South Alabama got the clutch pitching it needed from three left-handers on Tuesday night, but Old Dominion’s lefty outshined them all.

Jacob Gomez pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings of relief as the Monarchs beat the Jaguars 3-2 in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery. The loss eliminates South Alabama and ends its season at 31-25.

“We certainly pitched well enough to win,” South Alabama coach Mark Calvi said. “They just touched on plate one more time than we did. I hope the fans got their money’s worth. It was a great college baseball game.

“In a day of walks and 13-12 ball games in college baseball at this time of year, 3-2 is a pretty damn good accomplishment. The only thing I’m disappointed in is the outcome, but our guys fought like crazy.”

South Alabama led 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth, scoring on Micah Morgan’s RBI single in the first and Will Turner’s squeeze bunt in the fifth. Both those runs were charged to ODU starter Vincent Bashara, though Turner’s RBI technically came with Gomez on the mound.

Jaguars starter Zach Willingham pitched one-hit, shutout ball with seven strikeouts through four innings, but the Monarchs (30-24) finally got to him in the fifth. The South Alabama lefty hit Steven Meier with a pitch to lead off the inning, then got an out before Maverick Stallings blasted a 3-0 pitch 435 feet over the left-field wall for a two-run homer and a tie game.

Willingham, a redshirt junior making his first start as a Jaguar, allowed two runs on two hits with a hit batter and two walks in five innings. He threw a career-high 85 pitches.

“Willingham was really good,” Calvi said. “You know Zach, he got hit in the face last year at Georgia Southern, got hit by a line drive … shattered an orbital bone in his face and he came back at the end of the year. It’s absolutely amazing , the courage of that kid has shown. … About a month ago man, that switch flipped for him and you could just see, it was starting to be a little bit more aggressive and more crisp.

“We were 100% certain that Zach Willingham was going to do what he did today.”

ODU scored the eventual winning run off South Alabama reliever Danny Diaz in the sixth, again getting the leadoff man on via Kenny Levari’s single. Levari took second on a passed ball, which proved to be huge as he scored on Jake Ticer’s hard-hit RBI single to right-center.

South Alabama got two men on with two out in the seventh, but Joseph Sullivan grounded into a fielder’s choice. They also put two men on with one out in the ninth, but Gomez struck out Nathan Wood and got Turner to ground out to third and end it.

Gomez (2-2) got the win, allowing just three hits, with a walk and a hit batter. The senior from Rutherford, N.J., struck out six.

“I just told myself ‘we’re gonna win or lose with me on the mound,’” Gomez said. “I’m gonna do the best, very best, I can to keep them right there. … That was my mindset going into (the ninth) — no one’s gonna beat my fastball. Every pitch is working right now, so there’s no reason to change anything.”

Diaz (0-2) took the loss for South Alabama, allowing an unearned run on two hits in 2 1/3 innings. Fellow lefty Logan Wash got the final two outs for the Jaguars, both by strikeout, with two runners on in the bottom of the eighth.

South Alabama was back in Montgomery this season after missing out on the tournament for the first time in 39 years in 2023, but scuffled through an uneven season. The Jaguars lost nine of their first 12 conference games before rally to go 11-8 in Sun Belt play down the stretch and earn the ninth of 10 spots in the postseason.

But as it was Tuesday, scoring runs was a problem all season for South Alabama. Despite that, Calvi said the 2024 Jaguars were a fun team to coach.

“Our season is over, but I’m super-proud of our guys,” said Calvi, whose teams won Sun Belt tournament championships in 2017 and 2021. “All year long the way they fought. We had some guys in and out (due to inury) and just like everyone else, you have your share of adversity. But this was one of the most enjoyable teams I’ve been around in 31 years, just the way they looked out for each other and they really enjoyed each other.

“They practiced hard every single day, put the uniform on to win. Some guys don’t do that. Some guys put the uniform on to play Division I baseball … Our guys put it on to win. We just came up a little bit short.”

Old Dominion advances to the double-elimination portion of the tournament, facing top-seeded Louisiana at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

—

2024 Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament

At Riverwalk Stadium, Montgomery

All times Central

Tuesday, May 21 (single elimination)

Game 1: No. 7 Coastal Carolina 5, No. 10 Georgia State 1

Game 2: No. 8 Old Dominion 3, No. 9 South Alabama 2

Wednesday, May 22 (double elimination begins)

Game 3: No. 3 Troy vs. No. 6 Appalachian State, 9 a.m., ESPN+

Game 4: No. 2 Southern Miss vs. No. 7 Coastal Carolina, 12:30 p.m., ESPN+

Game 5: No. 1 Louisiana vs. No. 8 Old Dominion, 4 p.m., ESPN+

Game 6: No. 4 James Madison vs. No. 5 Georgia Southern, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+

Thursday, May 23

Game 7: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 9 a.m., ESPN+

Game 8: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 12:30 p.m., ESPN+

Game 9: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 4 p.m., ESPN+

Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+

Friday, May 24

Game 11: Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 7, 3 p.m., ESPN+

Game 12: Loser Game 10 vs. Winner Game 8, 6:30 p.m., ESPN+

Saturday, May 25

Game 13: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11, 9 a.m., ESPN+

Game 14: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 12, 12:30 p.m., ESPN+

Game 15 (if necessary): Winner Game 13 vs. Loser Game 13, 4 p.m., ESPN+

Game 16: (if necessary): Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 26

Championship game, 1 p.m., ESPN+