THIBODAUX, La. | South Alabama trailed the eighth inning and did not take its first lead until the 10th and held on for a 10-8 victory over Nicholls at Didier Field on Wednesday night.
The Jags racked up 16 hits in the win, a new season-high topping the previous mark of 14 set three times this season.
South Alabama (10-15) trailed the entire game until a
Joseph Sullivan two-run single in the top of the eighth and took its first lead in the top of the 10th inning on a hit and error off the bat of
JG Bell. The 10th inning happened after Nicholls got the first batters on base in the ninth and got runners to second and third with just one out before they were stranded.
Bell finished the night 4-for-4 with three runs scored, reaching base six times on the night, while
Colson Lawrence finished 3-for-4 with three runs batted in and a pair of runs scored.
Trey Lewis finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while
Erick Orbeta and Sullivan each picked up a pair of hits in the win.
Tyler Smith got the start, recording one out before being lifted after giving up a pair of runs on three hits. He gave way to
Leif Moore, the second of six pitchers on the night, in the bottom of the first making his collegiate debut and working 3.2 innings and allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with four strikeouts.
Eric Lin suffered the loss out of the bullpen before exiting with no out and a pair of runners on in the eighth. He worked two-plus innings and did not allow a hit, while striking out four before giving way to
Grant Wood.
Wood (4-1) picked up the win with 2.0 innings of scoreless relief with a pair of strikeouts.
How It Happened
- (B1) Parker Coddou led off the game with a double into right and came around to score on an RBI double by Edgar Alvarez – the third consecutive hit to start the game. The Colonels added to the lead with a sacrifice fly to left by Garrett Felix to score Xane Washington, Nicholls 2-0.
- (T3) Erick Orbeta hit a 2-2 pitch to left to score Colson Lawrence with a two-out RBI single, Nicholls 2-1.
- (B4) MaCrae Kendrick hit a solo home run to right to extend the Colonels lead before Washington connected on a two-run single to left with no outs. The lead was extended on an RBI triple by Alvarez, Nicholls 6-1.
- (T5) Will Turner singled through the right side to drive in JG Bell who hit a two-out double, that was followed by two-out RBI double by Trey Lewis to score Turner, Nicholls 6-3.
- (B6) Austin Cain lifted a sacrifice fly into right center to drive in another run before Gerardo Villarreal drove a ball up the middle to drive in another, Nicholls 8-3.
- (T7) Lawrence hit his seventh home run of the season off the scoreboard in right to score Lewis and Cole Ketzner, Nicholl 8-6.
- (T8) Joseph Sullivan tied the game up with a two-run bases loaded single with one out in the inning, 8-8.
- (T10) Bell singled to left, allowing Orbeta to advance home on an error by the left fielder after the teams started the inning with the international tiebreaker. Lewis added to the lead with an RBI double that scored Bell with one out in the inning, South Alabama 10-8.
Up Next
South Alabama will continue its four-game road swing with a trip to Harrisonburg (Va.) for a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against James Madison beginning on Friday night.
Quotable, head coach Mark Calvi
Big win with the effort out of the bullpen and coming from behind …
"
Leif Moore settled the game down, his first appearance after battling health issues leading up. We probably could have gotten him out there two weeks ago but there wasn't a shot to bring him in. Tonight, we knew he was going to have to pitch along with some other guys, but I thought for his first outing of the year and coming off what he came off he was outstanding. (Zach) Harlan coming in and getting the job done, and
Eric Lin settled it down and Wood closing it up. I thought top to bottom our guys did a good job, Diego (Altamirano) being out for a couple of weeks was phenomenal behind the plate. We just kept coming, we had multiple guys with multiple hits and RBIs, we made some ridiculous mistakes tonight, couple of defensive miscues, slid past the bags a couple of times, and stretching a single into a double. Our guys are going hard, if you don't go hard you don't slide past the bag on turf. That is something we need to clean up. We haven't been on turf a lot, but that is something we will adjust and clean on Thursday,"
Quality at-bats tonight …
"These guys didn't quit. This past weekend we out hit our opponent on game one and game three, but we still made mistakes. The offense, we have talked about it, good things were coming, and the offense started to wake up. We had some good signs pitching, defense just has to be better. I will take an ugly win over a pretty loss, but we need to clean up the routine stuff. Our wounds, for the most part, are self-inflicted. Nobody has forced us to make the mistakes we have made defensively, and, on the mound, we have done it to ourselves. If we can cut those in half as a jumping off point, I would like to see where we are at by the end of the season."
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