MOBILE, Ala. - South Alabama (22-16, 8-8 SBC) dropped the series opener with Marshall (18-18, 9-7 SBC) by a 6-2 final score on Friday night at Stanky Field.


PRIMARY THREADS

• A sacrifice fly plated the first run of the evening in favor of the Herd, before it struck for two more runs in the third inning on two hits.
• The Jaguars responded in the home half of the third frame with two runs of its own. Rett Johnson's triple was cashed in by a sacrifice fly from lead-off man Brennon Wright to get the Jags on the board. Catcher Duncan Mathews tagged his sixth homer of the season in the following at-bat for a solo shot.
• Marshall punched right back with a two-run double to grab a 5-2 lead after four complete.
• Bryant Quimby entered for Mitchell Heer in the seventh inning in a big spot with second and third aboard and one out, and delivered back-to-back punchouts to escape the threatening Herd.
• Marshall grabbed its sixth run in the top of the eighth inning on an RBI double. The score would be final, 6-2 Herd.

KEY STATS

• Duncan Mathews' sixth homer of the season pushed his hitting streak to four games. He is 7-15 in that span.
• Rett Johnson's third inning triple was his fifth extra-base hit in the last four games, including back-to-back games with a triple. Johnson is 9-16 over the course of his five-game hitting streak.
• Shortstop Marc Stephens increased his hit streak to a season-high six games with a single and 1-4 effort at the plate.
• Stewart Puckett collected a two-hit night with a double in a 2-4 night at the plate.

QUOTABLE
HEAD COACH MARK CALVI
"Mitchell Heer is a Friday night guy. You let him go out there and work through some stuff and he competed hard for us. It could have gone sideways, but it didn't. It wasn't his best start, but it was as good as he's competed all year long. Proud of his effort. We're all human beings, and that's what makes this game so great and so brutal at the same time. Tomorrow's a new day and I told our guys it wasn't a matter of effort. We hate the results, we lost, it didn't go our way tonight. Tonight's just one game and we have two-thirds of the series left."


ON DECK
The series continues on Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 p.m. (CT). Right-hander Ryland Bozenhard (1-1, 4.84 ERA) is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season for the Jaguars, while righty Drew Harlow (3-3, 4.33 ERA) is the probable for the Herd.


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.