Box Score (PDF)

AUBURN, Ala. – No. 16 Auburn homered four times in a 10-4 win over University of South Alabama baseball Tuesday at Plainsman Park.

Auburn (35-14) tallied 17 hits in the game, led by Brendan Venter who finished with four hits, including two home runs, and four RBIs.

South Alabama (26-20) will return to action this weekend when it hosts UT Arlington in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series to close its home schedule, with the series opener set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch Fri., May 11, at Stanky Field.

GAME FACTS
- Will Holland gave Auburn a one-run lead in the bottom of the first with a leadoff solo home run over the right field wall. Brett Wright doubled off the left field wall with one out, and advanced to second with one out on a wild pitch. Jaguar right-hander Will Eiland struck out Edouard Julien for the second out of the frame, and ended the threat with an inning-ending flyout to left field off the bat of Conor Davis to keep the Jaguar deficit at one run.
- Jay Estes led off the bottom of the second with an infield single to shortstop, and scored one batter later when Brendan Venter hit the 12th pitch he saw from Eiland over the left field wall for a 3-0 Tiger lead. 
- Wright singled to right field with one out in the bottom of the third, and advanced to second with one out on a single to center field by Edouard Julien. But Eiland rolled a 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Davis to escape the inning with a three-run Jaguar deficit. 
- South Alabama answered in the top of the fourth. Dylan Hardy reached on a bunt single back to the pitcher to lead off the inning, and moved to second on a passed ball. Brendan Donovan followed with an RBI single to right field that scored Hardy, to cut the Auburn lead to 3-1. Donovan also advanced to third on the play on a two-base fielding error by Tiger right fielder Steven Williams. Carter Perkins followed with a walk to put runners at the corners with one out before Wells Davis delivered an RBI single to left field that scored Donovan and cut the Tiger lead to 3-2. A fielding error by Auburn left fielder Judd Ward allowed Perkins to score from first to tie the game at 3-3.
- Estes led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to left field, and scored when Venter delivered a two-run home run over the left field wall – his second of the game – for a 5-3 Auburn lead.
- Wright led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk from Jaguar right-hander Noah Michael, and scored one batter later on a two-run home run to center field by Julien for a 7-3 Tiger advantage.
- Auburn pushed its lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single to left field by Josh Anthony, and added its final two runs when Ward scored on a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Williams and Anthony scored on a two-out RBI single to center field by Wright.
- Brendan Donovan doubled to right-center field to lead off the top of the ninth, and scored the game's final run on a sacrifice fly to left field by Wells Davis.

NOTES
- Travis Swaggerty's on-base streak was snapped at 27 games.
- Auburn left-hander Welby Malczewski (4-0) allowed one run on one hit with one strikeout and one walk in five relief innings pitched in the win.
- Eiland (1-1) allowed five runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in three innings pitched in the loss.
- Venter went 4-for-4 with a double, two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored to lead the Tigers at the plate.
- Donovan finished 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and two runs scored to lead the Jaguars offensively. Davis added a hit and two RBIs.
- Jag right-hander Chase Lambert tossed two scoreless relief innings and allowed one hit with three strikeouts, and right-hander Patrick McBride allowed one hit in one scoreless relief inning.
- The loss marked the Jags' first at Auburn since falling 6-1 at Plainsman Park in 2014.

QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Calvi
- On the loss:
"Auburn is a very good club, and we knew that when we played them earlier this year; they are as advertised. They're very good at home, and they have some very good players. They did a good job pitching tonight; they have some depth on the mound. They have a long lineup with a lot of experienced guys, and they have some very good young guys in the lineup. They're a tough out for anybody, and you can see why they've been so successful this year. They are well-coached and they play well."

- On the Auburn pitchers:
"They did a good job and threw strikes. (Jack) Owen threw strikes and was up to 90 (mph). He moved his fastball around, but our guys are capable of doing a better job against that guy. He is a good pitcher and he's going to be good for their program – he's only a freshman. But our guys could have done more with him, and they know it. We could have had some better at-bats and laid off some balls that were out of the strike zone. I thought we let him in to some good counts. We had some good at-bats on him as well and hit some balls hard, we just didn't have enough."

- On what he is looking for from the team in this weekend's UTA series:
"I'm looking for these guys to play like winners. There are enough guys on this team who have won big in their careers – these juniors we have on this team. They have been to two (NCAA) regionals, and they know what it's like to win. I told the guys that I firmly believe they are close. When you look at the injuries, there are no excuses. No one is coming off of the DL (disabled list) late to help us – it's what we are. And what we are is, in my opinion, a team good enough to win. We're close, it's down to a couple of pitches or at-bats for 80 percent of the games we have lost in the last month. It's come down to a pitch here or there or an at-bat here or there that will get us back on track, and I told them that we need to be ready when that situation arises because it will arise again this weekend. We need to pitch better and be better on offense. The season is winding down and we need to play better this weekend. These guys work hard, we need to learn how to win again and do some things that winning ball teams do. We're doing some of the things that winning clubs do or that we've done in the past, we just haven't done it consistently enough."

UP NEXT
South Alabama will return to action this weekend when it hosts UT Arlington in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series to close its home schedule, with the series opener set for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch Fri., May 11, at Stanky Field.

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 South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give.