University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Offense Powers Southern Miss to 17-3 Win Over Bearcats
3/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Offense Powers Southern Miss to 17-3 Win Over Bearcats
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Southern Miss had its second-most productive outing of the season as it took the second game of a three-game series with a 17-3 Conference USA win over Cincinnati, Saturday, at Pete Taylor Park.
The Golden Eagles (16-7, 4-1 in C-USA) tied a season-high with 22 hits, while the 17 runs scored was the second-most this season. Cincinnati (10-11-1, 1-3-1) scored just three runs off eight hits and had no errors.
Clint Stoy led the way with four hits, while Brad Willcutt, Griff Israel and Matt Shepherd added three hits apiece. Shepherd led the way with four RBIs, and Stoy and Jeff Cook followed with three RBIs each.
It was the Bearcats, though, who struck first, with a run in the top of the first inning. Jameson Parker and Brad Schutz led with back-to-back singles to put runners on base. The pair advanced on Chris Hamblen's sacrifice bunt, and Jake Smith followed with a single to left field to plate Parker and put Cincinnati up, 1-0.
Southern Miss, however, answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the frame, as Willcutt doubled down the left-field line to plate Allen Winningham, who reached after being hit by a Chad Pennington pitch.
The Golden Eagles added another run in the bottom of the second inning as Stoy hit his first of three doubles on the day, later scoring as Shepherd doubled to left center.
But Cincinnati quickly regained the lead with two runs on the third inning. Schutz led off with a walk and advanced to third after Hamblen singled to center field. Smith then reached after being hit by a Stephen Castleman pitch to load the bases. Brett Clark drew an RBI-walk to tie the game, and Hamblen scored after Jim Olds hit into a fielder's choice to put the Bearcats back on top, 3-2.
Southern Miss added a run in the fourth inning, but put the game away for good with 12 runs over the next two innings, batting through the order in both frames. In the fifth inning, the Golden Eagles plated seven runs on seven hits, anchored by two-RBI doubles by Stoy and Shepherd. In the sixth, Cook led off with his seventh home run of the season, sparking a five-run, six-hit inning. Southern Miss scored two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, closing out the scoring for the game.
While the home offense was putting up the runs, relief pitcher Bob McCrory was keeping the Cincinnati bats silent. McCrory entered in the fourth inning and threw five scoreless frames, allowing just four hits and fanning four batters.
Stoy's three doubles on the day tied him with four other players for the Southern Miss single game record. Along with Stoy, Shepherd, Willcutt and Israel, Carlos Velasquez and Cook also had multiple-hit games. Velasquez extended his hitting streak to nine games with his two hits. Israel and Stoy led all players with three runs scored each.
McCrory (2-1) picked up the win. Castleman finished with three runs on four hits and three strikeouts in three innings of work, while Nick Tillbrook threw the final inning.
Pennington (4-2) took the loss after allowing 10 runs on 12 hits in 4.1 innings. Kyle Markle, Matt Lasita and Jon Shouse combined to pitch the final 3.2 innings.
The final game of series is set for 1 p.m., Sunday at Pete Taylor Park.
