Hardy hit the first pitch of the game from MSU right-hander Cole Gordon over the left field wall. Colton Thomas and Brendan Donovan followed with consecutive walks before Travis Swaggerty delivered an RBI double down the right field line to double the Jaguar lead at 2-0. Donovan scored later in the inning on an RBI groundout to third off the bat of Drew LaBounty for a 3-0 advantage.

Mississippi State (36-25) answered with a run in the bottom of the first to cut the Jaguar lead to 3-1. Ryan Gridley and Brent Rooker reached on consecutive singles to left field to start the inning. Jake Mangum then reached on a fielder's choice on a grounder to shortstop to put runners at the corners with one out. Hunter Stovall followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to plate Rooker with the Bulldogs' first run of the game. 

The Jaguars loaded the bases in the top of the third on three straight walks, but failed to push across a run.
Thomas drew a leadoff walk to start the inning, and moved to second with no outs on a wild pitch. Donovan then reached on a walk, and Swaggerty followed with a walk to load the bases with no outs. MSU right-hander Peyton Plumlee, who entered in relief of right-hander Cole Gordon following a walk to Swaggerty, induced a popup into foul territory behind third base off the bat of Wells Davis for the first out of the inning, and struck out LaBounty to record the second out of the frame. Plumlee then struck out Hunter Stokes to escape the jam and keep the Bulldog deficit at two runs. 

USA added three runs to its lead in the top of the fifth for a five-run advantage. Thomas led off the inningwith a double to left field, and Donovan followed with a walk. A wild pitch by Plumlee allowed both runners to move into scoring position with no outs. Swaggerty then lifted a 1-2 pitch from Plumlee over the left-center field wall for a three-run home run, his 11th of the season, for a 6-1 lead.  

The Bulldogs answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut their deficit to three. Hunter Stovall drew a leadoff walk to start the inning, and scored one batter later on an RBI triple off the left-center field wall by Cody Brown to cut the Jaguar lead to 6-2. Hunter Vansau followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to plate the game's final run.

Swaggerty went 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and one run scored to lead the Jaguars at the plate. Hardy finished 3-for-5 with a home run, one RBI and one run scored, and LaBounty added one hit and one RBI.

USA will face No. 1 seed Southern Mississippi at 6 p.m. Saturday in a winner's bracket contest.

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