Hitting at home one final time, the Golden Eagles face off against the South Alabama Jaguars and with all three games.
Stuck in a three-game tie for third place in the Sun Belt Conference standings, the Golden Eagles and Jaguars faced off in Southern Miss’s final home games of the season. Hannah Christian got Friday’s game started early with a big hit in just her second swing to earn her three bases. After a hit by Carrie Green gets fumbled by the pitcher, Christian scores the first run of the game. In the second inning, with the Jaguars in scoring position, the Golden Eagles earned two quick outs in one play to keep South Alabama scoreless. In the fifth inning, Green assisted on another run, this time by Adryan Cox, to give Southern Miss a 2-0 lead. A furious Assistant Coach Kristina McCain gets ejected by the umpire for her comments yelled from the dugout. After another run by Julia Glasgow, the Golden Eagles ended the fifth up by 3-0. Despite the Jaguars hitting a home run at the top of the sixth inning, the Golden Eagles earned two more runs as they won the first game 5-1.
Saturday started off with a celebration for seniors Natalie Herrington and Paris Fergueson. After each senior’s father started off the game with their own first pitches, the Golden Eagles took the field. Early in the first, the Jaguars loaded second and third base, but Abbi Troquille caught two straight hits by the Jaguars to keep South Alabama scoreless at the end of the first. Despite big force outs by Glasgow at first base, the Jaguars scored their first run off a single hit. The Golden Eagles could not answer in the second inning, leading to South Alabama hitting a home run at the top of the third inning to give them a two-run lead. With Southern Miss up to bat, Christian hits a single to allow Torquille to score the Golden Eagles’ first point of the game. At the top of the fourth inning, Madilyn Graham checked in at pitcher for Southern Miss and earned a quick three outs for the Jaguars. Still down one in the sixth inning, Kayce Bennett hits a clutch home run to tie the game 2-2. The Golden Eagles kept the Jaguars scoreless through the seventh inning, leading to an extra eighth inning for both sides. Southern Miss loaded up the bases with three walks, and Kinlsey Gordon-Sivley secured the game-winning run after a fourth and final walk as Southern Miss won 3-2.
The final home game of the season for Southern Miss started out with a bang. Two single hits and a walk loaded up the bases for Southern Miss early in the first. Troquille walked after being hit by the pitch, which let Green walk home for the Golden Eagles’ first points. Gordon-Sivley stepped up to the bat and hit a grand slam home run to left center field, pushing Southern Miss to a commanding 5-0 lead. Despite Gordon-Sivley’s run, Kayla Giardina was the story of this game. With her at the pitcher’s mound, the Jaguars earned zero hits in the entire game. Still up 5-0 at the bottom of the sixth inning, Christian hit a double, allowing Nealy McManus to score from second base. After an error by South Alabama’s shortstop, Christian and Madison Johnson scored their own runs as Southern Miss took a commanding 8-0 lead. With the massive lead, the Golden Eagles won in just six innings.
University of Louisiana Monroe hosts the Golden Eagles’ final three regular-season games this weekend.
