No. 13 Southern Mississippi (3-0) vs. No. 17 South Alabama (3-1)
Tue., Feb. 20 - 6:30 p.m. - Stanky Field
Media Information
Live Stream: Every South Alabama baseball home game is broadcast live and available for free through JagNationTV.com.
On the Radio: Jaguar baseball games are broadcast live in Mobile on 99.5 FM The Jag, and also available via the iHeartRadio app.
Live Stats: Live stats for every South Alabama baseball game are available through the multimedia section of USAJaguars.com.
Twitter: Follow the official Twitter account of South Alabama baseball — @WeAreSouth_BSB — for news and updates.
Probable Starting Pitchers
Tue., Feb. 20
USA - RHP Tyler Perez (0-0)
USM - RHP Walker Powell (0-0)
All-Time Series
South Alabama holds a 61-36 all-time lead over Southern Miss in a series that dates back to 1967 ... The Golden Eagles have won three straight in the series, and four of the last five contests dating back to the 2016 NCAA Tallahassee (Fla.) Regional ... USM defeated USA 4-2 in Hattiesburg last season, and knocked off the Jags 13-7 later in the season at Stanky Field ... Southern Miss also defeated South Alabama 8-3 in the second round of last year's NCAA Hattiesburg Regional ... USA is 8-7 all-time against USM under head coach Mark Calvi.
Jag Notes
• South Alabama enters Tuesday's contest ranked No. 17 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 18 by D1Baseball, No. 21 by Baseball America, No. 22 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and No. 23 in the USA Today/Coaches poll.
• Southern Miss, ranked No. 13 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 15 by D1Baseball and No. 17 by Baseball America this week, is the third top-25 opponent the Jaguars have faced this season. USA defeated No. 18 Oklahoma 6-5 in 12 innings last Saturday in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on a walk-off single by senior third baseman Paul Russo, and fell to No. 23 Indiana on a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday.
• South Alabama enters Tuesday's matchup with USM tied for ninth nationally in walks (26), and tied for 10th in home runs (5).
• The Jags lead the Sun Belt Conference in walks (26), rank tied for the league lead in doubles (8), second in hits (37), runs (29), home runs (5), RBI (27). USA also leads the league in strikeouts (47), averaging nearly 12 strikeouts per game offensively through the first four contests of the season.
• Center fielder Travis Swaggerty leads the Sun Belt Conference and ranks second nationally in walks (8), ranks fourth in walks per game (2.00), 14th in home runs (2). Swaggerty's home run to right field in the first inning of Sunday's contest with No. 23 Indiana was estimated to have traveled 464 feet by Coastal Carolina officials.
• Junior first baseman Wells Davis leads the SBC and ranks 12th nationally in RBI (8). Davis has hit safely and driven in at least one run in every game this season, including three RBIs in each of the first two games of the season.
• Head coach Mark Calvi was named the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Division I Coach of the Year in 2017, marking the third consecutive year he has earned the honor, after leading the Jaguars to 40 wins and an NCAA Hattiesburg (Miss.) Regional appearance.
• USA broke the program record for walks (373) in a season last year, which ranked second nationally. The Jags ranked sixth in the country in runs scored (488) and on-base percentage (.415), seventh in runs per game (8.0), 11th in fielding percentage (.980), 14th in sacrifice flies (32) and home runs (78), and 15th in slugging percentage (.480).
• South Alabama set a program record for single-season fielding percentage (.980) last year, which led the Sun Belt Conference and ranked 11th nationally.
• The Jaguars hit 78 home runs in 2017, the most since the 2008 squad hit 79 home runs; however, USA lost 26 percent of its home run production from last season following the departure of Eddie Paparella and Jared Barnes. Paparella homered seven times last year while Barnes, who was an eighth-round selection by the Miami Marlins in the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft, hit 13 as a junior.
• South Alabama was picked to win the Sun Belt Conference East Division by the league's head coaches after receiving all 12 first-place votes.
• Travis Swaggerty was named to the 2018 USA Baseball Preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. Swaggerty was also a preseason first-team All-America selection by Baseball America, D1Baseball, College Sports Madness and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and was a third-team preseason All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball.
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.
—USA—
Game Notes
