Feb. 27, 2008

Box Score: South Alabama at Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss received great pitching, solid defense and timely hitting to defeat South Alabama 4-2 Wednesday evening in front 3,027 fans at Pete Taylor Park.

Starting Pitcher Todd McInnis (2-0) picked up his second win of the season throwing seven innings allowing only three hits and two runs while striking out eight. Wade Weathers worked a perfect eighth inning and Tyler Conn picked up his third save, striking out the final two hitters in the ninth inning.

"That was a good win for us tonight, we played very hard and pitched extremely well," head coach Corky Palmer said. "I though we played well in all phases tonight.

Drew Carson led the offensive attack going three-for-three with three runs scored, including a solo homerun and a double.

Southern Miss (4-1) jumped on the board in the top of the first with a little help from the Jags defense. Brian Dozier singled to left field and advanced to second on Trey Sutton's fielders choice. Keith Winstead hit what appeared to be an inning ending ground ball to South Alabama third baseman Chris Davis but the ball went straight between his legs allowing Dozier to score for a 1-0 lead.

Drew Carson added to the Southern Miss lead with a solo homerun in the top of the second over the left field wall to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 advantage.

South Alabama was able to get on the board in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly by Chris Davis to centerfield, scoring Sean Laird who singled earlier in the inning, making the score 2-1.

The Jags (3-2) manufactured a run in the top of the fourth to tie the game at two. Leadoff hitter Clint Toomey walked and tagged up on a foul ball caught against the wall down the right field line to advance to second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a infield ground ball hit by Ryne Jernigan.

The Golden Eagles retook the lead in the top of the fifth inning as Drew Carson barely missed his second homerun of the game, doubling off the top of the left field wall. Carson advanced to third on Josh Fields single to left field and came in to score on Chris Matesich's slow-rolling ground ball to the shortstop, giving Southern Miss a 3-2 lead.

Southern Miss added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Carson collected his third hit in as many at bats with a single to right field. Josh Fields followed with a single up the middle and as Carson raced for third South Alabama centerfielder Ray Kruml sailed the ball into the Southern Miss dugout allowing Carson to score his third run of the game.

The Golden Eagles will hit the road for the first time in 2008 this weekend as they will participate in Louisiana Lafayette tournament against No 19 ULL, mix in a midweek game next Tuesday with No. 2 Ole Miss, followed by a three game series at No.15 Cal State Fullerton and the Golden Eagles have their work cut out for them over the next seven games.

"This weekend starts the toughest stretch of games that we have had since I have been the head coach here, all the teams are nationally ranked and predicted to play in a NCAA regional," Palmer said. "This will be a big test for our team over the next two weeks."

-southernmiss.com-