Single in 10th inning leads Jaguars past Crimson Tide

MOBILE | In a game that saw four lead changes, South Alabama outslugged Alabama 10-9 Wednesday night in front of a season-high 2,363 fans at Stanky Field.

South Alabama left fielder Clint Toomey’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning off Alabama senior Josh Copeland scored pinch-runner Russell Harben from second base to give the Jaguars the win.

Third baseman Jake Overstreet led of the inning with an infield single that rolled only about 20 feet from home plate. Center fielder Ray Kruml followed with a bunt and was called safe at first base by umpire Bruce Ravan, setting off the Alabama dugout and eventually leading to the ejection of assistant coach Mitch Gaspard.

Toomey than bounced a single up the middle to give USA its second straight win over the Crimson Tide.

Copeland (2-2) allowed one run in 12⁄3 innings of relief. It was his first run allowed since March 7 against Youngstown State, a span of 10 outings and 181⁄3 innings.

South Alabama closer Greg Johnson (2-1) was the winning pitcher despite a blown save in the ninth inning.

Alabama (23-20) rallied from three separate deficits, including a game-tying solo home run by junior catcher Alex Avila in the top of the ninth inning to force extra innings.

Avila led the Tide with three hits and two RBIs, while freshman second baseman Ross Wilson hit two home runs. Freshman shortstop Josh Rutledge extended his hitting streak to 19 games with his 22nd multi-hit game of the season.

“Offensively we did a nice job of coming back from a 7-2 deficit,” Gaspard said. “We didn’t pitch very well on the front end, but we battled back and got the lead. Wilson and Avila hit some big home runs for us. South Alabama had some good fortune late in the game, too.”

Avila’s 11th home run of the season with one out in the ninth inning forced extra innings.

South Alabama (24-19) scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning aided by an Alabama error to post the come-from-behind win. The Jaguars loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning against senior left-hander Will Stroup as they mounted the comeback.

Kruml led off the inning with a four-pitch walk and moved to second on Toomey’s bunt that dropped in the infield for a base hit. Stroup then hit David Doss to load the bases with no outs.

The Crimson Tide called on right-hander Austin Hyatt, who was making his first relief appearance since March 4, to try and work out of the jam. Ryne Jernigan’s potential double-play ground ball was booted by shortstop Josh Rutledge, allowing Kruml and Toomey to score the tying and go-ahead runs as the Jags took a 9-8 lead. Hyatt avoided further damage when Ryan Bohanan grounded out to first and Ryan McCrory and Chris Davis struck out to leave two runners in scoring position.

“We did a good job to minimize that one inning when the game could have gotten out of hand for us,” Gaspard added.

Wilson had given the Crimson Tide an 8-7 lead with a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning. It was Wilson’s second home run of the game and his fifth in the last five games for the Tide. Overall, he has eight home runs this season.

The Tide took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when freshman second baseman Wilson cracked a solo home run to left-center field.

South Alabama grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning taking advantage of a two-out walk.

The lead was short-lived as the Tide got a run back in the top of the third inning when junior Avila lined a two-out single to left field to score Rutledge, who led off the inning with a single up the middle to extend his hitting streak to 19 games.

The Jaguars scored five runs on five hits, including four extra base hits, in the bottom of the third inning to take a 7-2 lead.

Alabama came back with five two-out runs in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at 7-7.

Alabama is home this weekend against arch-rival Auburn in a three-game SEC series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. The series opener is Friday at 6:35 p.m.