South Alabama Invitational
presented by Hampton by Hilton                                                                                                                                                                                 

South Alabama Jaguars (2-3)
Indiana Hoosiers (1-2)
Siena Saints (0-4)
UT-Martin Skyhawks (2-2)

Feb. 21-23 • Stanky Field • Mobile, Ala.

Game Notes 

Media Information
Live Stream:  Only the USA-UT-Martin game on Friday, and the USA-Siena game on Sunday will be streamed live. Both will be available for free through JagNationTV.com

On the Radio:  Jaguar games are broadcast live on Sports Talk 99.5 FM in Mobile, and also available through the iHeartRadio app.

Live Stats:  Live stats for each game can be accessed through the multimedia page at USAJaguars.com

Twitter:  Follow the official Twitter account of South Alabama baseball — @WeAreSouth_BSB — for news and updates.

Probable Starting Pitchers
Fri., Feb. 21 • 6:30 PM
South Alabama - RHP Drake Nightengale (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
UT-Martin - LHP Sam Folks (0-1, 9.00 ERA)

Sat., Feb. 22 • 11 AM
South Alabama - RHP Miles Smith (0-0, 12.00 ERA)
Indiana - RHP Gabe Bierman (0-1, 5.40 ERA)

Sat., Feb. 22 • 7 PM
South Alabama - RHP JoJo Booker (0-1, 12.00 ERA)
Siena -TBA

Sun., Feb. 23 • 3 PM
South Alabama- TBA
Siena - TBA

 All-Time Series
South Alabama is 3-0 all-time against UT-Martin after sweeping a three-game series from the Skyhawks at Stanky Field in 2011. The Jaguars are 0-1 all-time against Indiana after the Hoosiers, ranked No. 23 at the time, defeated then No. 17 USA 8-4 in the 19th Annual Britain Resorts Baseball at the Beach Tournament in Conway, S.C., on a walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning. The Jaguars are 9-4 all-time against Siena after splitting a four-game series at Stanky Field in 2010. 


Tournament Schedule
Fri., Feb. 20
Indiana (Away) vs. UT-Martin (Home) • 1 pm
UT-Martin at South Alabama • 6:30 pm

Sat., Feb. 21
Indiana at South Alabama • 11 am
UT-Martin (Away) vs. Siena (Home) • 3 pm
Siena at South Alabama • 7 pm

Sun., Feb. 22
Siena (Away) vs. Indiana (Home) • 11 am
Siena at South Alabama • 3 pm


Jag Notes
• Sophomore left fielder Ethan Wilson was named the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year.

• Senior right-hander Drake Nightengale was named the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

• First baseman Kaleb DeLaTorre was voted Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference at first base, along with Nightengale and Wilson who each also picked up Preseason All-Sun Belt honors.

• Wilson was recently named to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List. He was the third Jaguar since 2008 to be named to the list, joining Travis Swaggerty (2018) and Kevin Hill (2016).

STRIKEOUTS THROUGH FIRST FIVE GAMES
South Alabama has struck out 10 or more times in each of its five games this season, including a season-high 19 at No. 4 Vanderbilt on Tuesday. The Jags are averaging 14 strikeouts per game at the plate through their first five games, while drawing just over three walks per contest.

JAGS SHUT OUT IN CONSECUTIVE GAMES
No. 4 Vanderbilt shut out South Alabama 3-0 and 4-0 in a pair of midweek games in Nashville, Tenn., earlier this week. It marked just the second time in the Mark Calvi era the Jags have been shut out in consecutive games, and the first since 2015 following an 8-0 loss to No. 13 Maryland and 7-0 loss to No. 15 Arkansas. 

THREE-GAME LOSING SKID
South Alabama enters the weekend with a three-game losing skid after getting shutout in a pair of midweek games at No. 4 Vanderbilt. The Jags are batting .099 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored with 43 strikeouts and eight walks.

JAGS WALK-OFF CAMPBELL IN SEASON OPENER
South Alabama defeated Campbell 1-0 in Friday's season opener after redshirt junior third baseman Hunter Stokes delivered a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. It marked Stokes' first home run since May 25, 2017, when he homered in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game. 

POWERS POSTS CAREER HIGH IN HITS
Catcher Reid Powers recorded a career-high three hits and four runs scored, in addition to two RBIs in game two of the Campbell series on Feb. 15 at Stanky Field. 

JAGS SHUT OUT CAMPBELL BEHIND NIGHTENGALE, LEHRMANN
Jaguar right-hander Drake Nightengale combined with left-handed reliever Tyler Lehrmann to shut out Campbell in the 2020 season opener. Nightengale struck out eight and issued two walks in five innings, while Lehrmann allowed just one hit with eight strikeouts and three walks in his Jaguar debut to record the first Jaguar shutout in a season opener since 2006 against Grambling.

WILSON TIES CAREER HIGH IN RBIs
Ethan Wilson homered and tied his career high with five RBIs in game two of last weekend's series with Campbell. Wilson's matched his career high in RBIs, which he set on April 19, 2019, against Georgia State.

JAGS PICKED TO WIN SUN BELT EAST DIVISION
The Jaguars were picked to win the Sun Belt Conference East Division, in a preseason vote by the league's head coaches. USA received six of 12 first-place votes in the poll, followed by Coastal Carolina (4) and Georgia Southern (2). 

ALL 56 in 2019
South Alabama returns three letterwinners who played in all 56 games last season:  Kaleb DeLaTorre, Santi Montiel and Ethan Wilson. 

NIGHTENGALE NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA
Right-hander Drake Nightengale was named Second-Team Preseason All-America by Collegiate Baseball. Nightengale led the Sun Belt Conference in opposing batting average (.196), and ranked fourth in ERA (3.52) and strikeouts (91) last season. He went 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA and 49 strikeouts with seven walks in his final five starts of the season, which covered a span of 34 1/3 innings. 

WILSON NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA
Ethan Wilson was named Preseason First-Team All-America by Collegiate Baseball, and Second-Team Preseason All-America by D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

JAGS NO. 23 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL PRESEASON POLL
South Alabama opened the season ranked No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll. The Jaguars were the highest-ranked Sun Belt program in the poll.

WILSON'S HONORS IN 2019
Ethan Wilson was named the 2019 Co-Freshman of the Year by Collegiate Baseball, the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, First-Team Freshman All-America by Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Third-Team All-America by Collegiate Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings, First-Team All-Central Region and First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference.

WILSON BREAKS FRESHMAN HOME RUN RECORD IN 2019
Left fielder Ethan Wilson broke the program's freshman home run record on April 19, 2019, against Georgia State when he hit his 12th home run of the season, breaking former Jaguar Tim Merritt's record of 11 homers which he set in 1999. Wilson went on to finish with 17 home runs in 2019, the most since Jeff Cunningham's single-season record of 22 in 2007.

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.