MOBILE, Ala. - South Alabama (14-7, 1-2 SBC) surmounted a late game comeback driven by four runs on four hits in the bottom of the seventh inning to take down Alabama (15-7, 0-3 SEC) by a final score of 6-3, on Tuesday night at Stanky Field.


PRIMARY THREADS

• The Crimson Tide struck first in the top of the second inning when a ground ball out plated a run, followed by a second run in the third inning by way of an RBI single.
• The Jags plated its first run in the home half of the fifth when Ethan Melton reached on a Tide defensive miscue in the infield scoring Stewart Puckett, who reached on a walk in the inning.
• One more run came across to score in the top of the seventh for Alabama on a wild pitch, before the bottom of the seventh saw four unearned Jaguar runs with a mix of four hits and two Alabama errors. Stewart Puckett singled to right field after the second two-out error which plated Ethan Melton and Rett Johnson. First baseman Blake Guerin followed up with a first pitch single up the middle to plate two more, to make the game a 5-3 Jaguar lead.
• The lone earned run came in the Jaguar half of the eighth inning, when Ethan Melton singled home Brady Picarelli, who entered as a pinch runner after a Nathan Wood single.
• Reliever Zach Stevens used the Jaguar shifted momentum and credited three scoreless frames to shut down the Crimson Tide bats and slam the door with five strikeouts and the win to his line.
• The Jaguars beat the Crimson Tide for the first time since the victory in 2024, and improved the all-time contests between the two programs played at Stanky Field to 31-23.

KEY STATS

• Stewart Puckett and Ethan Melton both had three hit nights with three combined RBI.
• Marc Stephens and Duncan Mathews contributed two hits apiece to total four different Jaguars with multi-hit nights in the victory.
• Starter Hayden O'Dell went 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K for a no decision.
• First out of the Jaguar bullpen was Max Miller who grabbed a big punchout in the sixth inning with two Alabama players aboard.
• Zach Stevens entered with two on in the seventh and limited the Tide bats to just one run (credited to Miller's line) and got out of the inning. Stevens would close out the game with zero's in the eighth and ninth on 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K and the win.

QUOTABLE
HEAD COACH MARK CALVI
"Our pitching and defense were outstanding. We only walked four, no errors, and they kicked it around a little bit. We were playing from behind most of the game and left a lot of guys on base, which wasn't our MO leading up to the Louisiana Tech series. It's the hardest thing to do to hit, that's why guys get paid a lot of money to do it. Offense can come and go, but your mindset can't. It was good to see our guys keep showing up and keep battling. Really proud of their effort, and a great win tonight.

Now move into ULM for a conference series, and we got to continue this trend. We need to continue to be opportunistic, work further, and get that big knock when the window opens."


ON DECK
The Jaguars are slated for its Sun Belt Conference home opener this weekend, squaring with ULM. Friday night's series opener is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. (March 20). The series will continue on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (March 21), and Sunday's series finale is set for 1:00 p.m. (March 22).


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