Southern Miss Downs Tulane, 7-3, at C-USA Tourney
5/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Southern Miss Downs Tulane, 7-3, at C-USA Tourney
Southern Miss' McCrory and King lead Golden Eagles to Victory
KINSTON, N.C - No. 4 seed Southern Miss' Clint King had a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, including a double, a homer, scored two runs, and drove in a career-high five runs to lead the Golden Eagles to a 7-3 victory over No. 5 Tulane, in the first round of the 2002 Conference USA Baseball Tournament at Grainger Stadium tonight.
Bob McCrory (7-3) won his seventh decision of the year, pitching eight innings, giving up three runs on six hits, walking three and striking out six. Cliff Russum pitched the final inning, giving up one hit and walking two.
The Golden Eagles scored seven runs on eight hits and committed one error, while Tulane scored three runs on seven hits and committed one error. Matt Shepherd finished with two hits for Southern Miss, while Tommy Manzella finished with a team-high four hits for the Green Wave.
"The key to tonight's game was great defense and us getting on the board, negatting their running game," Southern Miss Head Coach Corky Palmer said. "Bob had great command of his pitches and did an outstanding job tonight. Clint King has been hitting the ball well, especially against left-handers lately."
Tulane (33-24) starter Kelly Comarda (1-4) dropped the decision, pitching the first three innings, giving up two runs on two hits, walking three and striking out two. Joey Charron came on in relief in the fourth inning, finishing the game, pitching five innings, giving up five runs on six hits, walking two and striking out five.
"I thought our effort was good and that we played well," Tulane Head Coach Rick Jones said. "They (Southern Miss) had great pitching, excellent fielding, and had timely hitting. I don't think the difference tonight was our pitcher. It was theirs."
Southern Miss (36-20) took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning. Clint Stoy walked, moved to second on Jarrett Hoffpauir's sacrifice to the pitcher and scored on Clint King's single to center. The Golden Eagles scored two more in the fourth, extending their lead to 3-0. Brad Willcutt led off the inning with a walk, moved to secondon Stoy sacrificeto the pitcher, moved to third on Hoffpauir's ground out to second and then scored on King's double down the left field line. Jason Lowery singled to right field, scoring King from second.
Tulane scored two runs in the fifth, cutting the Southern Miss lead to 3-2. Gerald Clark walked to lead off the inning, moved to second on Turner Brumby's single to left and then both runners moved to second and thirdon Brian Bormaster's sacrifice to the pitcher. Tommy Manzella singled through the left side, scoring Clark and Jon Kaplan flew out to center, plating Brumby from third.
The Golden Eagles extended their lead to 6-2 with a three-run homer by King. Stoy singled to lead off the inning and Hoffpauir walked, putting runners on first and second, before King drove a 3-1pitch over the right field wall.
Tulane scored one in the seventh inning, cutting the lead by one, 6-3. With two outs in the inning, Manzella reached first on a bunt single and then advanced to second on an errant throw by McCrory. Kaplan doubled to left center, driving in Manzella. The Golden Eagles matched the run with one in the bottom of the inning. Matt Shepherd led off the inning with an infield single to short, moved to second when Willcutt was walked and to third when Stoy was hit by a pitch. Hoffpauir flew out to center, scoring Shepherd from third.
McCrory was masterful in the eighth inning, striking out the Tulane order, facing James Jurries, Michael Aubrey and Anthony Giarrantano, three of the top hitters for the Green Wave. Russum came on in the ninth inning to finish the game. He walked Clark on a full count before forcing Brumby to fly out to center and Bormaster to fly out to left. Manzella reached on a bunt single, pushing Clark to second before Kaplan was walked to load the bases. Aaron Feldman grounded out on a outstanding play by Hoffpauir to end the game.
No. 4 Southern Miss advances in the winners bracket to face No. 1 Houston on Thursday at 3 p.m., CT, who defeated No. 8 Saint Louis, 5-0, earlier today. No. 5 Tulane drops into the loser's bracket and will face Saint Louis on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., CT.