After being swept by Louisiana-Lafayette over the weekend, the Golden Eagles bounced back behind a big night at the plate by Mason Robbins en route to an 8-4 victory over Alcorn State.

The action got started in the third inning for Southern Miss as Michael Sterling and Matt Durst were both hit by pitches, followed by a Robbins walk that loaded the bases for Dylan Burdeaux. Burdeaux hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield followed by Tim Lynch reaching base from an error to give USM a 2-0 lead.

An RBI double by Sterling in the fourth extended the lead to three. Starter A.J. Glasshof pitched an effective four innings before running into some trouble in the top of the fifth inning. He allowed two runs in the inning and was replaced by Daniel Wineski after the third batter.

For the evening, he pitched 4 1/3 innings, two runs on two hits and three walks while striking out two.

Alcorn State would tie the game in the top of the sixth at 3-3 after a Moses Charles RBI single. In the bottom of the frame, Connor Barron and Sterling both singled to lead off the inning before Robbins stepped to the plate.
Facing a 2-1 count, Robbins squared up a pitch on the inner half of the plate and launched a three-run homer over the right field fence. Robbins finished the game going 2-4 with four RBIs.

Shaquille Cockrell would add another run for the Braves in the eighth inning after singling to start the inning. A wild pitch advanced him to second base before advancing to third on another wild pitch. A throwing error by catcher Austin Roussel attempting to throw out Cockrell at third allowed him to score.

USM added two more runs in the eighth after Sterling led off the inning with a single.

Robbins doubled him home after he advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Robbins would later score on another sacrifice fly from Burdeaux.

Ryan Milton pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out the first two batters of the inning before getting Scotty Peavey to fly out to first base to end the game. The win improved USM’s record to 3-5 while dropping Alcorn State to 0-9.

Sterling had a great day at the plate to go along with Robbins’ best offensive game of the season. Sterling went 3-3 with an RBI and drew a walk. Tim Lynch and Bradley Roney each chipped in two hits for USM as they outhit Alcorn State 11-7.

There were some things defensively USM will look to improve on. They made three errors on the day, had two wild pitches and a balk.

Jake Winston (1-0) picked up the win in relief for USM after throwing 1 1/3 innings. Colton Laird (0-2) took the loss for Alcorn State; he pitched seven innings, giving up eight hits, six runs (five earned), walked five, hit three batters and struck out just one.