MOBILE, Ala. - South Alabama (25-16, 10-8 SBC) claimed an early lead and added on with a three-spot in the fifth inning to secure the victory over Lamar (22-19, 14-7 SLC) on Wednesday night at Stanky Field.


PRIMARY THREADS

• Early walks issued by Lamar helped the Jaguars early, when two runs crossed in the home half of the second inning by way of back-to-back walks with the bases juiced to take a 2-0 Jaguar lead.
• Duncan Mathews led off the fifth inning for the Jaguars with a hard-hit double down the first baseline, to set the tone for a three-spot in the frame. Stewart Puckett traded places with Mathews and doubled him home, followed by a Blake Guerin RBI single over the head of the second baseman. Designated hitter Robert Miranda cashed in the third Jaguar double of the inning when he found real estate in the left-center field gap to drive in Mike Young.
• Hayden O'Dell allowed the lone run of the evening in the sixth inning before exiting after 5.1 innings pitched with three strikeouts and would earn his second win of the season.
• A third walk of the night drawn by Duncan Mathews plated the sixth Jaguar run with the bases loaded. It would be the third bases loaded walk Lamar surrendered in the contest and second to Mathews.

KEY STATS

• The Jaguar bullpen made up of four different relievers making appearances combined to not allow a run in 3.2 IP.
• Stewart Puckett collected a two-hit night and scored a run. The 2-5 effort at the plate increased his average to .318.
• Brennon Wright added his Sun Belt third-best 57th hit of the season after a 1-3 night.
• Mike Young tallied two knocks for his 15th multi-hit game of the season in the victory.
• Duncan Mathews was 1-2 with three walks and two RBI. His lead-off double to open the fifth inning for the Jaguar offense is his ninth of the season.
• Hayden O'Dell (W, 2-2) earned his second win of the season with the following line: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K.
• Max Miller entered with two on, nobody out in the seventh inning. After allowing a walk, Miller struck out the next two hitters and forced a pop out to retire the side without any damage.
• Zach Stevens made his 14th appearance of the season in the ninth and closed the door to push his scoreless streak to 13.2 innings across his last six appearances.

QUOTABLE
HEAD COACH MARK CALVI
"When Max Miller was on the mound, I turned and said 'this is the ballgame right here.' So Max got it done in a big spot. I didn't like our offense tonight. We gave away at-bats, got jammed, hit fly balls in fastball counts and that cannot happen. We did enough tonight. Got some hits when we needed to and took some walks when we needed to, but we pitched and played great defense. When you can pitch and play great defense, you got a chance every game."


ON DECK
The Jaguars close the eight-game homestand with a pivotal weekend set hosting No. 18 Southern Miss. Friday's series opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CT). The series continues on Saturday with first pitch at 2:00 p.m., while Sunday's series finale is set for 1:00 p.m. (CT).


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