MOBILE, Ala. — No. 11 Mississippi State got the offense going late but could not score enough during a 5-2 loss to South Alabama in college baseball action Tuesday night at Eddie Stanky Field.

South Alabama (22-15) scored three times in the fifth inning and added insurance scores in the seventh and eighth innings. MSU (25-14) scored its only runs during a two-run eighth inning.

The South Alabama pitching duo of Sean Trimble and Matt Peacock combined to hold MSU to three hits. The Bulldogs stranded six base runners.

For MSU, Peyton Plumlee drew the start, allowing one hit with four strikeouts over three innings of work. Parker Ford (0-1) worked a scoreless fourth inning but ran into trouble with back-to-back walks to start the fifth inning. Jacob Barton finished the inning but not before a pair of hits and a groundball out scored the runs.

Andrew Mahoney and Brant Blaylock were each touched for a run in an inning of relief work.

The Bulldogs scored twice in the eighth inning when a pair of errors reached a pair of runners. Brent Rooker and Ryan Gridley each hit a sacrifice fly.

Spencer Price, Dustin Skelton and Hunter Stovall each had a hit for the Bulldogs.

Trimble (2-0) threw 6 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and no runs, with five strikeouts. Peacock finished the contest with four strikeouts for his fifth save.

State will now return home to continue Southeastern Conference play with a three-game series vs. Alabama at Dudy Noble Field. The series will open with a nationally-televised contest at 6 p.m. Thursday on SEC Network.

SOUTHERN MISS 16, NICHOLLS 8

BILOXI — No. 16 Southern Miss registered six-straight singles to start the bottom of the first and later added a 10-run inning to defeat Nicholls 16-8 at MGM Park Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles improved to 29-9 on the season, while Nicholls fell to 20-19. The win was the first in three tries in the facility for Southern Miss over the past two seasons, after dropping both games here last season.

Southern Miss registered a season-high 20 hits, including three from both Southeast Lauderdale alumnus Mason Irby and Jake Viaene, while Dylan Burdeaux, Hunter Slater, Taylor Braley, Matt Wallner, Byrant Bowen and Matthew Guidry had two hits each. All nine Golden Eagle starters recorded a hit in the contest.

The home squad registered six consecutive singles in the first off of Colonel starter Cayden Hatcher (3-4) to plate five runs.

After the Colonels plated three runs in the third, Southern Miss exploded for 10 runs in the bottom of the frame to put the game out of reach and knocking Hatcher out of the game as he lasted two-plus innings and allowed seven runs on nine hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Burdeaux, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games and includes 13 multi-hit games during this stretch, walked with the bases loaded to open the stretch. Irby then cleared the bases with a three-run triple to left-center. After a sacrifice fly by Hunter Slater, Wallner and Bowen then added a run-scoring single before Guidry knocked in a run with a ground-rule double and Boyd plated two with a double of his own.

The second of four Golden Eagle pitchers, Hunter Stevens, went 2 1/3 innings in relief and allowed an unearned run on two hits with a walk and four strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 1-0.

Southern Miss added one more run in the eighth on an RBI groundout by Boyd.

The Golden Eagles finish a string of five games away from home Wednesday when they travel to New Orleans to face Tulane. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. at Greer Stadium at Turchin Field.

ALABAMA 18, ALCORN STATE 1

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama offense tallied 13 hits and seven walks to take down the Alcorn State Braves, 18-1, in a seven-inning affair on Tuesday evening at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. With the win, UA improves to 15-22 overall on the season.

“I just can’t say enough about how excited I was to see our guys come out today and really put some great swings on the ball,” Alabama head coach Greg Goff said. “We got a great outing from Deacon (Medders), and it was impressive to see him do what he did out there tonight as a freshman. Overall, this win was a tremendous team effort — great hitting, great pitching and great defense.”

The Crimson Tide’s offense tallied all 18 runs from the third through sixth innings, plating six apiece in the third and sixth along with three-run frames in both the fourth and fifth innings. Twelve of the Tide’s 14 offensive players collected at least one run with all but one batter reaching base on the night. 

Alabama’s offensive output was led by Cody Henry, who finished 3-for-5 with two home runs — including his first career grand slam. Henry added a team-high seven RBI and two runs scored to his line. Chandler Avant also tallied a grand slam for his first career home run, finishing 2-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored. Avant’s night extended his hitting streak to a team-long 11 games.

Deacon Medders (1-0) earned his first career win with a season-long five innings of work. Medders allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out four batters across 68 pitches. The Tide bullpen then took over, with the threesome of Sam Finnerty, Tyler Adams and Sonny Potter working the final two frames.

The Crimson Tide will head to Starkville next for a three-game series with 11th-ranked Mississippi State. The two teams are set to begin the SEC matchup on Thursday evening with a 6 p.m. CT first pitch on SEC Network. Friday’s contest is slated for a 6:30 p.m. CT start while the series finale is scheduled for 2 p.m. The final two games of the series will stream live on SEC Network+.