MOBILE, Ala. - South Alabama (32-21, 16-13 SBC) evened the series with Arkansas State (29-23, 12-17 SBC) behind effective arms and a balanced offensive effort throughout the order in a 7-2 victory on Friday night at Stanky Field
PRIMARY THREADS
- Jaxon Shineflew got the nod to make his first start of the season for the Jaguars in the season series finale and did not disappoint. The junior allowed a solo shot in the second inning as the lone run he'd allow in five strong innings.
- The Jaguars put up a crooked number in the third inning when three runs came across to score. Ethan Melton led off the inning, roping a double to left-center field before Stewart Puckett tagged his ninth homer of the season to his pull-side gap for a two-run shot. Blake Guerin would come all the way around to score from first base when Mike Young hit his conference-best fifth triple of the season to complete the three-spot.
- Marc Stephens drilled his third homer of the season to lead off the home half of the fourth inning to left-center field to add one to the Jaguar run column in the fourth inning.
- The final Arkansas State run of the evening scored by way of an RBI double, but Zach Stevens who entered to start the frame would dance out of trouble and strand two Red Wolves in scoring position.
- Duncan Mathews led off the home half of the seventh with a double down the left field line. The Jags would load the bases when Marc Stephens and Paxton Bigby both drew two walks for RBI's to plate two more runs.
- First baseman Blake Guerin punched a two-out knock over the head of the shortstop while Brennon Wright was waiting 90 feet away, and would score on the hit.
- Zach Stevens would come back out for his fourth inning of work and complete the save when he shut the door in the ninth.
KEY STATS
- Eight Jaguars recorded hits in the victory while five players posted RBI.
- Stewart Puckett's ninth homer of the season drove in two runs while Marc Stephens' round tripper was his third of the year in a 2-3 effort with two RBI at the plate.
- Brennon Wright collected three hits in a 3-5 night at the dish and scored a run, marking his 20th multi-hit game of the season in 53 games played.
- Mike Young had two hits pushing his hit streak to a season-high seven games, which included his Sun Belt-best fifth triple of the year.
- Ethan Melton doubled and scored in the contest for his team-leading 17th double of the season.
- Jaxon Shineflew (W, 5-2) earned his fifth win of the season in his first start with the following line: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. Zach Stevens (S, 2) shut the door for a four inning save. Shineflew and Stevens combined to retire nine of nine leadoff outs.
QUOTABLE
HEAD COACH MARK CALVI
"Shineflew was awesome. He's been so dominant out of the bullpen this year and felt he was a good matchup tonight under the lights. We played great defense with nine of nine leadoff outs, and they are the second ranked pitching staff in the conference for a reason. It's hard to extend and put up crooked numbers against their pitching staff because they can mix and match and have good depth, and we had some really good at-bats tonight. Proud of our guys effort after last night."
ON DECK
The regular season finale on Saturday is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (CT).
Daniel Gonzalez (4-3, 4.11 ERA) is slated to make his 14th start for the Jaguars while the Red Wolves starter is TBD.
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USAJaguars.com.
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