MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama baseball swept a three-game series from Sun Belt Conference leader Georgia State over the weekend, while the No. 21 South Alabama softball team split two games with North Dakota State after weather wiped out a third.
Baseball: Hill Nearly No-Hits Panthers
Kevin Hill opened the series with a complete-game 8-0 shutout, striking out a career-high 15 batters. Hill carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning before Georgia State’s Ryan Blanton singled to shallow left-center field, just beyond the reach of South Alabama shortstop Ryan Raspino. The victory was Hill’s seventh straight.
Billingsley Walk-Off Wins It in 11
The second game needed extra innings. With Georgia State leading 1-0 in the bottom of the 11th, Cameron Cummings led off with a single, Garrett DeGallier singled with one out and Adam Ballew walked to load the bases. Raspino then drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game 1-1.
Cole Billingsley hit the first pitch he saw for a single to left-center field, scoring DeGallier for a 2-1 walk-off win.
Ben Taylor (5-1) earned the win with two innings of relief, allowing one run on one hit with four strikeouts.
Seven-Run Third Completes Sweep
South Alabama finished the sweep Sunday with a 7-2 win, scoring all seven of its runs in the third inning. Jared Gates matched his career high with nine strikeouts, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks over 7 2/3 innings.
Standings and Schedule
The Jaguars improved to 29-16 overall and 14-7 in Sun Belt play. Georgia State fell to 26-18 and 13-6. South Alabama remained in third place in the conference, behind Georgia Southern (16-8 in league play), and ahead of Louisiana-Lafayette (13-7) and Troy (13-8).
South Alabama travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a midweek game at Southern Miss before heading to Statesboro, Ga., for a three-game series against second-place Georgia Southern.
Softball: Bison Win Opener
North Dakota State won Friday’s opener 7-3 at Jaguar Field.
The teams traded two runs apiece in the first inning before the Bison scored in the third to take a 3-2 lead. Amanda Minahan tied the game in the fifth with her fifth home run of the season, but North Dakota State scored four runs in the sixth to pull away.
Farish Beard took the loss, falling to 8-3, after allowing seven earned runs on six hits in five innings with eight strikeouts. Kalen McGill pitched two scoreless innings of relief and allowed one hit.
Emily Messer and Stephanie Pilkington each went 2-for-4. Messer scored South Alabama’s first run, and Pilkington drove in a run. Chloe Rathburn was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Foster’s Walk Ends Extra-Inning Win
Saturday’s scheduled doubleheader was reduced to one game because of weather, and that game was delayed.
North Dakota State scored three runs in the top of the first. South Alabama answered with two in the bottom half on bases-loaded walks by Rathburn and Amanda Herron. In the second, Messer reached on a one-out infield single and Kaitlyn Griffith’s RBI single through the left side tied the game 3-3.
The Bison went back ahead on a solo home run in the third. In the bottom of the fifth, Griffith drew a one-out walk and Rathburn followed with a home run to put South Alabama ahead 5-4. Blair Johnson later singled to right field to score Minahan for a 6-4 lead.
North Dakota State tied the game with a two-run home run in the top of the seventh, and South Alabama went down in order in the bottom of the inning to force extra innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Jaguars loaded the bases after the Bison intentionally walked Messer. Pinch-hitter Haleigh Foster drew a walk to force in the winning run in a 7-6 victory.
Messer finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Johnson was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, and Griffith was 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI.
Beard (9-3) earned the win with 5 2/3 innings of relief, allowing two earned runs on three hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
Up Next
South Alabama (33-9) travels to Troy for its final regular-season Sun Belt series. The Sun Belt Conference Championship follows in San Marcos, Texas.
