University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Open Season with 15-2 Win
2/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Golden Eagles Open Season with 15-2 Win
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Southern Miss opened its baseball season with a resounding 15-2 win over visiting Lipscomb University, Friday, at Pete Taylor Park.
Junior pitcher Shea Douglas threw a career-high 12 strikeouts while, junior Jeff Cook and redshirt-freshman Brad Willcutt paved the way for an offense that had 14 hits to lead the Golden Eagles (1-0) to the win. With the loss, the Bisons dropped to 0-4.
"We swung the bats well today," Southern Miss Head Coach Corky Palmer said. "Jeff's home run really started things off, and Willcutt will surprise some people, both with his bat and his defense."
After two-and-a-half scoreless innings, the Golden Eagles started things off in the third inning as Bobby Garner led off with single. Two batters later, Garner advanced on a Matt Benson sacrifice bunt. Carlos Velasquez then scored Garner on a two-out RBI single, putting Southern Miss on the board. Winningham followed with a single to score Velasquez, and Cook and Willcutt hit back-to-back home runs to top a five-run third inning for the Golden Eagles, putting the game out of reach for Lipscomb.
The Bisons scored their first run in the fourth inning as Jeremy George lined an RBI-single to right field, scoring Brent Hastings.
Southern Miss extended its lead an inning later with another offensive showcase, this time scoring seven runs on seven hits in the fifth inning.
While the offense was scoring runs, the Southern Miss defense limited the Bisons to just one run, led by Douglas' performance on the mound. In six innings of work, Douglas (1-0) fanned 12 batters, walked two and allowed just one run on four hits.
The Golden Eagles added three more runs over the next two innings, with Cook, Griff Israel and Benson scoring runs.
Lipscomb added one more run in the ninth inning when Todd Boucher lined a single through the left side, scoring Michael Bailey.
Douglas picked up the win, while sophomores Anthony Dewitt and Bob McCrory also saw action on the mound. Dewitt pitched two scoreless innings, while McCrory allowed two hits in the ninth inning. Lipscomb's David Patton (0-2) picked up the loss, allowing 10 runs on 10 hits in four-and-two-thirds innings.
Cook led the Golden Eagles at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a home run, while Willcutt was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a home run. Velasquez finished 3-for-6 with two RBIs, and Garner and Jarrett Hoffpauir also had two hits each.
The series resumes with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday, with the final game beginning Sunday at 1 p.m.
