The No. 2 seed South Alabama came from two runs down in the ninth inning to win 6-4 in an elimination game against No. 3 seed Little Rock on Thursday at the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship.
South Alabama (39-19) staved off elimination with the win and must face another elimination game on Friday at 3 p.m. CT at Bobcat Ballpark. The Jaguars will face the losing team from the 4 p.m. CT matchup on Thursday between No. 6 seed Georgia Southern and No. 7 seed UT Arlington. Little Rock (26-28) is eliminated from the tournament.
Senior Cole Billingsley and sophomore Jared Barnes keyed South Alabama’s ninth-inning rally. With the bases loaded and a full count, Billingsley drew a RBI walk that brought the Jags to within one run at 4-3. Barnes then stepped in and laced a two-RBI double down the third base line to give the Jaguars their first lead of the game and put them up for good.
Billingsley provided insurance later in the inning when he scampered home from third on a wild pitch to give the Jags the two-run lead.