MOBILE, Ala. | South Alabama pounded out 14 hits and three runs over the last two at-bats to pull away and hold off UAB, 7-6, at Stanky Field in the final game of the Jaguar Classic on Sunday night.
South Alabama (3-1) trailed early after UAB (1-2) used a three-run home run to jump ahead in the first, before chipping away at the lead and tying it up with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning at 4-all. The Jags would add a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth before UAB scored two in the seventh before the final out was made.
Danny Diaz (1-0) picked up the win in relief, working 1.2 innings of hitless relief as one of five pitchers on the night for the Jags before giving way to
Grant Wood who picked up his second save by working 2.0 innings and striking out four.
Meanwhile, at the plate,
Erick Orbeta led three players with three hits each in the win finishing 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and one RBI, while
Cole Ketzner finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and
Tyler Borges finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.
Will Turner and
Mitchell Heer each added a pair of hits for the Jags in the win.
Gallery: (2-19-2023) Baseball vs UAB
How It Happened
- (T1) Christian Hall hit a three-run home run to right for an early lead for the Blazers, 3-0 UAB.
- (B2) Borges doubled to score Colson Lawrence to put the Jags on the board, 3-1 UAB.
- (B3) Turner doubled to center to score Orbeta, 3-2 UAB.
- (T4), UAB got back on the board on an RBI single by John Mark Mullins, 4-2 UAB.
- (B4) Orbeta tripled to score Borges before Thrasher recorded an RBI groundout to score Orbeta to tie game, 4-4.
- (B7), Heer scored on a wild pitch to give South Alabama its first lead, 5-4 South Alabama.
- (B8) Ketzner singled to left to score a pair of runs to extend the lead, 7-4 South Alabama.
- (T9) Hall recorded a two-run single to trim the lead, 7-6 South Alabama.
Up Next
South Alabama returns to action on Wednesday night at Stanky Field, hosting Nicholls at 6:30 pm.
Quotable, head coach Mark Calvi
3-1 start, especially on the opening weekend.
"This was a good field and we saw some really good arms and we were playing our fourth game to UAB's third. We had to use our depth and we had two guys that we had to use twice with Wood and Diaz. I think (Zach) Harlan coming in early after we gave up a three-spot on (Jackson) Boyd who has been one of our guys for a while here and is coming back. He will be fine, but I thought Harlan was the key coming in and settling things down and throwing up some goose eggs. He is coming off an injury from last year, one of our captains and has worked really hard. I couldn't be prouder of him and
Logan Wash making his first appearance. We pitched; we played good defense except for the leadoff in the ninth. That changed the complexion of that inning by flying down the line. That's how you make it tough on teams to score by getting that leadoff man out and make it easy when they get on. I was proud of our guy's resiliency and kept fighting. They don't realize that at this point every game matters, they showed me today they know how important each game is, how important each pitch is. You can see them coming together in the last two games."
Patience at the plate.
"We left 12 guys on base so there was some frustration there, we were behind, and we were leaving guys on, we would get a run and have second and third with two outs but couldn't get it done. We left too many on, but that means we got guys on base. I don't know if the guys could feel it, but I think they did, how they are becoming a team with the moving parts with who can do what. We are more of a team today than we were on Wednesday coming out to the park, and this Wednesday will be another chance to get better."
You have depth and have guys who didn't get a chance to show anything over the weekend.
"We still have a couple guys who haven't pitched, and a couple of two-way guys who are really good. We have a lot of moving pieces, we need to get a couple of position players healthy, so we have some more options late in the game, but I thought from a physically demanding on catchers and I thought our two guys were fantastic,"
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