MOBILE, Ala. - South Alabama (14-17, 4-8 SBC) split the doubleheader, securing the series over Georgia Southern (18-13, 6-6 SBC) with an opening game run rule, 18-6, then dropping the back end game, 9-4.

The Jags scored in each of the first five frames, with the first inning seeing a two-run home run from John Smith III. Brennan Holt slapped an RBI triple in the second, then with bases loaded, Lucas Ismaili walked a runner in just before Duncan Mathews volleyed an RBI single. A fielders' choice and a single scored two more, and Josh Stevenson doubled to clear the bases for two more runs. Holt knocked a three run bomb just before the closing of the frame, with 10 runs scored in the second frame that stacked onto the two in the first for a 12-0 lead. 

Southern scored two runs in the top of the third, and Kyle Morrison homered in the bottom as a response. Back-to-back-to-back singles added four more runs in the fourth inning, making the score 17-2. 

Mitchell Heer, while allowing 10 hits, only let three runs score in his 6.0 innings with four strikeouts.

The fifth inning was a trade of runs, with the Jags' run coming off Ethan Melton's second home run of the season. The Eagles scored three runs in the seventh inning, but the Jags were able to secure the run rule.

Win: Mitchell Heer (4-0)
Loss: Jax Lewis (2-4)

In game two, South was put in a hole early, down three runs before scoring on an infield error. Another four runs in the top of the sixth put the Jags in a deep hole, down 1-7. Josh Stevenson hit a sac fly in the bottom of the eighth to keep the score to a six run deficit at 2-8, but a ninth inning run for GS, left the Jags too far behind. Mike Young's two-RBI single was too little, too late as the score went final, 9-4.

Win: Jacob Phillips (4-1)
Loss: Chase Davis (1-3)

QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Calvi

Overall thoughts on the two games today: You hate that you lost as you sit here. You want to win your last game, but also, we won the first two, and our guys played hard. It's not like I had a feeling like they were satisfied with two wins. I got to give Georgia Southern credit. You know, they came out and they beat us. They played better than we did. They pitched better than we did. Phillips did a really nice job, their starter got them off to a decent start, and Phillips was really good in the middle. I give that kid credit. There, we had chances to get to him with bases loaded, second and third, with two outs, bases loaded, and we just struggled getting the big hit in the third game, but I got to give Phillips credit. You know, he went five in the third and the thing that bothered me is that he did it the same way. He just, he just kept throwing the breaking ball. It wasn't like he switched his pattern. He kind of used the same game plan against us three times through the order, and we didn't really do a good job of adjusting to him at all. So we need to be better, obviously, making some adjustments. And he's a solid college pitcher, I mean, a lefty with four pitches, two different breaking balls, up to 90-91, but we had him on the ropes, you know. If he stuffed us, and if he one-hit us through, you know, five and a third, I'd be like, well, you know, sometimes that's the game, but, you know, nobody backed off. We kept playing. We put ourselves in position several times, we ended up leaving 11 guys on base today, but so did they. We had ourselves in a position where we were, you know, a single away from, you know, cutting the lead in half, a couple times, a couple hits away from getting right within striking distance. But I give our guys credit. I told them, they beat a really good team. We played, shoot, we played 27 innings in under 24 hours. I told them I appreciated their effort. They all went hard. Everybody contributed, and they beat a damn good team two out of three times in under 24 hours. So I'll take these results every single time. You just want to win every game, you know, and that's and I'm sure the players feel the same way. This one stings, but when they go to bed tonight, they can put their head on the pillow being proud that they beat a good team and they contributed in helping us win a conference series.

On Rett Johnson's offensive capabilities, especially in bunting: yeah, that's probably Rett's fifth or sixth bunt base hit of the year (from the second inning). It's how you stay above, when you're not seeing it well or feeling great, or it's how you keep your head above water. Bunts are slump busters, and it kind of keeps you out of extended slumps when you can put a ball down, just when they think you're, you know, you're swinging the bat, you just make it, and on the turf, man, it's, it's way easier. You get true bounces, true roles, so, yeah, Rett's done a really good job with his bunt game. 

On how an effective bunter can get to the opposing defense: It's demoralizing, because you want to scream, "swing the bat!", but that's part of the game. It's strategy. It's: if you play in, it can get hit by you or chopped over you. You saw us against Louisiana. We were in and then a guy that is a big time bunter, and then he chops one over our head, which would have been, on Friday night, would have been a routine ground ball, it turned into a double. Would have been a routine 5-3 and out of the inning, instead, it was a double, and guys on second and third scored. That opened up that Friday night. So the bunt game, the short game is, to me, it's crucial in opening holes and just putting doubt in the defense's mind.

UP NEXT
South Alabama travels to Jonesboro, Ark. for a weekend series, with first pitch set for Friday, April 11, at 6 p.m.

FOLLOW THE JAGS
For complete coverage of University South Alabama baseball, follow the Jaguars on social media @SouthAlabamaBSB (Twitter), /SouthAlabamaAthletics (Facebook), @southalabamabsb on Instagram, or visit the official home of South Alabama athletics at USAJaguars.com.