Southern Miss Downs UAB, 5-1
5/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Southern Miss Downs UAB, 5-1
Hattiesburg, Miss. -- Southern Miss clinched a berth in the Conference USA
postseason tournament with a 5-1 victory over UAB Friday at Pete Taylor Park.
Led by strong defense and the pitching tandem of starter Shea Douglas and Anthony Rawson, the Golden Eagles allowed just four Blazer hits for one run in the game. UAB committed two errors.
Southern Miss scored five runs on nine hits and had one error.
The Golden Eagles got on the board first with one run in the bottom of the second. After reaching on a walk, Darren Welch advanced to second on Clint Stoy's sacrifice bunt. Welch then scored on Chris Dunn's RBI-double to left field to put Southern Miss up, 1-0.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles took control of the Blazers early. Douglas got off to a rocky start, allowing two walks in the first inning. But Douglas settled down, retiring seven batters in a row over the first three innings. In that span, the sophomore hurler fanned five batters.
In the fourth and fifth innings, the Southern Miss defense got into the mix. Over those two innings, the Blazer batters reached base, but the defense came up with inning-ending double plays.
When the Golden Eagles went up to bat in the fifth, the offense started heating up. Leading off with back-to-back singles by Dunn and Bobby Garner, Michael Artman plated the two runners with a two-RBI triple down the right field line. The runs extended Southern Miss' lead to 3-0 after five innings of play.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Golden Eagles cushioned the lead with another run when Dusty Haley scored on Welch's RBI-double to right field.
However, in the top of the seventh, UAB cut into the lead. After putting runners on first and second, Al Hecklinski scored when Matt Gaulden hit into a fielder's choice to bring the Blazers within three runs at 4-1.
Southern Miss threatened to extend the lead in the seventh. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases on UAB starter Joey Yarbrough, prompting the Blazers to bring in reliever Clay Bush. Southern Miss did bring in one run in the inning, when Cook scored on Stoy's sacrifice fly to right field.
Haley and Dunn each had two hits to lead the Golden Eagles at the plate. Artman had two RBIs.
For UAB, Hecklinski had two hits and scored the lone run.
Douglas (5-5) allowed three hits and walked two batters, striking out 10 in seven innings of work. Rawson threw two innings, allowing just one hit.
Yarbrough (4-5) took the loss for the Blazers, allowing five runs, all earned, on nine hits with four walks and two strikeouts. Bush had two-thirds of an inning on the mound, while Adam Wood pitched one inning.
Southern Miss and UAB continue the weekend series Saturday with a first pitch set for 3 p.m. The series finale is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m.
For the Blazers, Blake Allen (4-6) took the loss, allowing three runs on one hit. Also pitching for UAB was Ross Dobbins, Rob Caputo, Clay Bush and Jon Burgett.