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#OURCITY
Tyler Smith
Courtney West/South Alabama Athletics
6
Winner South Ala. SOUTH AL 29-18, 13-10 Sun Belt
4
Texas State TEXAS ST 27-10, 10-13 Sun Belt
Winner
South Ala. SOUTH AL
29-18, 13-10 Sun Belt
6
Final
4
Texas State TEXAS ST
27-10, 10-13 Sun Belt
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
South Ala. SOUTH AL 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 12 1
Texas State TEXAS ST 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 8 3

W: Smith, Tyler (1-0) L: Cade Smith (3-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Smith Season-High Effort in Relief Fuels Jaguars Series Clinching Victory over Bobcats

SAN MARCOS, Texas - South Alabama (29-18, 13-10 SBC) clinched the series on Saturday over Texas State (27-20, 10-13 SBC) fueled by an early lead and a season-high effort from right-hander Tyler Smith in relief who delivered six shutout innings.


PRIMARY THREADS
  • The Jaguars started the Saturday contest with an identical sequence out of the gate as the opener, when Stewart Puckett doubled home Brennon Wright followed by Blake Guerin's single to plate Puckett. Marc Stephens hit a ball back up the box and reached base safely on an error by the Bobcat shortstop which allowed Guerin to round third and score on the play.
  • Texas State responded with a three-spot first inning of its own on three hits to tie the game at three in the opening frame.
  • South Alabama would score once in each of the next two frames. Ethan Melton scored on a fielder's choice and Bobcat error off the bat of Stewart Puckett in the second inning, followed by a single from Brennon Wright to plate Marc Stephens in the third.
  • The Jaguars had a 5-4 advantage after three innings and would end the scoring for the Bobcats for the rest of the afternoon due to a career day from senior right-hander Tyler Smith, who shoved six scoreless innings in relief and posted a season-high five strikeouts.
  • South Alabama tacked on an insurance run in the seventh when Rett Johnson hit a rocket at the first baseman to score Stewart Puckett, who was 90 feet away.
  • Tyler Smith shut it down in the ninth to clinch the series victory for the Jaguars, 6-4 final score.

KEY STATS
  • Tyler Smith (W, 1-0) earned his first win of the 2026 campaign and shoved a season-high in strikeouts (5) with the following line: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
  • Stewart Puckett collected his second multi-hit game of the series with two hits including an RBI double and a single to total two RBI in the contest.
  • Marc Stephens posted two hits in a 2-4 effort at the plate.
  • Brennon Wright tallied his 18th multi-hit game of the season with an RBI and scored a run.
  • Blake Guerin tagged two singles and posted his team-best 46th RBI of the year in the victory.
  • Ethan Melton doubled for the second time in the series for his team-leading 14th of the year.

QUOTABLE
HEAD COACH MARK CALVI
"I cannot say how proud I am of Tyler Smith. He was absolutely phenomenal. Our guys beat some good arms today. I hate to go to the pen early, it's not a great formula in my 34 years. But I felt we had to today and Smitty was the guy. Some of their most dangerous hitters are left-handed hitters and the splits show lefties really struggle with him. He was phenomenal. That's what a senior, a guy that's been in the program a long time does. I couldn't be happier for that kid. He's a wonderful human being who works to put himself in a position to do stuff like that. So enough said, we did enough offensively, but Tyler Smith was the story of today's game."


ON DECK
The series finale is set for Sunday, May 3 at 11:30 p.m. (CT). Daniel Gonzalez (4-2, 5.86 ERA) is scheduled to make his 12th start of the season for the Jaguars, while the Bobcat starter is TBA.


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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