MOBILE, Ala. - South Alabama fell short to the bats of USC Upstate on Saturday afternoon at Stanky Field, with a 10-7 final score.
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PRIMARY THREADS
- The Spartan bats wasted no time and jumped on Jaguar southpaw Max Miller who surrendered four earned runs on four hits in 1.1 innings of work.
- Duncan Mathews homered for the second consecutive game in his first at-bat and punched a round tripper over the left field wall that traveled 402 feet.
- Junior JUCO transfer and Jaguar designated hitter Paxton Bigby launched his first home run of the season for a solo shot in the bottom of the second.
- Junior right-hander Ryland Bozenhard went 3.2 innings with three strikeouts while allowing three earned runs. A couple Jaguar defensive miscues plated two more Spartans in Zach Stevens' second inning of work in the top of the seventh.
- The Jags found themselves down 10-3 heading into bottom nine, but two walks and an error loaded the bases with nobody out. Robert Miranda was hit by a pitch to plate one before Stewart Puckett cleared the bags with a triple laced to the right-center gap to make it a three-run game, 10-7. Despite the comeback effort, the Spartans closed it out by that final score.
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KEY STATS
- Duncan Mathews crushed his second homer in two games to start the 2026 campaign.
- Max Miller carded the loss in 1.1 innings of work while Upstate righty Brent Stukes credits the win, with a line of 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, and 6 K's.
- Jaguar returners Zach Stevens and Tyler Smith made their 2026 debuts, each delivering 2 innings pitched.
- Paxton Bigby roped his first homer as a Jaguar in a 1-3 effort, scoring twice.
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QUOTABLE
HEAD COACH MARK CALVI
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"The team got off to a poor start, giving up free passes against a strong-hitting opponent and failing to score enough runs early when it mattered. Credit to their guy with a strong start and effectively pitched to us."
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ON DECK
The Jags are set for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch tomorrow, Feb. 15. Junior right-hander
Daniel Gonzalez will make his Jaguar debut in the rubber match, while righty Max Bianchini is the probable for Upstate.
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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.
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