MOBILE, Ala. — Locke St. John pitched the first complete game of his career as South Alabama baseball won its series opener at Georgia State 8-1 on Friday, but the Panthers won the final two games to take the Sun Belt Conference series. The No. 21 South Alabama softball team split a doubleheader with Troy to close its regular season.
St. John Goes the Distance
St. John (6-1) allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts and one walk. He retired the final 11 batters he faced and did not allow a hit to the last 17 Georgia State hitters.
It was the first complete game by a Jaguar pitcher since Jarron Cito went the distance against Florida International on April 29, 2012.
Panthers Take Final Two
Georgia State scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Saturday to win 7-4.
The Panthers won Sunday’s rubber game 15-10. Georgia State collected 16 hits and was led by Chase Rattfield, who went 3-for-6 with a home run, six RBI and three runs scored.
Eight Jaguars had at least one hit and six had multiple hits. Andrew Tindell set career highs in hits and RBI, going 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Cole Gleason was 2-for-6 with a double, two RBI and a run scored, and Davis Knapp was 2-for-5 with two RBI.
Brandon Hallford (3-2) took the loss, allowing six runs on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks in 2 2/3 innings of relief.
South Alabama fell to 21-26 overall and 10-13 in the Sun Belt. Georgia State improved to 23-25 and 9-15.
The Jaguars remain in sixth place, two and a half games behind Western Kentucky and UT Arlington, who are tied for fourth, with six conference games left before the Sun Belt tournament at Eddie Stanky Field. South Alabama travels next to No. 3 Louisiana-Lafayette for a three-game series.
Softball Splits With Troy
The South Alabama softball team split Saturday’s doubleheader with Troy at Jaguar Field and won the season series against the Trojans after an earlier victory over them.
Troy won the opener 1-0. The Trojans scored in the top of the fifth when first baseman Amanda Herron dropped a throw on a two-out grounder, allowing Bria Epps, pinch running for starting pitcher Ashley Rainey, to score from third.
Rainey’s no-hit bid ended in the bottom of the sixth when Julie Moss, pinch hitting for Taylor Rodgers, singled to shallow center field. It was Moss’ first action since she broke her arm against UAB on Feb. 19. Rainey retired the next three batters.
South Alabama loaded the bases in the seventh on a single by Chloe Rathburn, a walk to Alex Breeden and an error on a ball hit by Amanda Minahan, but Herron popped out and Rodgers hit into a fielder’s choice that retired Breeden at third. South Alabama finished with two hits to Troy’s five.
Hannah Campbell (16-5) took the loss, allowing one unearned run on five hits with nine strikeouts and no walks.
In the second game, Breeden’s two-out RBI single scored Blair Johnson in the first inning, and Johnson doubled in the third to score Stephanie Pilkington, who had drawn a leadoff walk, for a 2-0 lead. Troy tied the game in the fourth on solo home runs by Erica Davis and Meg Willis.
South Alabama went back in front with three straight singles by Alyssa Linn, Rodgers and Emily Messer, with Messer’s hit scoring Linn for a 3-2 lead.
Troy threatened in the fifth when Kacie McAllister singled with two outs and tried to score on Amanda Winters’ double to right field, but Minahan’s throw from right field to Rodgers and Rodgers’ relay to Breeden cut down McAllister at the plate.
Farish Beard retired six of the final seven batters she faced to secure the win, allowing two earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts and a walk.
South Alabama finished the regular season 38-11 overall and 15-6 in the Sun Belt. The Jaguars, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, travel to Lafayette, La., for the Sun Belt Conference tournament, which begins Wednesday.
