Box Score (PDF)

ATLANTA – The University of South Alabama baseball team scored nine unanswered runs to defeat Georgia State 12-4 Saturday in Sun Belt Conference action at GSU Baseball Complex.

USA (13-10, 3-2 SBC) faced a one-run deficit before scoring five runs with two outs in the fourth inning, and tacked on four additional runs with three in the fifth inning and one in the eighth to even the series at one game apiece with GSU (12-11, 1-3 SBC).

South Alabama will return to action Sunday when it faces GSU at noon (CT) in the rubber match at GSU Baseball Complex.

GAME FACTS
- USA jumped out to a three-run lead in the top of the first. Dylan Hardy reached on a fielding error by GSU third baseman Romero Greer with one out in the inning, and moved to second on a two-out walk by Michael Sandle. Wells Davis followed with a three-run home run to right-center field on a 1-2 pitch from GSU right-hander Jake Rogers for a 3-0 Jaguar lead.
- USA threatened in the top of the second, but did not push across a run. Felix Aberouette drew a one-out walk in the inning, and moved to second on a single to center field by Will Luft. Travis Swaggerty then reached on hit by pitch to load the bases with one out for Hardy, who reached on a fielder's choice on a grounder to first that Panther first baseman Jack Thompson threw to home for the second out of the inning. Rogers then induced an inning-ending flyout to right field off the bat of Brendan Donovan to strand three runners and keep the GSU deficit at three runs.
- The Panthers responded with a run in the bottom of the second. Will Kilgore drew a leadoff walk in the inning, and advanced to second with no outs on a double to left field by Luke Leonard. Greer followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Kilgore and cut the USA lead to 3-1.
- Sandle led off the top of the third with an infield single down the third base line, and moved to second with no outs on a walk by Davis. Sandle was picked off at second by GSU catcher Nick Gatewood for the first out of the inning. Rogers then rolled a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play off the bat of Paul Russo to keep the Panther deficit at two runs.
- GSU scored three runs in the bottom of the third to take a one-run lead. Justin Jones led off the inning with a single to center field, and advanced to second with no outs on a double to left-center field by Gatewood. Brandon Bell followed with an RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Jones and cut the USA lead to 3-2. Thompson followed with a walk to load the bases with no outs before Jake Corso reached on an RBI fielder's choice on a grounder to first that scored Gatewood to tie the game at 3-3. Kilgore then delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to score Bell for a 4-3 Panther advantage.
- South Alabama rallied for five runs on two outs in the top of the fourth to take a three-run lead. Hunter Stokes singled up the middle to lead off the inning, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Aberouette. Luft followed with a one-out walk, but GSU left-handed reliever Brandon Baker struck out Swaggerty for the second out of the frame before Hardy reached on a two-out walk. Donovan then delivered a two-out, two-run single to left field to score Stokes and Luft for a 5-4 Jaguar lead. Sandle followed with a two-run double down the left field line to plate Hardy and Donovan for a 7-4 USA advantage. Davis then delivered an RBI single to right field to score Sandle and double the Jag lead at 8-4.
- The Jags added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth for a six-run lead. Stokes led off the inning with a single to right field, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Aberouette. A single to center field by Luft put runners at the corners with one out. A throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt at first base by GSU right-hander Tyler Elwer allowed Luft to advance to second and Stokes to score from third for a 9-4 Jaguar lead. A wild pitch by Elwer moved Luft to third with one out before Swaggerty lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score Luft and extend the USA lead to 10-4. Donovan followed with an RBI single to right-center field to score Hardy for an 11-4 advantage.
- Davis drew a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, and advanced to third with no outs on a single to right field by Paul Russo. Stokes then reached on an RBI fielder's choice on a grounder to second that scored Davis with the final run of the game.

NOTES
- Hardy extended his on-base streak to 23 games with a two-out walk in the top of the fourth inning.
- Davis hit his second home run of the Sun Belt Conference season with a three-run shot in the top of the first, marking the third Jaguar homer in the last four contests.
- Carr tied his career high in innings pitched with seven, which also marked his longest start of the season. It was also the sixth start in as many starts this year in which he has pitched six or more innings.
- Andrew Cash recorded his first hit of the season with a pinch-hit single in the top of the ninth inning.
- Carr (3-2) allowed four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts against four walks in seven innings pitched to earn the win.
- GSU right-hander Rogers (3-2) allowed five runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts and four walks in 3 1/3 innings in the loss.
- Five Jaguars recorded multiple hits in the game, led by Davis who went 3-for-3 with a home run, four RBIs, two runs scored and two walks. Donovan finished 3-for-6 with a double, three RBIs, one run scored and one stolen base. Sandle went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored, Stokes added two hits, one RBI and one run and Luft finished with two hits and two runs scored.
- Jaguar right-handers Tyler Perez and Chase Lambert combined for two scoreless relief innings with two strikeouts and two walks.

QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Calvi
- On Tyler Carr:
"I give Tyler credit today. He made some mistakes early, but he hung in there and gave us 107 pitches for seven innings. I am proud of him, his effort and how he competed."

On the offense:
"That was a big hit by Wells (Davis) with two outs in the first inning. (Michael) Sandle did a nice job getting on base ahead of him with two outs, and then Wells came up with the home run. We settled in in the middle innings and scored some runs. The middle part of the order had some big RBIs with guys getting on base ahead of them. We had some good at-bats; we took some walks and had multiple guys with RBIs, and it's been a little while since we've had five or six different guys with RBIs. Hopefully some guys are starting to settle in at the plate and are having good at-bats, and I thought that's what we did today."

On the difference between game one and two for the offense:
"I still saw a little bit of the same from last night. We took some fastballs early, and we're guessing in there. But some of these guys have targets on them. They have received a lot of attention and been pitched backwards so much that they're almost expecting it. You can let your guard down and let fastballs go by, and then you're behind in the count 0-1 or 0-2; that's what has happened to some of these guys. We just need to have the right approach at the plate – stay on fastballs, hit offspeed mistakes and do what we do best. I thought that's what we did today. We took some marginal pitches, but got some good swings on some balls too. The walks definitely helped us. When you get men on like that, it's going to hurt. Felix Aberouette caught really well, and had a great day offensively with a walk and two sacrifice bunts. He got guys down to turn it over to the top (of the order). Felix is moving guys around – Hunter Stokes got on and Felix moved Hunter around and scored two runs. We did some good things. Michael Sandle swung the bat well today, and Brendan Donovan swung it well. It's what you do with your failures in this game, because you're going to fail offensively more than you succeed and it's how you productive you are with your failures. We had some productive outs today – we got some sac bunts down, and I thought we played a much better team offense than we have."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Sunday when it faces GSU at noon (CT) in the rubber match at GSU Baseball Complex.

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