University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Holds On To Top Charlotte, Sweeps Weekend Series
5/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Southern Miss Holds On To Top Charlotte, Sweeps Weekend Series
CHARLOTTE, N.C. ? Southern Miss? Jarrett Hoffpauir fielded a bloop single in shallow centerfield and threw a one-hop bullet to catcher Brad Willcutt, who tagged out Charlotte?s Chris Lane at the plate, who was trying to score the game-tying run, to secure a 12-11 victory for the Golden Eagles over the 49ers, today, at Tom and Lib Phillips Field.
Charlotte led off the bottom of the ninth inning with singled by Adam Willard and Jamie Rusco. Southern Miss? Austin Tubb came on in relief and struck out Brian Scafe. Randall Poplin grounded out to first for the second out of the inning. Pinch hitter Chris Lane singled to left field, plating both Willard and Rusco to pull within one run. Adam Floyd hit a bloop single to center, just missing the outstretched glove of Hoffpauir, who fielded the ball and fired it to the plate for the game-winning play.
With the score tied at 9-9 heading into the top of the ninth, Southern Miss scored three runs to take a 12-9 lead. Nathan Sanders, who came in as a pitch hitter, connected on a double to right center, moved to third on Beau Griffin?s sacrifice bunt and scored on Matt Shepherd?s double to left field. Shepherd stole third and he and Marc Maddox scored on Hoffpauir?s double to right center.
With the win, Southern Miss completes its second-straight sweep in as many weeks and sets up the conference regular-season championship with East Carolina, who lost to TCU today, at Pete Taylor Park next weekend.
Adam Smith (3-1) who came on in relief of Dane Reiter in the seventh inning, picked up his third win of the season, pitching two innings, giving up two runs on three hits. Tubb (9) picked up his ninth save of the season, pitching the final inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.
Southern Miss scored 12 runs on 16 hits, while Charlotte scored 11 runs on 16 hits and committed one error. Golden Eagle catcher Willcutt led Southern Miss with three hits in four at bats, scored three runs and drove in two. Jason Lowery, Shepherd, Hoffpauir, Carlos Velasquez finished with two hits each. Lowery hit a solo homer to centerfield in the fifth inning. Hoffpauir and Shepherd each finished with two doubles, Willcutt had a double and a triple and Jody Blount, Nathan Sanders and Beau Griffin each finished with a double.
Charlotte was led by Jamie Rusco and Adam Floyd, who each finished with three hits. Randall Poplin hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Thomas Bowker and Rusco each had a double for the 49ers.
The Golden Eagles scored a run in the second inning to take an early 1-0 lead. Ryan Frith led off the inning with a single up the middle, moved to second on Lowery?s ground out to short and scored on Blount?s double to right field.
Southern Miss extended its lead to 4-0 in the third, adding three more runs. Hoffpauir hit a one-out double to left field and scored on Willcutt?s single through the left side as he was going on the pitch. Velasquez singled through the left side and both runners advanced on a wild pitch by Treadway. Lowery singled through the left side to score both Willcutt and Velasquez, giving the Golden Eagles the four-run lead.
The Golden Eagles added two more runs in the fourth inning to push its lead to 6-0. Maddox reached on a one-out bunt infield single, moved to third on Willcutt?s double to left field and both he and Willcutt scored on Velasquez?s single to left field.
Charlotte dented the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning, scoring three runs on a home run to right field by Poplin, cutting the Golden Eagle lead in half, 6-3. Back-to-back singles by Rusco and Scafe was followed by Poplin?s blast.
Southern Miss added a single run in the fifth inning on a solo blast over centerfield by Lowery, pushing the Southern Miss lead to 7-3. However, Charlotte cut the Golden Eagle lead to one, scoring three runs in the fifth inning. Mike Cashion came on in relief of Cliff Russum to start the inning. He struck out Lane looking to lead off the inning. He proceeded to give up a single through the left side to Bowker, hit Willard, walked Rusco to load the bases before giving up a two-run single through the left side to Scafe. Poplin grounded out to second, plating Rusco from third for the third run of the inning.
The Golden Eagles added two more runs in the sixth inning to extend their lead to 9-6. Hoffpauir reached with one out when he was hit by a pitch and scored on Willcutt?s triple to center when centerfielder Cory Lane dove at the hit and it rolled to the wall. Lowery flew out to left center, plating Hoffpauir from third for the second run of the inning.
Charlotte scored three runs in the seventh to tie the game at 9-9. A leadoff double to Bowker, a single through the right side by Willard, put runners on second and third. Rusco hit a double to left center to plate Bowker and send Willard to third. A ground out to second by Scafe plated Willard and a bloop single to center by Poplin scored Rusco to tie the game.
Southern Miss? Russum started the game, pitching four innings, giving up three runs on five hits, walking two and striking out three in his first start since pitching at Tulane on April 23.
Southern Miss travels to New Orleans for a 6:30 p.m. start on Tuesday, May 18 against UNO. This is a makeup game for an earlier rain-out on Feb. 25. The Golden Eagles then host East Carolina at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field on Thursday-Saturday, May 20-22. Thursday and Friday?s games start at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday?s is at 1 p.m.
