Southern Miss Softball extended its winning streak to seven games after picking up two wins on the second day of its Hub City Challenge. The Golden Eagles face Evansville at noon Sunday for its final game of the series.
Saturday, Feb. 26
The Golden Eagles’ early offense from junior Hannah Borden and freshman Scout Jennings led the way to their second win of the Hub City Challenge, 7-2.
Southern Miss started the game with four runs through the first two innings of the game to give them an early 4-0 lead.
Borden started the scoring in the first inning with her RBI single to right field, bringing in graduate outfielder Destini Brown.
Jennings finished the first inning scoring with an RBI single to advance Tata Davis home, giving the Golden Eagles an early 2-0 lead.
Davis continued to impact the game in the second inning with an RBI single to left field to bring in Brown. Davis then scored on a stolen base due to a throwing error from the catcher to boost their lead to 4-0.
Head Coach Brian Levin equates the early offensive start against a good pitching team as a major factor to this victory.
“They’ve got really good pitchers… they’re really stacked in their pitching staff,” Levin said. “When you can get ahead of a team early like that, that’s a big momentum booster.”
Morgan Leinstock [6-1] continued her strong start to the season by dishing out eight strikeouts and allowing two runs in seven innings pitched.
Evansville got on the scoreboard in the third inning by a fielding error at first base, leading to a Hannah Hood score.
Southern Miss responded in the fourth inning with a Davis RBI double to score Brown, making it a 5-1 lead.
The Aces got their final score of the game in the top of the fifth by a Sydney Weatherford RBI single, scoring Hood once again.
The Golden Eagles put the final nail in the coffin with a two-run sixth inning led by Brown and Davis once again, giving the Golden Eagles the 7-2 victory.
Game 2
Southern Miss kept their winning ways to earn their third straight win of the Hub City Challenge, defeating the Alcorn State Lady Braves, 5-2.
Freshman Jana Lee had a strong pitching night for Southern Miss with her four strikeouts on two runs in seven innings pitched.
The offense from both teams was lackluster through the first three innings with only one run scored by the Golden Eagles.
Tata Davis started the scoring for both teams in the bottom of the third with an RBI single to bring in Natalie Taylor.
The Lady Braves responded the next inning with a two-run RBI single from Hannah Dukes to score Tyesha Cole and Sarah Kennedy, claiming a 2-1 lead.
The Golden Eagles finally responded in the sixth inning when the team went on a scoring burst for four of their five runs.
Freshman Scout Jennings’ two-run RBI single brought in Columbia Holeman and Tata Davis to regain the lead at 3-2.
Southern Miss was not done when Lee hit a two-run RBI triple to score Jennings and Terrica Williams, resulting in a Golden Eagles 5-2 victory.
“You got a senior coming up with one out and Tata hits that ball into the gap. Giving us a double there started a fire,” Levin said. “That was pretty exciting to see when you are down.”
