South Alabama’s baseball team secured a series win against Charleston on Saturday, relying on strong pitching performances from Max Miller and Jaxon Shineflew. The game was played under overcast skies with wind affecting play, which contributed to favorable conditions for pitchers.
Blake Guerin continued his productive run in Charleston by driving in three runs. He singled home Paxton Bigby and later doubled to bring in Stewart Puckett and Bigby again. Guerin has now collected five hits and six RBIs over the first two games of the series.
Junior left-hander Max Miller started for South Alabama, pitching five innings in which he allowed just three hits, one earned run, walked two, and struck out five. Head coach Mark Calvi commented on Miller’s performance: “He’s (Miller) is a competitor. He’s a heck of a pitcher, and you got to see some of that today.”
Jaxon Shineflew entered the game in the sixth inning and delivered four scoreless frames without allowing a hit. He retired 11 consecutive batters to close out the game and recorded his first save of the season. Calvi also praised Shineflew: “Shineflew was outstanding. That’s what he is, right there. He developed a changeup that he can slow guys down with now and it’s nasty.”
Charleston’s Carson Bryant took the loss after giving up three runs on five hits over 3.1 innings.
Mike Young leads South Alabama with 11 hits this season after going 1-for-4 on Saturday. He has posted four multi-hit games through six contests and holds a .423 batting average. Brennon Wright, who bats leadoff, has ten hits so far—just behind Young—and leads the team with a .435 average.
The Jaguars did not hit any home runs during Saturday’s game, marking their first homerless outing of the year despite leading the Sun Belt Conference with 11 home runs across six games.
Looking ahead, South Alabama will play Charleston again on Sunday at noon Central Time. Junior Daniel Gonzalez is set to start for South Alabama while Jace Stancil is expected to pitch for Charleston.
Coach Calvi emphasized the importance of maintaining focus: “Tomorrow’s the most important game that we have all year long. We’ll see if our guys are satisfied with two or do they want to go to the next level tomorrow? So that’s what I’m looking for.”
Fans can follow updates about South Alabama baseball via social media platforms or by visiting USAJaguars.com.
