University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles rally again, edge Cowboys 8-7
2/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Golden Eagles rally again, edge Cowboys 8-7
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Southern Miss scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete an 8-7 come-from-behind win over McNeese State on Sunday at Pete Taylor Park.
The Golden Eagles (2-1) scored their last two runs on bases-loaded walks drawn by Marc Maddox and Griff Israel which scored Jason Lowery and Clint King. The rally began when Jarrett Hoffpauir led off with a single. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on Matt Shepherd?s ground out. Adam Smith then followed with a double and later scored on Lowery?s RBI-single up the middle to trim the lead to 7-5. King then reached on a two-base throwing error by Ronnie Baron, and Lowery advanced to third. Jeff Cook was then intentionally walked to load the bases and set up the final two runs.
John Nicholas (1-0) picked up the win for the Golden Eagles, as he threw four innings and allowed just one run on three hits. Jacob Marceaux (0-1) took the loss.
Unlike the first two games pf the weekend series, it was the Golden Eagles who struck first. In the bottom of the first, King nailed a solo shot to give Southern Miss a quick 1-0 lead.
But just as quickly the Cowboys answered with three runs in the top of the second. Tim Lemke led off with a solo home run and Tyler Dugas added another two batters later. Josh Fontenot next reached on a walk, and later scored on a wild pitch to put McNeese State ahead 3-1.
Lemke blasted another home run in the top of the fifth to give the Cowboys a 4-1 advantage.
Southern Miss countered with a big inning of its own, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Shepherd drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on Smith?s single. Ryan Frith cleared the bases two hitters later with a two-run single through the right side. King followed with an RBI-single through the right side to tie the game at four.
The tie was short-lived though, as McNeese built a three-run cushion in the sixth inning by virtue of two hits and three walks. Two of the runs came on Lemke?s two-run double to right field.
That score remained through the next three innings until Southern Miss rallied in the ninth.
King and Smith both had three hits for the Golden Eagles, while Frith and King led with two RBIs.
Lemke was 4-for-5 for the Cowboys and also had four RBIs. Josh Fontenot followed with two hits.
Southern Miss starter Brent Leach gave up three runs on four hits in 1.2 innings of work, while reliever Daniel Best threw 3.1 innings and allowed three runs on three hits.
Jason Doerfler went six innings and gave up four runs on five hits in a no decision. Marceaux allowed four runs in 2.2 innings, and Baron faced the final batter in the game.
