Jags Shut Out Jackson State 2-0
The Jaguar baseball team followed up their win over Mississippi State on Tuesday night with a 2-0 shutout victory over Jackson State Wednesday night at Eddie Stanky Field.
Right handers Ryne Long and Cody Van Aken combined for the shutout. Long (2-2) walked two and struck out five and allowed only three hits in seven innings pitched to earn his second win of the season. Van Aken threw two scoreless innings of relief with one strikeout to earn his third save of the season.
The win was USA’s fourth shutout of the season and the third time they have shut out an opponent with Long as the starter.
South Alabama (20-10) scored the game’s only runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ryan Raspino reached base on a one-out single, which extended his hitting streak to nine games. Bud Collura hit a two-out RBI single to right field to score Raspino. Then Cole Billingsley followed with an RBI single to center field to score Collura and double the Jags advantage to 2-0.
After that point, Long retired Jackson State in order over his final two innings on the mound.
Danny Martinez went 2-for-4 with a double. Collura and Billingsley both had a hit and an RBI each.
South Alabama will play this weekend when they travel to Jonesboro, Arkansas for a three-game series against Arkansas State.
Currently the Jags sit in fifth place in the Sun Belt standings with a 7-5 conference record. Georgia State is currently on top of the rankings with a 6-2 conference record and riding a three-game winning streak. USA is a game back in the loss column to UL-Lafayette and Arkansas-Little Rock (both 7-4) and a full game back from second place Texas State (8-4).