BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Interstat) — Florida A&M erupted for 19 hits and rolled past Southern 15-6 on Thursday evening at Jerry D. Young Memorial Field in a Southwestern Athletic Conference matchup.

The Rattlers improved to 29-22 overall, while the Jaguars fell to 25-22.

Florida A&M pounded out runs in seven of the nine innings, building a commanding lead early and never looking back. The game was halted for a rain delay at 8:33 p.m. with the Rattlers leading 9-3, then resumed at 10:32 p.m. with Florida A&M adding four more runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach.

The Rattlers opened the scoring in the second inning. Alex Monile walked and scored on a double down the left-field line by Matthew Perez. Josue Figueroa followed with a single, but the inning ended with Southern catcher Luis Ayala making an unassisted putout at home.

Florida A&M tacked on two more in the third. Jay Campbell walked and Jackson McKenzie singled before Perez delivered another RBI single. Figueroa added a sacrifice fly to score McKenzie, giving the Rattlers a 3-0 lead.

Southern got on the board in the fourth. Ryan Hunter singled and stole second, then Jay Lucky launched a two-run homer to left field to cut the lead to 3-2.

The Rattlers answered immediately. In the fifth, Ethan Miller walked and scored on Figueroa’s single. Jordan Brown singled in another run, and Will Brown’s sacrifice fly made it 6-2. Florida A&M added three more in the sixth. McKenzie tripled and scored on Miller’s single, then Alex Monile doubled. After a pitching change, Perez singled to drive in two more, pushing the lead to 9-2.

Southern scored an unearned run in the sixth on a fielding error, a single, a bunt single and Lucky’s sacrifice fly, making it 9-3 before the rain came.

After the delay, Florida A&M poured it on. Will Brown was hit by a pitch, and Jay Campbell doubled him home. McKenzie doubled and scored on a wild pitch, and Colton Ryals doubled in another run. The inning ended with the Rattlers up 13-3.

In the eighth, Caden Kresak singled, Campbell tripled him home, and McKenzie crushed a two-run homer down the right-field line to make it 15-3.

Southern mounted a threat in the bottom of the eighth. With the bases loaded, Kameron Byrd walked to force in a run, Kenyon Hughes walked to force in another, and Beny Bikar Jr. walked to bring home a third. But reliever Clark Lincoln got Donny Sandifer to strike out and Ayala to foul out, limiting the damage to 15-6.

Garrett Workman earned the win for Florida A&M, allowing two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings while striking out three. Ryan Young pitched 2/3 of a scoreless inning. Tanner Walker gave up three earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. For Southern, Kenny Jackson took the loss, allowing three earned runs in one inning.

Florida A&M’s next game is Saturday against Southern at the same site. Southern plays Texas Southern on Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Southern 7, Florida A&M 6. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Rattlers a 62.70 percent probability of winning.