South Alabama secured its tenth win of the season with an 11-1 run-rule victory over UAB at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery on Tuesday night. The Jaguars, now holding a 10-3 record, limited the Blazers to a single run and ended the game after eight innings.
Starting pitcher Hayden O’Dell made his third start for South Alabama and delivered five innings with a career-high eight strikeouts, earning his first win for the team. Brennon Wright led off offensively with a triple and later scored on an RBI single by Paxton Bigby. UAB’s only run came in the third inning from a double, but South Alabama’s pitching staff prevented any further scoring.
In the fifth inning, an infield error allowed two Jaguars to score. Rett Johnson followed with a double to center field that was initially ruled a grand slam but changed to a double after review. Entering the bottom of the eighth with a 6-1 lead, South Alabama added five more runs through hits by Ethan Melton and Stewart Puckett and RBIs from Marc Stephens and Mike Young. Blake Guerin ended the game early by singling home two runs.
Brennon Wright continued his strong performance as the Sun Belt Conference hit leader, going 4-for-5 at bat, scoring three times, and raising his batting average to .511. Duncan Mathews had two hits in four at-bats, while Rett Johnson recorded three hits including two doubles and two RBIs.
Hayden O’Dell (1-0) earned the win for South Alabama, while Justin Hicks (0-1) took the loss for UAB. Relievers Bray Goode, Andrew Floyd, and Jake Middleton each pitched one scoreless inning.
Head coach Mark Calvi commented on his team’s effort: “I couldn’t be prouder of the four guys that pitched tonight. They’ve had some rough outings, but responded like champs. (Hayden) O’Dell was really good and super competitive and had a great bounce back outing tonight. Our guys played hard all night long. They were relentless, and they competed great.”
South Alabama will face Louisiana Tech next in a weekend series at Stanky Field starting Friday at 6:30 p.m., followed by games on Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
For updates on University of South Alabama baseball, fans can follow @SouthAlabamaBSB on Twitter or visit USAJaguars.com.
