Gonzaga Bulldogs (2-6)                                                                                          Game Notes
               vs.
South Alabama Jaguars (5-5)

Feb. 28 - March 1 • Stanky Field • Mobile, Ala.


Media Information
Live Stream:  Live stream will be available for Friday's series opener and Sunday's series finale for free through JagNationTV.com, and can also be accessed through the Jaguar baseball schedule page at USAJaguars.com. There will not be a stream available for Saturday's game.

On the Radio:  All 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 of the series can be accessed through the multimedia page at USAJaguars.com, in addition to the Jaguar baseball schedule page.

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

Probable Starting Pitchers
Fri., Feb. 28 | 6:30 pm
USA - RHP Drake Nightengale (0-0, 3.27 ERA)
GU - LHP Mac Lardner (0-1, 3.27 ERA)

Sat., Feb. 29 | 1 pm
USA - RHP Miles Smith (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
GU - RHP Alek Jacob (0-1, 5.59 ERA)

Sun., March 1 | 11 am
USA - RHP JoJo Booker (1-1, 5.62 ERA)
GU - RHP Nick Trogrlic-Iverson (0-2, 7.36 ERA)

 All-Time Series
South Alabama is 1-0 all-time against Gonzaga after defeating the Bulldogs 9-7 in 2005 at the Surprise Coca-Cola Tournament in Surprise, Ariz. The win marked the first Jaguar victory of the 2005 season.

Jag Notes
• Left-hander Andy Arguelles ranks tied for second in the Sun Belt Conference in wins (2).

• Right-hander Drake Nightengale ranks second in the league in strikeouts (20).

• Catcher Reid Powers ranks tied for seventh in the Sun Belt in total bases (20), tied for eighth in RBIs (9), tied for 10th in hits (12), 11th in slugging percentage (.645) and 12th in batting average (.387)

• Center fielder Michael Sandle ranks tied for second in the conference in stolen bases (5). 

• Shortstop Santi Montiel ranks tied for second in the Sun Belt in sacrifice flies (2). 

• Ethan Wilson ranks tied for fourth in the league in doubles (4), and tied for 10th in hits (12).

• Left fielder Ethan Wilson was named the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year, and Nightengale was named the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Kaleb DeLaTorre, Nightengale and Wilson were each voted Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference.

JAGUAR PITCHERS DOMINANT AS OF LATE
South Alabama pitchers have allowed just three earned runs in their last 29 2/3 innings pitched, dating back to the Indiana game on Feb. 22. The Jags have struck out 34 batters and issued just four walks in that span.

HITTING STREAKS, ON-BASE STREAKS
Reid Powers, Michael Sandle and Ethan Wilson each carry a five-game hit streak and on-base streak into the weekend series.

WILSON HOMERLESS IN EIGHT STRAIGHT
Ethan Wilson has not homered in eight straight games entering Friday's series opener with Gonzaga. Wilson's last home run, and only thus far this season, came in game two of the Campbell series on Feb. 15 at Stanky Field. Wilson's longest career home run drought came from March 20-31, and spanned eight games.

JAGS LEAD SUN BELT IN STRIKEOUTS
South Alabama leads the Sun Belt Conference with 111 strikeouts offensively. The Jags struck out 10 or more times in the first seven games this season, but have posted three straight games with seven or fewer strikeouts. 

BOSWELL TOSSES COMPLETE-GAME SHUTOUT
Right-hander Matt Boswell tossed a complete-game shutout Tuesday against New Orleans, and allowed six hits while recording a career-high five strikeouts without issuing a walk. Boswell's nine innings pitched also marked a new career high. He was the first Jaguar hurler to toss a complete-game shutout since Kevin Hill on May 8, 2015, at Louisiana, and the first nine-inning complete game by a Jag since Jared Proctor on May 25, 2018, against Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

POWERS TIES CAREER HIGH IN HITS, RBIs
Catcher Reid Powers tied his career high in hits (3) and RBIs (3) in last Saturday's 6-1 win over Siena. Powers tied his previous career high of three hits, which came in game two of the season-opening series with Campbell on Feb. 15 at Stanky Field, and tied his previous career high RBI total, which he recorded last Friday against UT-Martin. 

BOOKER TIES CAREER HIGH IN STRIKEOUTS
Right-hander JoJo Booker tied his career high with 10 strikeouts over five innings in last Saturday's 6-1 win over Siena. Booker tied his previous high of 10, which came on Feb. 23, 2019, against Tennessee Tech.

JAGS WHEN LEADING, TRAILING AFTER SIX FRAMES
South Alabama is 4-1 when leading after six innings this season, but is 0-4 when trailing after six frames and 1-0 when the score is tied.

JAGS SNAP LOSING SKID
South Alabama snapped a five-game losing skid with its first of two wins over Siena last weekend in the South Alabama Invitational. During its five-game skid, USA batted .151 with six doubles, one home run, 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored and committed four errors defensively.

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 NAMED TO GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD WATCH LIST
Wilson was 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 former outfielder Travis Swaggerty (2018) and right-handed pitcher Kevin Hill (2016).

66 AND COUNTING
Kaleb DeLaTorre, Santi Montiel and Ethan Wilson have each started in 65 consecutive games - every game since each has joined the program. They each started all 56 games last season, and have started every game of the 2020 season entering Friday's series opener with Gonzaga.

JAGS SHUT OUT IN CONSECUTIVE GAMES AT NO. 4 VANDY
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. 

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. 

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 the season-opening 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). 

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.

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.