BATON ROUGE, La. (Interstat) — Southern’s Ryan Hunter homered, tripled and drove in four runs, and the Jaguars held off a relentless Alabama A&M rally to win 15-13 on Saturday in a Southwestern Athletic Conference slugfest at Alex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field.

The Jaguars improved to 24-21 overall and completed a three-game series sweep after winning 13-7 on Friday and 9-8 on Thursday. The Bulldogs fell to 7-44.

Hunter finished 3 for 5 with a solo homer in the first inning and a two-run triple during a six-run second that put Southern ahead 12-4. Center fielder Jacoby Radcliffe went 2 for 3 with a grand slam in that same second inning and added four RBIs.

Alabama A&M never quit. Trailing 12-4 after two innings, the Bulldogs scored four times in the third, three more in the fourth and tied the game 12-12 on Tervell Johnson’s two-run homer in the eighth. Johnson was 3 for 3 with a walk, a home run and four RBIs. First baseman Charles Morris went 3 for 4 with four RBIs, including a two-run double in the second and an RBI double in the fourth.

The pivotal moment came in the bottom of the eighth after Alabama A&M had taken a 13-12 lead on Morris’ RBI single that scored Colin Mason. Southern answered immediately. Radcliffe led off with a double down the right-field line, stole third and scored on Kenyon Hughes’ sacrifice bunt. Kameron Byrd walked, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Damien Johnson’s sacrifice fly to center, putting Southern ahead for good at 15-13.

Alabama A&M cut the lead to 15-14 in the ninth when Brycen Hammonds singled, stole second, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on AJ Anderson’s groundout. But Southern pitcher Genesis Prosper, who entered with one out in the eighth, got the final two outs after Anderson’s RBI grounder to seal the win.

Prosper worked 1⅓ innings, allowing two hits and one earned run with one strikeout. Daniel McIntosh earned the win with three scoreless innings of relief, allowing four hits. He took over in the fourth after Alabama A&M had loaded the bases with no outs. McIntosh allowed only a sacrifice fly and an RBI single before inducing a double play to limit the damage.

Southern’s offense erupted early. After Alabama A&M went down in order in the top of the first, Hunter homered to right. The Jaguars added three more runs in the first on a two-run single by Kameron Byrd and a sacrifice fly from Kenyon Hughes. Donnell Sandifer singled home another run for a 4-0 lead.

Alabama A&M answered in the second. Keondre Fields singled, Johnson walked and Colin Mason walked to load the bases. Morris doubled down the left-field line to score two. After a strikeout, Miles Jackson reached on an error that scored Mason, and Hammonds doubled home two more to tie the game 4-4.

Southern regained control in the bottom of the second. Xavier Bradley was hit by a pitch, Hunter singled and KJ White Jr. bunted for a single. Jaylon Lucky walked to force in a run, then Radcliffe crushed a 1-2 pitch over the right-field wall for a grand slam, making it 9-4. Kenyon Hughes singled, stole second and scored on Sandifer’s double. Two batters later, Hunter tripled to left to drive in two more, stretching the lead to 12-4.

Alabama A&M chipped away. In the third, Zak Rice walked, Fields doubled and Johnson singled in a run. Johnson later scored on a wild pitch, and walks to Morris and DeVante Wells loaded the bases, but Hammonds flied out. The Bulldogs got three more in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Johnson, an RBI single by Mason and an RBI double by Morris that cut the deficit to 12-10.

Southern added an insurance run in the seventh when Bradley doubled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Hunter’s groundout to second, making it 13-10. Alabama A&M tied it in the eighth on Johnson’s homer and Morris’ RBI single.

For Alabama A&M, pitcher Bryce Dolce threw two scoreless innings with four strikeouts, allowing no hits. Avery Seaton added 1⅔ hitless innings. For Southern, Ryan Hunter continued his hot series after going 1 for 3 with three RBIs on Friday and 2 for 5 on Thursday.

The game was a stark contrast to Interstat’s game simulator projection of Southern winning 7-2. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Jaguars an 80.80 percent probability to win.