USA Weekend Update
Baseball
The University of South Alabama baseball team rebounded from a 15-2 loss on Saturday to the University of North Florida to win the series with a 9-8 win on Sunday at Eddie Stanky Field.
Jaguar pitcher Dylan Stamey tied a career high with four strikeouts and allowed four hits and one earned run in 4 1/3 innings of relief to earn his third win of the season. Kyle Bartsch earned his fourth save of the year after pitching a perfect ninth inning while striking out one batter.
The Jags struck early by taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Then North Florida responded with five runs in the top of the third inning to take the 5-3 lead over the Jags. South Alabama reponded in the bottom half of the inning after Nolan Early hit a three-run homer to put the Jags back on top 6-5. USA would put two more runs over the plate in the inning to lead 8-5 at the end of the inning.
UNF would add two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to get within one of the Jags 8-7. Jags would add another run in the bottom of the 6th and UNF would cut the lead to one run again in the top of the eighth, but would not be able score again after that.
The Jags improve to 14-3 on the season while UNF falls to 11-5.
The Jags will travel to Montgomery to take on Alabama State on Tuesday with first pitch set for 6pm. Then the Jags will travel to Troy to take on the Trojans in a weekend Sun Belt series.
Softball
South Alabama battles hard against #9 UCLA on Saturday, but fell short by losing 2-1. UCLA improved to 20-4 on the season.
The Lady Jags then turned around and split the final day of games in California. The Jags fell to Utah 2-1 in the early game on Sunday before rebounding for a 4-1 win over host Long Beach State in the late game.
Hannah Campbell’s record fell to 9-4 on the season but earned her team-leading third save of the season. Farish Beard improved her record to 9-0 on the season with nine strikeouts in six innings while only allowing three hits and one earned run against LBSU.
The jags will return to action when they open Sun Belt play at Jaguar Field on Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Men’s Basketball
South Alabama had the lead with 25 seconds left in the game against Western Kentucky, but a turnover allowed the Hilltoppers to take the lead and hold on for the 62-59 win.
The Jags had an opportunity with 9.2 seconds left in the game, but a three-point attempt by Barrington Stevens III missed but the Jags kept possession with 0.5 seconds left. A final desperate heave by Augustine Rubit hit the rim twice but would not fall for the Junior.
Rubit finished with a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds. Senior Javier Carter added 11 points, six rebounds and one block. Stevens, Wright and Ammons both added six points.
Sun Belt Tournament
Western Kentucky defeated #2 seed Arkansas State 58-56 on Sunday. Then #1 seed Middle Tennessee fell to #4 seed Florida International 61-57 to fall short of getting to the Sun Belt Championship game for the second season in a row.
The Conference Championship Game will tip off Monday evening at 6pm with #4 FIU squaring off against #6 Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are looking for back-to-back Sun Belt Championships and NCAA Tournament berths.