University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagles Hold On And Sweep South Florida
3/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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Lady Eagles Hold On And Sweep South Florida
Heather Bell batted 4-for-6 on the day, with a two-game total of two runs, a triple and two RBIs. |
Game One: Southern Miss 2, South Florida 1
Tammy Edwards singled to left field and scored Auriel Jenkins for the eventual winning run, as the Lady Eagles scored two runs in the fifth inning to defeat South Florida, 2-1. Charity Butler tied the game, when her single to centerfield allowed Heather Bell to cross the plate.
Southern Miss pitcher Jessica Holaway went the distance to improve her record to 7-9 on the year. The junior surrendered six hits, one run and two walks, but held the Bulls in check, fanning six batters and never giving up more than one hit in each of the last three innings of the game.
After three scoreless innings at the start of the contest, South Florida (33-10, 5-3 in C-USA) got on the board in the fourth, when Carmela Liwag sent a 1-2 pitch over the left centerfield fence for a solo home run, her sixth of the season. She led the Bulls in hitting, along with Courtney Lewellen, as both finished with 2-for-3 plate performances.
Ashley Davis batted 2-for-3 with a double and led the Lady Eagles (14-16, 2-3) who collected seven hits in the game. Defensively, Southern Miss did not record any errors, though South Florida finished with three miscues.
Leigh Ann Ellis, who recently picked up her second C-USA Pitcher of the Week, went the distance for the Bulls. She recorded seven hits, one earned run and four strikeouts, dropping her record to 17-5 on the year.
Game Two: Southern Miss 10, South Florida 9
Another nail-biter occurred in the nightcap but with an opposite production. Southern Miss held an 8-0 lead going into the fourth inning, but South Florida made an impressive surge, closing within one run in the sixth. The Lady Eagles held on, however, and pulled off the sweep, 10-9.
Southern Miss recorded its best hitting performance of the season with 16 hits. All Lady Eagle batters produced hits, and six finished with two or more. Bell led the offense with a perfect 3-for-3 batting performance, collecting a triple, a run and two RBIs.
Ashley Brenan went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, and extended her hitting streak to seven games. Jessica Huerta batted 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs, and Jenkins, Edwards and Sarah Boyd each were 2-for-4. Jenkins collected two runs, a double and an RBI, and Edwards produced a triple and an RBI.
Holly Groves led South Florida?s comeback attempt, batting 3-for-4 with three runs, a double, two home runs and five RBIs. Renee Oursler batted 2-for-3 with a run, a double and two RBIs, and Sarah Watson hit 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Oursler doubled to start the seventh inning for the Bulls. With one out, Watson reached base when Brenan assumed she made a clean catch on her charging dive from third, but she was ruled to have scooped the ball instead, and Watson made it to first unchallenged.
Brenan made up for minor setback when she collected Kattrina Dowd?s grounder and stepped on third to get Oursler for the second out and caught Shelly Riker?s liner for the third out and the win.
South Florida started its comeback when Liwag began the fourth inning with a triple and the Bulls? first hit of the game. Lewellen reached base on an error by Davis at shortstop, and Groves cleared the bases with a three-run blast.
Christie Chapman reached second on a single and an error, and Oursler drove her in with a single to right center. After being held hitless in the first three innings, South Florida produced five hits and four runs, narrowing USM?s lead, 8-4.
Singles by Huerta and Bell produced two more runs for Southern Miss, stretching the lead to 10-4 in the bottom of the fourth. But the Bulls remained on the attack, scoring four more runs in the fifth, and Groves brought South Florida within one run, when she blasted her second home run in the game, a solo shot to center in the sixth.
After surrendering four runs in the fifth, Holaway kept the Bulls at bay, pitching the final three innings and recording six hits, three earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts. Danielle Hatfield (3-1) started the game and did not give up a hit in her first three innings. She went four innings to collect the win and finished with five hits, three earned runs, two walks and one strikeout.
Nicole Christensen received the loss for South Florida, pitching 2.2 innings with 11 hits, four earned runs and one strikeout.
Game three of this Conference USA series starts tomorrow, Sunday, March 23, at 1 p.m. The game will have Live Stats on SouthernMiss.com.
