University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Beat Tulane In Series Opener, 8-6
3/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Golden Eagles Beat Tulane In Series Opener, 8-6
HATTIEBSURG, Miss. ? Jeff Cook and Griff Israel both had two hits and three RBIs to lead Southern Miss to an 8-6, Conference USA series opener over Tulane Friday, at USM?s Pete Taylor Park.
The Golden Eagles (No. 23 in NCBWA poll) improved to 19-8 overall and 6-1 in C-USA play, taking over first place in the conference after TCU lost to Houston. The Green Wave (No. 19 in the Baseball America poll) fell to 19-8 overall and 4-3 in conference action.
?This was a good win for us,? Southern Miss head coach Corky Palmer said. ?Both teams hit the ball well and played really hard. I am just proud of the way our team battled offensively.?
There were six home runs hit in the game, three by each team. Cook, Israel and Brad Willcutt had homers for the Golden Eagles, while Tony Giarratano, Michael Aubrey and Turner Brumby belted home runs for the Green Wave.
Tulane looked to make noise early as Jonny Kaplan led off with a single through the right side. But Southern Miss starter Anthony Dewitt retired the next three batters to get out of the inning unscathed. Southern Miss then answered with three straight singles by Jarrett Hoffpauir, Matt Shepherd and Cook ? the last scoring Hoffpauir for the opening run. Tulane starter Matt Goebel soon settled down and fanned the next three batters, limiting the damage to the one run.
The visitors countered in the second, benefiting from a Southern Miss error in the process. With two outs, Nathan Southard singled and advanced to third off an error by Hoffpauir. He then scored on Brumby?s RBI-single to first, knotting the score 1-1. The Green Wave pushed the score to 3-1 in the third after Michael Aubrey?s two-run shot to center field gave them the first lead of the game.
The tied was scored once more after Southern Miss plated two runs in the bottom of the third. With the bases loaded, Israel singled to center field for two runs and the 3-3 score. In the inning, Goebel hit three Golden Eagle batters and allowed just two hits. But the volley continued as Tulane added another run in the fourth ? a solo home run by Brumby.
A three-run inning by Southern Miss put the lead back in its hands. Beau Griffin led off with a single and Hoffpauir was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base. The runners advanced on Shepherd?s sacrifice bunt, and Griffin tagged on Cook?s sacrifice to left. Brad Willcutt then launched a two-run homer to left center, putting Southern Miss ahead, 6-4.
Tulane cut the deficit to one run in the next inning. Brian Bogusevic doubled with one out and later scored off a wild pitch by Dewitt.
Southern Miss got the run back with one swing in the bottom of the fifth. Israel led off with a shot to deep center field for a solo run and the 7-5 lead.
Reliever Ray Antonelli entered and retired the side in sixth, ending Tulane?s string of four consecutive innings with a run. The Golden Eagles kept up the pressure though, as Cook led off with another home run, pushing the lead to 8-5.
Giarratano blasted a solo home run in the seventh to put the Green Wave back on the board, 8-6.
That would be all the runs the two teams would score in the game, as Southern Miss? Austin Tubb and Tulane?s Bogusevic held both teams from the board.
Hoffpauir, Shepherd and Willcutt also had two hits each for the Golden Eagles. Willcutt had two RBIs.
Dewitt (5-1) picked up the win for Southern Miss, giving up five runs on eight hits and had four strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work. Tubb got his second save of the season, retiring five in a row in the final 1.2 innings. Antonelli pitched 2.1 innings and gave up one run on two hits.
Giarratano and Brumby both had two hits for the Green Wave. Goebel (3-2) took the loss after giving up seven runs on nine hits in 4.0 innings. Ryan Martin and Brian Bogusevic combined to throw the final 4.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits.
The two teams return to action on Saturday in the second of the three-game series. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
