LAFAYETTE, La. — South Alabama baseball remained at No. 29 in the Collegiate Baseball poll released Monday after the Jaguars took two of three games from Louisiana-Lafayette over the weekend.
The Jaguars are 34-18 overall and 19-9 in Sun Belt Conference play. Louisiana-Lafayette is 31-19 and 15-11 in the league.
Hill Extends Win Streak With Shutout
Kevin Hill won his ninth consecutive decision in the series opener, handing the Ragin’ Cajuns their first shutout loss of the season. Hill allowed five hits with eight strikeouts and three walks and retired the minimum number of batters over the final four innings. He has now thrown 15 consecutive scoreless innings.
Jaguars Rally to Clinch Series
The second game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning. Louisiana-Lafayette’s Joe Robbins led off with a single to left, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a one-out single up the middle. The Cajuns later loaded the bases with two outs, but Austin Bembnowski ended the threat with a strikeout.
South Alabama tied the game in the top of the sixth. Ben Gann doubled into the right-center gap with one out and went to third on Bud Collura’s single to left. Adam Ballew singled to right to score Gann and make it 1-1.
The Jaguars took their first lead in the seventh. Jared Barnes singled to center with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch and went to third on a pinch-hit single to right by Danny Martinez. Ryan Raspino’s sacrifice fly to right-center scored Barnes for a 2-1 lead. Louisiana-Lafayette tied it in the bottom of the inning on a suicide squeeze.
South Alabama went back in front in the eighth. Collura singled to right with one out and moved to second when Ballew reached on catcher’s interference. Bolger singled to center to load the bases, and Barnes beat out an infield single down the third-base line to score Collura for a 3-2 lead. Martinez drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs to force in Ballew and make it 4-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Cajuns put the tying run on base with one out on a single and a hit batter, then loaded the bases with a walk. A sacrifice fly to right-center cut the lead to 4-3, but Ben Taylor got a flyout to right to end the game and clinch the series.
Taylor (6) earned his sixth win of the season, allowing one run on one hit with three strikeouts and a walk in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Bembnowski pitched six innings and allowed one run on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks in a no-decision.
Cajuns Take Finale
Louisiana-Lafayette won Sunday’s series finale 3-2. South Alabama led by a run entering the bottom of the eighth inning.
Kennon Fontenot led off the eighth with a pinch-hit single up the middle and advanced to second on a walk. Stefan Trosclair’s sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, and after a strikeout, Conrad singled through the right side to drive in two runs and give the Cajuns the lead. South Alabama did not score in the top of the ninth.
Final Regular-Season Series Ahead
South Alabama returns home to host Troy at Eddie Stanky Field in its final regular-season series. The Jaguars will then travel to Troy for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, scheduled for May 20-24.
Update
South Alabama entered the series, its final regular-season road trip, on a seven-game winning streak. Hill (8-0) made his 10th start of the season in the Friday opener. He came into the weekend leading the Sun Belt in strikeouts (78) and opponents’ batting average (.199), tied for the league lead in wins and ranked second in ERA (2.06). Over his previous three starts, all complete games against conference opponents, he had 38 strikeouts, nine walks and 12 hits allowed across 27 innings.
Bembnowski (2-3) made his ninth start in Saturday’s game, which was streamed on ESPN3, and left-hander Jared Gates (4-2) was scheduled for his 12th start in Sunday’s 1 p.m. finale. Louisiana-Lafayette started three freshmen: left-hander Gunner Leger (5-3) in the opener, right-hander Evan Guillory (3-0) in game two and right-hander Wyatt Marks (5-1) in the finale.
