Bryant Kwilecki Feb. 20, 2023
MOBILE, Ala. – The South Alabama baseball team kicked off their season this past weekend in the Jaguar Classic. It was a record-setting weekend.
The Jaguars finished the weekend 3-1 to begin the 2023 season. In the season opener on Friday night against Northwestern State, the Jags came from behind late to secure the win with a final score of 3-2.
On Saturday, the Jags played a doubleheader against Eastern Kentucky. They dropped game one with a score of 2-0 but then the Jaguar bats came alive in game two to win 26-6. On Sunday afternoon, the Jags faced off against UAB to close out the tournament and won 7-6.
“This was a good field and we saw some really good arms and we were playing our fourth game to UAB’s third,” Head Coach Mark Calvi said. “We had to use our depth and we had two guys that we had to use twice with Wood and Diaz.”
In Friday’s night game, the Jaguars started pitcher Jeremy Lee, who was coming off injury problems last season. He pitched 5 2/3 innings, striking out eight and only giving up two hits. The Jaguars have a deep rotation this year that they will be able to utilize this season. The story of Saturday night’s doubleheader was that the Jags put up 26 runs in game two off 12 hits, and a school record 20 walks. There was stellar defense on display this weekend. In Sunday’s game, one of the best defensive plays of the tournament came when infielder Tyler Borges reached over the dugout railing to catch a foul ball.
The Jags have a lot of young talent and depth for this season. In the infield, they have well-rounded athletes that can play different positions which allows them to be flexible with who is on the field, especially this early in the season.
Jag Media 