University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagle Baseball Pounds Memphis, 16-5
5/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Golden Eagle Baseball Pounds Memphis, 16-5
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Southern Miss belted 16 runs on 13 hits and took advantage of four Memphis errors en route to a 16-5 Conference USA win over the visiting Tigers, Friday, at Pete Taylor Park.
The Golden Eagles improved to 31-16 overall and 14-7 in Conference USA play, moving into second place in the league, one game behind league-leader Houston. Memphis fell to 15-26 overall and 7-15 in the conference.
Southern Miss starter Shea Douglas improved to 9-1 on the season, after allowing two runs on five hits with nine strikeouts in six innings on the mound. Douglas' nine wins ranks him tied for sixth for most pitching wins in a season, while his nine strikeouts gave him 270 for his career, good for third overall on the Southern Miss career pitching chart.
Jarrett Hoffpauir led the 16-hit attack with three hits, while Griff Israel and Carlos Velasquez both hit home runs.
After Douglas retired the side with three consecutive strikeouts in the first inning, the Golden Eagles quickly put some runs on the board. With two runners on and two outs, Israel belted a three-run homer over left center, scoring Jeff Cook and Brad Willcutt in the process to put Southern Miss ahead, 3-0.
Neither team scored over the next inning, until the Golden Eagles put the game away for good with five runs in the bottom of the third. In the frame, Southern Miss scored five runs on three hits and benefited from two Memphis errors. Israel scored on Clint King's RBI single, Clint Stoy scored on a wild pitch, King then scored on an error, Hoffpauir crossed on another wild-pitch, and Matt Shepherd scored on a RBI-single by Beau Griffin for the final run of the inning.
Memphis scored its first runs of the night in the fourth inning, as Barrett Smith launched a two-run home run, scoring Andy Gessell in the process.
But the runs would not be enough as the Golden Eagles tallied eight runs over the next four innings to take the 16-2 lead. Southern Miss ended the scoring with two runs in the seventh inning, courtesy of Velasquez's two-run shot over the right field fence.
The Tigers plated three runs in the top of the ninth inning to make the score 16-5.
While Douglas picked up the win, Brent Leach earned his first save of the season, giving up three runs on three hits with one strikeout in three innings on the mound.
Hoffpauir was a perfect 3-for-3 on the night, drawing two walks in his other plate appearances. Velasquez followed with two hits and three RBIs, Cook chipped in with two hits, and Israel added two hits and four RBIs, giving Southern Miss four batters with two hits or more.
Smith led Memphis with two hits and two RBIs, while Jordan Hart and Chris Godwin followed with two hits and one RBI apiece.
Nick Steht (0-5) took the loss, giving up eight runs, one earned, on four hits in 2.2 innings. Nick Rogers, Matt Fry, and Gabe Council combined to throw 5.1 innings, allowing eight runs on nine hits.
The two teams return to action in game two of the three-game series on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
