Box Score

NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama left-hander Tyler Lehrmann tied a career high in innings pitched, and Santi Montiel homered twice in a 6-1 Jaguar win over New Orleans Tuesday at Maestri Field.

Lehrmann (1-0) allowed one run on six hits, and struck out three while issuing one walk in seven innings to record his first win of the season. Montiel finished 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored. The win marked the Jaguars' 11th in their last 12 contests.

UP NEXT
South Alabama (12-3) will return to action Friday at 6:30 p.m. when it opens a three-game series with UTA at Eddie Stanky Field to open Sun Belt Conference play.

GAME FACTS
- New Orleans (10-5) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-out RBI single to center field by Pearce Howard that scored Amani Larry, who reached on a one-out single earlier in the inning.
- USA tied the score 1-1 when Santi Montiel led off the top of the fifth inning with a solo home run to left field on a 2-0 pitch from UNO left-hander Caleb Menina.
- Montiel gave South Alabama a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh when he lifted a 2-1 pitch from UNO right-hander Joshua Cerejo over the left field wall to lead off the inning for his second home run of the game.
- South Alabama took a 3-1 lead in the top of the eighth on a one-out RBI single to left field by Hunter Stokes that scored Miles Simington, who reached on a fielding error by UNO first baseman Anthony Herron earlier in the inning. Montiel followed with a two-run double to left-center field to score Simington and Charles Middleton, who drew a one-out walk, for a 5-1 Jaguar lead. Joseph Sullivan followed with an RBI double down the left field line to plate Montiel for a 6-1 advantage.

NOTES
- Montiel extended his on-base streak to 19 games, dating back to last season, and extended his hit streak to nine games with a leadoff solo home run to left field in the top of the fifth.
- Simington extended his on-base streak to 13 games with a walk in the top of the fourth, and extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a one-out single to right field in the top of the sixth.
- Montiel's two home runs marked his first multi-home run game since he homered twice against Little Rock in the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship on May 27.
- Montiel tied his career high in hits, and tied a season high in RBIs finishing 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored to lead the Jags at the plate.
- Diego Altamirano recorded his second career multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-4.
- Sullivan added a double and one RBI, Turner had two hits and Stokes tallied one hit, one RBI and one run scored.
- Right-hander Jackson Boyd tossed two scoreless relief innings, and allowed two hits with three strikeouts without issuing a walk. 

Head Coach Mark Calvi
- On the win:
"(Tyler) Lehrmann was lights out tonight. He was good all seven (innings); he put us on his back and was absolutely phenomenal. He was throwing three pitches, and really threw his curveball for strikes tonight. His changeup percentage was a little bit better; it was better than last week, but it is still wasn't as high of a strike percentage. But he was absolutely phenomenal with his fastball and curveball. He competed like crazy. We weren't as clean defensively as I would have liked to have been, and he – just like an older guy – had poise and composure and just kept throwing it in there against a team (UNO) that doesn't strikeout. And he was absolutely phenomenal tonight."

- On the offense:
"Santi (Montiel) was huge. They pitched to us for six innings. Their lefty starter who went four (innings) was outstanding tonight; he had control of three pitches, and he would drop down and change the arm slot on his fastball. I give him a lot of credit, but I don't think we were as competitive in the box the first six innings as we were the last three. To our guys' credit, when the game required us to be really good in the box we were. I would have liked to have seen us do a little bit more, and again I am giving their guy credit, but I think we could have done more – had better at-bats and could have pushed more with the first 12 outs we had with him out there. With that being said, Lehrmann matched up and that's what a good pitcher does when things aren't going your way offensively. When the game required us to get going in the seventh, eighth and ninth – we talk about winning the last third of each ballgame and we did tonight. That's what good teams do if we want to win championships. You have to hang around for all 27 outs, it doesn't matter what you have done. Every now and then you get stuffed like we did tonight. It's not like we had terrible at-bats, I just felt like we should have done more. But our guys kept showing up and stepping in the box. We did a really good job against some really good arms. That kid we scored some runs on was touching 97 to 98 miles per hour. I thought our guys were really good, Lehrmann was really good and Diego (Altamirano) was outstanding behind the plate once again. A guy who was big who didn't have a great night tonight but came up huge was Hunter Stokes at the end of the ballgame. Hunter Stokes made a couple of picks (at first base), and was huge shooting that ball into left field and so was (Joseph) Sullivan. Hunter Stokes, you would think he would feel sorry for himself with not having a great night up to that point, and then comes in there and steps on one to left field against a guy throwing gas. That's what an older guy does; he keeps his head, even though he isn't having a night up to his standards, and he knows the game comes back to him. It might be his number when we need him, it was up and drilled a ball into left field for an RBI."

- On opening conference play this weekend:
"You have two seasons really – you have non-conference and conference. And then you have the third season which is the postseason. We're 0-0 and the record (to this point) doesn't matter. I'm expecting our guys to go out there and not do anything different. They just need to play solid baseball like we have played the first 15 games and I like our chances. This team has a little bit of edge to it, has some confidence and has earned that right. But they have to continue to do things right, pitch and play defense and just compete like crazy in the box."

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