Box Score (PDF)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Little Rock scored four runs over its final two innings in a 7-4 series-clinching win over the University of South Alabama baseball team in Sunday's rubber match at Gary Hogan Field.

The game was tied at 3-3 through six-and-a-half innings before the Trojans scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a double steal, and answered a Travis Swaggerty home run in the top of the eighth inning, which temporarily cut the Little Rock lead to one run at 5-4, with a pair of runs in the bottom-half of the eighth on a two-run home run by Nick Perez.

South Alabama (26-19, 14-9 SBC) will return to action Tue., May 8, when it travels to Auburn, Ala., for a midweek contest against Auburn at Plainsman Park with the game scheduled to be broadcast live by SEC Network+.

GAME FACTS
- Little Rock (25-20, 14-9 SBC) scored the game's first run on a one-out solo home run to right field by Chase Coker in the bottom of the third inning.
- Nick Perez reached on a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth inning, and moved to second with no outs following a hit by pitch from Jaguar left-hander Jared Proctor to Ryan Benevidez. A sacrifice bunt by Christian Reyes advanced both runners into scoring position with one out. Coker followed with a walk to load the bases for Marcus Ragan, who delivered a two-run single through the left side of the infield for a 3-0 Trojan lead.
- Deyvid Silva drew a two-out walk in the top of the sixth, and scored one batter later when Travis Swaggerty lifted a 1-0 pitch from Trojan left-hander Cole Townsend over the center field wall for a two-run home run, his 12th of the season, to cut the Little Rock lead to 3-2. 
- South Alabama tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh when Carter Perkins lifted a 1-0 pitch from Trojan right-hander Donavin Buck over the right field wall for a solo home run, which marked his eighth of the season. 
- Benevidez led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, and moved to second with one out following a sacrifice bunt by Reyes. Coker followed with an infield single back to the pitcher to put runners at the corners with no outs, and stole second with one out later in the inning. Mitchell Jr. then reached on a fielder's choice on a grounder to shortstop, which Silva fired to home to Perkins cut down Benevidez attempting to score the go-ahead run for the second out of the frame. The Trojans scored two runs one batter later on a double steal on a wild pitch from Jaguar right-hander JoJo Booker to take a 5-3 lead. 
- USA cut the Trojan lead to 5-4 in the top of the eighth when Swaggerty lifted a 2-0 pitch from Little Rock right-hander Justin Garcia over the right field wall for a two-out solo home run.
- Matt Merino led off the bottom of the eighth with a double to left field, and advanced to third with one out after tagging on a flyout to right-center field by Kale Emshoff. Jaguar right-hander Zach Greene entered in relief of Booker and struck out Pittman for the second out of the frame before Perez delivered a two-run home run to right field with the final runs of the game.

NOTES
- Swaggerty extended his on-base streak to 27 games with a two-out, two-run home run to center field in the top of the sixth inning.
- Donovan finished 0-for-5 in the game, snapping his on-base streak at 14 games.
- Swaggerty went 2-for-4 with two home runs, three RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Jags at the plate. Dylan Hardy finished with two hits, and Perkins added a home run, one RBI and one run scored.
- Coker finished 2-for-2 with a home run, one RBI and two runs scored to lead the Trojans offensively.
- Little Rock right-hander Donavin Buck (6-0) allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout in 1 1/3 relief innings to earn the win.
- Trojan right-hander Justin Garcia allowed one run on two hits in two relief innings to record his 10th save of the season.
- Jag right-hander Patrick McBride (0-1) allowed two runs on two hits with a pair of strikeouts in two innings pitched in the loss.
- This weekend marked Little Rock's first series win over South Alabama since 2012.

QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Calvi
- On the loss:
"It was a good college baseball game, unfortunately we came out on the wrong end of it. I give a lot of credit to their (Little Rock) starting pitcher (left-hander Cole Townsend); he was really good. There isn't a Sunday guy in the league better than that guy. He could be pitching on Fridays, no doubt. He has a good down angle. We put some good swings on him; we hit some hard ground balls. He is a ground ball guy. It's hard to get the ball in the air. They were definitely at the advantage with him versus (Jared) Proctor. It was hard to get the ball in the air, but I thought Proctor did a great job as well. The first five innings were pitched very well. Both guys were throwing strikes, and when we answered they answered back. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but I give our guys credit. We fought back and tied it up at 3-3. We had two outs with runners at second and third (in bottom seventh), and they picked the right pitch, gambled and stole home. We were a little slow to the plate and didn't check him off. But our guys competed to the end and played hard, they just did a little more than we did in the second half of the game and came out on top."

- On the offense this weekend:
"There are some guys swinging the bats. We need four or five guys swinging the bat at the same time. There are some guys who are competing in the box, and I like the effort that they've given. They have given a good effort all season long. Things haven't gone their way necessarily as much as we would like it, but the team plays hard and they keep going. Some of our guys swung the bat really well this weekend, it's just a matter of instead of three guys in one game, it is a matter of five guys swinging it well and that's when you get into double-digit hits and score eight or nine runs in a ballgame. I like our effort, but I give credit where credit is due. You can't get mad at our hitters for the first five innings today, because we hit some balls hard. Their guy had some strikeouts and threw some good breaking balls in there. It was probably their kid's best performance of the year. We saw him out of the bullpen last year and he was really good. All things considered, we got him out of there too to get to the bullpen. We just didn't do enough there late. I give Townsend a lot of credit, he pitched a heck of a game."

- On the upcoming Auburn game:
"We'll be ready to go Tuesday. We have to reset on the ride home. We have tomorrow off, so we have to reset and get ready to go on the road and play a very good Auburn club. And we'll worry about the weekend when it gets here."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action Tue., May 8, when it travels to Auburn, Ala., for a midweek contest against Auburn at Plainsman Park with the game scheduled to be broadcast live by SEC Network+.

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).

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