University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Fall to Charlotte, 8-5
4/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Golden Eagles Fall to Charlotte, 8-5
HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? Despite three home runs and seven hits, Southern Miss could not get out of an early hole and dropped its first Conference USA series opener, 8-5, to Charlotte at Pete Taylor Park.
Jeff Cook belted two solo home runs, and Clint King added a two-run shot in the losing effort. The 23rd-ranked Golden Eagles fell to 24-10 overall and 9-4 in C-USA play. Charlotte (14-14, 6-6) finished with eight runs on 11 hits in the game. Both teams made one error.
?You can?t pitch the way we did and expect to win the ball game,? Southern Miss coach Corky Palmer said. ?We didn?t get it done with our starting pitching, and that is something that we haven?t been doing well. You can?t always rely on the offense to win games. We have to have better pitching.?
Golden Eagle starter McCrory struggled early, allowing three runs on three hits with three walks in the first inning. George Sandel led off with a double and scored two batters later on an RBI-single by Jamie Rusco. Brad Erwin followed with a single of his own, plating Randall Poplin, who reached on a walk. McCrory then walked Brad Lamm to load the bases, and Brian Scafe drew the RBI-walk for the 3-0 score.
Southern Miss couldn?t do much in its first two at bats, popping up in both instances. But Jeff Cook blasted a solo shot to right field, cutting the lead to two runs. Both McCrory and Charlotte starter Zachary Treadway settled down after the shaky first inning. McCrory faced just one batter above the minimum in the next three innings, not giving up a hit. Treadway did not allow a Golden Eagle runner aboard until the bottom of the fourth. In that inning however, Southern Miss inched closer with Jason Lowery?s run off Clint King?s single for the 3-2 score.
The 49ers got the advantage back in a big way, plating four runs in the top of the fifth. Sandel, Poplin and Rusco led off with three-straight singles, the last plating Sandel for the fourth run. Erwin then drew a walk to load the bases, forcing McCrory to give way to reliever Noah Tritz. Adam Willard hit a sacrifice to center field for a run, and Lamm and Scafe followed with back-to-back hits for the final two runs in the frame.
Charlotte tacked on another run in the sixth after Tritz hit Willard with a pitch with the bases loaded, making the score, 8-2. The Golden Eagles pulled two runs closer in the sixth, courtesy of King?s two-run blast to right field.
Daniel Best came on in relief for Southern Miss before the seventh inning, keeping the hosts within striking distance with two solid innings. Best retired the first five batters he faced, gave up a single and then closed the inning with a called third strike.
Southern Miss looked to carry on the momentum in the bottom of the eighth inning. Cook led off with his second homer of the game, to cut the lead to three runs. Willcutt then drew a walk, but the runner would not advance as King struck out, and Israel hit into the 4-6-3 double play.
The 49ers threatened to score another run in the ninth, but the Golden Eagle came up with a big stop for the second out. Scafe hit a hard grounder to Willcutt at first, who then fired the ball back to Kevin Coker for the tag out at home plate. Reliever Austin Tubb then put out the side with a strikeout.
The Golden Eagles had one more shot in the bottom of the frame, but two runners got on and were stranded when the final out was made. Cook and King both had two hits for Southern Miss, with King knocking in a team-high three RBIs.
McCrory (5-2) took the loss, allowing seven runs on six hits with six strikeouts in four innings pitched. Tritz gave up one run on three hits in two innings, while Best fanned three batters in 2.1 scoreless innings. Tubb threw the final two-thirds of an inning and had one strikeout.
Rusco went 3-for-3 to lead Charlotte, while Sandel and Poplin both had two hits. Treadway (5-2) earned the win with a complete-game outing. He struck out five batters in the game, walking just four.
The second edition of the three-game series is set for Saturday with a 4 p.m. start.
