Coming off of two straight losses against conference opponent Old Dominion this past weekend, Southern Miss got back on track on against the South Alabama Jaguars on April 25, winning the midweek contest by a score of 13 – 7.
Southern Miss got on the scoreboard quickly, with Dylan Burdeaux scoring off of a Hunter Slater RBI to give the team a 1-0 lead in the first inning. This lead was short lived, as South Alabama scored two runs to give them a 2 – 1 advantage after one inning.
Junior LeeMarcus Boyd tied the game in the top of the second inning with an RBI single, bringing home Cole Donaldson. A Mason Irby RBI- triple later in the inning allowed Boyd and Matthew Guidry to score, giving the Golden Eagles the lead back.
While South Alabama third baseman Will Luft tied the game again with a sacrifice fly from Dylan Hardy in the bottom of the second, but a four-run third inning for Southern Miss would put it in the lead for good. Braley started the third inning scoring rally on a Donaldson RBI via fielder’s choice, followed by Wallner scoring on a walk with the bases loaded and then Guidry and Donaldson scoring off of an Irby RBI-double to close out the scoring for the inning.
Daniel Keating responded to a third inning home run by South Alabama’s Travis Swaggerty by hitting one of his own in the fourth inning, with his two-run shot to center field giving the Golden Eagles a 10 – 4 lead.
South Alabama added one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the lead to 10 – 5, while the Golden Eagles were held scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings. The team got back on the scoreboard in the seventh inning when a Burdeaux RBI allowed Guidry to score, giving them the 11 – 5 advantage.
Despite South Alabama cutting into their lead with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Golden Eagles responded once again with two runs in the eighth inning. Casey Maack scored after Donaldson singled to right field to extend the lead, 12 – 7. Later in the inning, Boyd’s RBI single to first base brought home Daniel Keating, sealing the 13 – 7 win for the team.
A total of 10 Southern Miss batters had a hit on the night, with Burdeaux, Irby, Wallner, Boyd and Donaldson each accumulating multiple hits in the game. Irby and Boyd also led the way with four and three RBIs on the night, respectively.
With the win, Southern Miss now stands at 31 – 12 overall on the season. Their next opponent is conference foe Middle Tennessee State. The three- game weekend series will be held in Murfreesboro, Tenn. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Friday night.
