MOBILE, Ala. ? Southern Miss scored five runs in the second inning, nine in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth inning to defeat South Alabama, 17-10, tonight, at Stanky Field in front of 1,367.
The Golden Eagles were led by Kevin Coker, who finished with three hits and three RBIs. Marc Maddox finished with two hits, both home runs and drove in five runs. Drew Carson finished with two hits and had three RBIs, and Trey Sutton had two hits.
Cole Basinger (2-0) picked up his second win of the season, pitching five innings, giving up seven runs, five earned, on five hits, walking four and striking out four. Austin Lee (0-1) dropped his first decision of the season, giving up four runs on two hits, struck out two and walked four.
The Golden Eagles (14-5) scored 17 runs on 13 hits and committed two errors, while South Alabama (14-9) scored 10 runs on 12 hits and committed five errors. South Alabama used six pitchers, and Southern Miss used four pitchers for the game and both combined to throw 372 pitches for the game.
Southern Miss took a 5-0 lead in the second inning. Beau Griffin singled, Jacob Fowler walked and Carson walked, before Kevin Coker hit a three-run double to right field. Maddox hit a two-run homer to right center give the Golden Eagles the five-run advantage.
South Alabama cut the lead to two runs in the third inning, scoring three runs. Guillermo Martinez walked, Jeff Morris singled to left field and Tyler Jones walked before Ben Froemming doubled to left field to drive in Martinez and Morris. David Freese flew out to right field, plating Jones from third base.
The Golden Eagles scored nine runs in the fourth inning to take a 14-3 lead with only one of the runs being earned thanks to two South Alabama errors. Sutton was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and advanced to third on Jason Lowery?s single up the middle, before David Steele walked to load the bases. Griffin reached on a fielding error by Freese, allowing Sutton and Lowery to score. Drew Carson hit a three-run home run to right center to plate three runs. Coker singled up the middle and Maddox was hit by a pitch before Sutton singled up the middle to drive in Coker. Willcutt homered to left field to drive in three more runs.
The Jaguars scored four runs in the fifth inning to cut Southern Miss lead to 14-7. Jones walked, advanced to third on Froemming?s double down the left field line and he and Froemming scored on Freese?s single up the middle. Josh Morgan reached when Basinger fielded a ground ball and threw it over the head of first baseman Brad Willcutt to score Freese. Jeff Collins was hit by a pitch and scored on Martinez?s double to left center.
Southern Miss answered with three more runs in the top of the sixth inning on Maddox?s second home run of the game, a three run shot to center field. Carson singled to short, Coker singled to third base and Maddox hit his eighth home run of the season.
South Alabama finished the scoring for the night in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three runs to cut the Southern Miss lead to 17-10. Froemming hit a one-out double to right center field. Freese doubled to right center to drive in Froemming and two batters later, Morgan hit a two-out homer to left field to plate two more runs.
Southern Miss hosts Mississippi Valley State at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m., before hosting Cincinnati in a three-game Conference USA series this weekend. Friday?s game starts at 6:30 p.m., Saturday?s at 3 p.m. and Sunday?s at 1 p.m.
