Box Score

NATCHITOCHES, La. – University of South Alabama right-hander JoJo Booker turned in a quality start, and the Jaguars homered five times in a 12-1 win over Northwestern State Sunday at Brown-Stroud Field.

South Alabama (13-9) completed the three-game series sweep with the win, and extended its win streak to five games.

NEXT UP
South Alabama will return to action Tue., March 30, when it travels to Baton Rouge, La., for a 6 p.m. contest at LSU.

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama jumped out to a four-run lead in the top of the first inning. Cameron Tissue drew a leadoff walk to start the game, and scored one batter later when Michael Sandle lifted a 2-2 pitch from NSU right-hander Peyton Graham over the right field wall for a 2-0 Jaguar lead. Reid Powers reached on a two-out single to right center, and Hunter Stokes followed with a single to left field. Santi Montiel then delivered a two-out, two-run double to left center field for a 4-0 USA advantage.
- USA extended its lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth when Sanford lifted a 2-0 pitch from NSU right-hander Micah Berens over the right field wall for a solo home run to lead off the inning.
- The Jags plated four runs in the top of the sixth to push its lead to nine. Caleb Balgaard and Powers drew consecutive walks to start the inning, and moved up one base each on a sacrifice bunt by Stokes. Montiel followed with a walk to load the bases with one out. Kaleb DeLaTorre then put down a suicide squeeze bunt to plate Balgaard for a 6-0 lead. Sanford followed with a three-run home run to right field on an 0-2 pitch to extend the USA advantage to 9-0. 
- NSU added its first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to right field by Lenni Kunert to cut the Jag lead to 9-1.
- Ethan Wilson led off the top of the seventh with a solo homerun to right field for a 10-1 lead. Balgaard followed with a walk, and later scored on a two-out RBI single to center field by Montiel to extend the USA lead to 11-1.
- Wilson led off the top of the ninth with a solo home run to right field on a 1-1 pitch from NSU's Will Hine to account for the final run of the game.

NOTES
- Wilson extended his on-base streak to 12 games with walk in the top of the first.
- Sandle extended his on-base streak to nine games with a two-run home run in the top of the first.
- Sanford's first home run in the top of the fifth marked his first career hit as a Jaguar.
- Montiel tied his career high in hits (3) and RBIs (3), and finished 3-for-4 with a double and one run scored.
- Wilson's two home runs marked his fifth career multi-home run game.
- Sanford's and Wilson's two home runs each marked the first time a Jaguar has hit multiple home runs in a game since Wilson homered twice against Jacksonville State on March 14 this season.
- Sanford's four RBIs are the most by a Jaguar since Kaleb DeLaTorre's four RBIs at No. 23 Alabama on March 9 this year.
- South Alabama's five home runs – two each from Wilson and Sanford and one by Sandle – were the most by a Jaguar team since April 22, 2008, when USA hit six home runs against Jackson State.
- The series sweep marked the first Jaguar three-game sweep since USA took three straight games at Appalachian State in 2019.
- Booker (2-0) allowed one run on four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in seven innings pitched to earn his second win of the season.

QUOTES    
Head Coach Mark Calvi 
- On JoJo Booker: 
"JoJo was good at UT Arlington last weekend, and he backed it up and was just as good or probably better today. He's had one walk in his last 13 innings of work. The fastball was up to 92 to 93 (mph) with a really good slider, and located the fastball to both sides of the plate. He has been outstanding his last two outings."

- On Carter Sanford:
"Carter is behind some pretty good older guys behind the plate, and that is one of those spots (designated hitter) where we need some productivity. Carter has been working while he has been waiting, and that's the key. He shows up early all the time to hit, comes early and stays late, and he is working hard every single day. He got a chance today, and he cashed in his opportunity chips. He was outstanding."

- On completing the three-game series sweep:
"We had multiple guys with multiple RBIs, and had some good at-bats in there. (Kaleb) DeLaTorre with a squeeze when the game was a little tighter at the time. (Hunter) Stokes got a sacrifice bunt down when the game was a little bit tighter at that time. We played the game well. We made two mistakes on popups, and that's inexcusable; that will be addressed. That can't happen in a tight game or any game. It's a lack of focus, and that is on us as coaches to make sure we have focus all through the game no matter what the score is. You have to have focus defensively and on the mound at all times. We cracked a little bit and we'll make sure we get that cleaned up. But I was very pleased with our performance this weekend all-in-all. You are happy any time you sweep on the road. They (NSU) had some really good arms with a really good staff ERA coming into the series. We knew we had our work cut out for us, handling them from a pitching staff standpoint, and our guys did a really nice job."

- On the team entering the Sun Belt Conference home opener next week:
"It's good to see some guys swinging the bat better. We've been strong on the mound, but we have to be better defensively if we want to win a championship. I told our guys that we make too many routine mistakes defensively, and you can't win championships without lockdown defense. That's where we need to get better. We have some guys swinging the bat better and that's good to see. We've been steady on the mound all year long. Sam Knowlton threw really well today; he was up to 95 (mph) with a good breaking ball. He is going to help at the end (of games). (Collin) Brougham got in there and did a good job. We're always looking to strengthen the team. I'm not happy where we're at, I'm always looking for one more guy who can help us whether it be offensively, defensively or on the mound. And that's why practice and everything matters – BP before the game. I'm always looking for one more guy to help us, and I will continue to do so all year long. Today it was Carter Sanford, Brougham and Knowlton. We had guys step up and show me some good things that can really help us, but I'm looking for more pieces that can help us win a championship."

RHP JoJo Booker
- On his outing:
"I felt really good coming into it today. I knew I felt good while sitting there during BP, and knew that I just had to go out there and do what I do and we'd be alright. The big thing for me is being able to locate my fastball the entire game, and I was moving it in and out and mixed in my slider so much better. I'm always confident in that, but having the fastball just builds the slider. I snuck a few changeups in there today as well to get their minds off the slider, so that helped. 

- On waiting to take the mound during an extended first inning:
"It's tough because I am cheering for the team, but I probably sat down for 30 minutes. I just had to get my feet moving and toss a little bit."

Designated Hitter Carter Sanford
- On his performance in his first career start:
"With it being my first start, I wasn't trying to do too much. A lot of guys will try to not be themselves, but I was just trying to be Carter. I had a solid approach against a right-hander looking to go up the middle or the other way, and I feel like that helped me stay on the ball. I put good swings together today. We talked all week about trying to get a sweep this weekend, and needed to play good baseball the whole time. I just wanted to put some good at-bats together. A lot of times we'll have a big inning early in the game then we will kind of hit a lull. I just wanted to help us spark that in the middle innings and get us in the win column at the end."

- On his first home run:
"It was a fastball and the guy throwing downhill, it was a bigger guy, so I was just trying to make sure I stayed in my legs. He threw a fastball right down the middle, and it felt good. I kind of went numb there for a minute. I got what I was looking for in that count. I knew I got it off the bat, and I just went numb. It was a great feeling."

- On his second home run:
"It was a curveball that was up in the zone, more in the middle. He landed the first one and I didn't have a good take, so I kind of expected him to come back with it sometime in the count. He hung it and I just got a good swing on it. I was trying to drive those runs with two outs, and I felt like they were big runs in the game at that point. I was trying to move the ball somewhere with two strikes, and luckily I got it over (the fence)."

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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