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MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Right-hander Miles Smith tossed 7 2/3 relief innings to lead the University of South Alabama baseball team to a 10-4 win over Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Conference Championship final Sunday at Riverwalk Stadium.

Smith (6-1) allowed one run on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks to earn his sixth win of the season. South Alabama clinched the SBC Championship title with the win, and advances to the NCAA Regionals.

NEXT UP
South Alabama will compete in the NCAA Postseason next weekend with the site to be determined on Monday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.

GAME FACTS
- Georgia Southern jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-out solo home run to left-center field by Mason McWhorter. 
- Jason Swan led off the second with a double off the left field wall, and advanced to third on a single to center field by Jarrett Brown. Noah Searcy followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Swan and double the Eagle lead at 2-0. Steven Curry delivered a one-out RBI single to left field for a 3-0 GS lead. 
- South Alabama tied the score 3-3 in the bottom of the second inning when Richard Sorrenti blasted a three-run home run to center field.
- USA loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third on consecutive one-out walks, and a two-out walk by Kaleb DeLaTorre. But Eagle left-hander Hayden Harris induced an inning-ending lineout to center field off the bat of Andrew Bates to escape the jam and preserve a 3-3 tie.
- Sandle led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on the play on a throwing error by Eagle catcher JP Tighe. Hunter Stokes followed with an RBI double down the left field line to score Sandle for a 4-3 Jaguar lead. 
- DeLaTorre led off the bottom of the seventh with a single through the right side, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Bates, and moved to third on a groundout to second by Cam Tissue. Hunter Donaldson then reached on a two-out RBI infield single on a grounder to shortstop to score DeLaTorre and double the Jag lead at 6-3.
- Ethan Wilson tripled to the right-center field gap to lead off the bottom of the eighth, and scored on a wild pitch from Eagle left-hander Nick Jones for a 7-3 Jaguar advantage. Sandle then singled through the left side of the infield, advanced to second on a fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Stokes and moved to third on the play when Griffin Davis' throw to second sailed high of the bag, which allowed Stokes to advance to second. DeLaTorre followed with a two-run double down right field line for a 9-3 lead. A two-out RBI single to center field by Sorrenti later in the inning pushed the Jag lead to 10-3.
- Georgia Southern added the game's final run in the top of the ninth. 

NOTES
- Sandle extended his on-base streak to 22 games with a walk in the bottom of the third.     
- Wilson extended his on-base streak to nine games with a walk in the bottom of the third.
- The win marked the first time the Jags have won the SBC regular season and SBC Tournament since 2001.
- DeLaTorre, Donaldson, Sandle, Montiel, and Wilson were named to the all-tournament team, and Smith was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
- The win marked the Jags' first SBC Tournament title since 2017, when they defeated Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga.
- DeLaTorre went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Sorrent finished 2-for-4 with a home run, a career-high four RBIs and one run scored.
- Sandle added a pair of hits, one RBI and two runs scored, and Donaldson finished 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored.

QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Calvi
- Opening Statement:
"First of all, congratulations to Georgia Southern on a great season. They are an outstanding club, and Coach (Rodney) Hennon does an amazing job with those guys, and he has great players. This is more than a one-bid league. This is one heck of a tough team; we have tough coaches and players, and I would like to thank everyone involved. Our team wouldn't be here if it weren't for the toughness of themselves, and just how tough my staff is and how good they are. It's the best staff I've ever been around, and I couldn't be more fortunate."

- On the win:
"We got kicked in the mouth a couple of times early and it didn't feel good. We minimized some damage. (Matt) Boswell had good stuff, he was just missing middle but was touching 94 (mph). We knew they (Georgia Southern) were a good fastball-hitting team and they were going to be aggressive to him like they were last time. We were hoping to get three or four innings, but it didn't happen that way, then go to Miles (Smith) and kind of read it from there. Richard (Sorrenti) with the big three-run home run gave us life, and made us feel like we belonged in the game. It could have gotten sideways in a hurry, but our guys have fought like crazy all year long. They knew they were good enough. There were a couple of things we needed to clean up about six weeks ago team-wise, and we got it done. It is just one hell of a tough team; it's a tough group and everyone around me – they're all tough."

Catcher Richard Sorrenti
- On his three-run home run:
"I was extremely grateful to get that opportunity. I was hunting one pitch, and luckily I didn't miss it."

- On Miles Smith:
"Miles has been a dog for us all year. He's been pitching great. He threw close to 100 pitches on Wednesday, and for him to come up and toe it up for seven innings – he's a dog on the mound and I expect nothing less."

Center fielder Michael Sandle
- On falling behind early in the game:
"We've been playing from behind all year. We have a lot of confidence in everyone around us, so we were never worried. We just knew that if we stuck to what we were doing right we were going to come out on top."

- On winning the tournament:
"It's huge, it's really big for the program. I missed out on the first one, and I knew before it was all said and done that I needed to get one. I was tired of everybody else around me having one and I didn't have one. I think this is really big for us as a team and program."

RHP Miles Smith
- On his performance:
"I'm built for long games. I was going to take the ball until they told me I couldn't. All of them (pitches) were working, some of them better than others depending on the situation or the batter. My changeup is what I think got me a lot of important outs today."

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