STATESBORO, Ga. – South Alabama got hits from all nine batters in its lineup and made an early 2-0 lead stand up in taking a 4-2 win over Arkansas State here Saturday in the first semifinal game of the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship.

The third-seeded Jaguars (38-19) move into Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET title game against the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal matching fifth-seeded and tournament host Georgia Southern and eighth-seeded Texas State.

USA got a solid starting pitching performance from junior right-hander Tyler Carr (7-1), who scattered five hits and gave up a lone run while fanning five in six innings. Reliever Avery Geyer gave up a leadoff walk to Grant Hawkins to lead off the seventh and Garrett Rucker followed with a double off the left-field wall that scored Hawkins, but closer Matt Peacock came on to retire nine of the 10 Red Wolves he faced in getting his 10th save of the year.

The Jaguars will be making their second championship game appearance in three years, and have won 11 titles, the most in league history, but USA has not won the tournament title since 2005.

USA got two early runs off Arkansas State starter Tanner Kirby (4-2) when Colton Thomas and Travis Swaggerty both doubled and Wells David plated Swaggerty with a two-out RBI single. The Jags then loaded the bases on Kirby in the second on Hunter Stokes’ leadoff single and a pair of walks, but reliever Brandon Stuckenschneider came on to get a final out and then worked out of his own bases-loaded jam in the third inning.

In all, South Alabama stranded 15 runners in the game, at least one in each inning.
Arkansas State (28-27), which had won two games to reach the semifinal round, cut the difference to 2-1 in the third inning when Hawkins led off with a triple in the left-center field gap and Rucker followed with a sacrifice fly.

The Jaguars made it a two-run advantage in the fifth with an unearned run. Drew LaBounty reached on a one-out error, moved up on Hunter Stokes’ walk and scored on the first of two Carter Perkins singles. USA again loaded the bases one inning later but Red Wolves reliever Bryan Ayers came on to get an inning-ending popup.

South Alabama, which took a 9-1 win over Troy in Friday’s quarterfinal round, added an insurance run in the top of the ninth on LaBounty’s leadoff single up the middle and Will Luft’s two-out RBI double.

That was enough for Peacock, who retired the final six batters he faced and struck out four in his three innings.