University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Comes From Behind To Top Alabama, 7-4
3/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Baseball Comes From Behind To Top Alabama, 7-4
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss Golden Eagle baseball team scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pick up a 7-4 come-from-behind victory over non-conference foe Alabama, Tuesday, in front of 4,085 at Pete Taylor Park.
The win, which improved Southern Miss' overall record to 19-5 on the season, was the team's first in 12 games against the Crimson Tide and first since 1987. Alabama fell to 20-8 with the loss.
The Golden Eagles finished the game with seven runs on 13 hits and was errorless, while the Tide had four runs on nine hits and made one error.
Trey Sutton and Beau Griffin each led Southern Miss with three hits, while Kevin Coker had a team-best two RBIs.
Alabama took the early 2-0 lead with a sacrifice fly by Gabe Scott and a Matt Bentley RBI-single in the first inning off starter Barry Bowden.
But the Golden Eagles got one of those runs back an inning and a half later, coming when Griffin scored on a throwing error by shortstop Cale Iorg, to cut the deficit, 2-1.
The two teams traded runs over the next two innings. The Tide pushed a run across in the top of the fourth on Chris Kirkland's RBI-single that scored Bentley, while Southern Miss added its second run in the bottom of the fifth when Marc Maddox scored on a ground out double play.
That score remained through the sixth frame, but the Golden Eagles put the game away with a four-spot in the bottom of the seventh inning.
With one out, Sutton singled to left field, stole second an at-bat later, and scored on Jason Lowery's RBI-single with two outs to tie the game at three runs apiece. Lowery moved into scoring position with his first steal of the night and promptly scored the go-ahead run on David Steele's single through the right side. Griffin followed with a double down the left field line to put runners at second and third, and Coker cleared the bases with a two-run double to right field, giving the hosts the 6-3 advantage.
Alabama battled to plate a single run in the top of the eighth on Iorg's RBI-single, but the Golden Eagles countered with an insurance run in the bottom of the inning, courtesy of Sutton's RBI-single to right center to score Maddox.
The Tide was down to its final chance in the top of the ninth, but Tyler Perrett retired the side in four at-bats, to close out the victory.
Cole Basinger (3-0) picked up the win for Southern Miss pitching one inning in relief, giving up just one run on one hit and struck out one. Bowden pitched six innings in the no-decision, allowing three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts. Perrett earned his first save of the season, throwing the final two frames and giving up just two hits with one strikeout.
T.J. Large (4-2), one of seven Alabama pitchers on the night, took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits in one-third of an inning. Starter Josh Copeland lasted just four innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits with two strikeouts. Matt Downs threw 1.2 frames and gave up one hit, while Brent Carter tossed two-thirds of an inning with one run on one hit. Casey Kebodeaux, Trey Shields and Ian Moore combined to pitch the final 1.1 innings, giving up a total of two runs on four hits.
Along with Sutton and Griffin, Maddox and Steele also had multiple hits with two each. Griffin also extended his team leading hitting streak to 12 games, while Maddox and Steele extended their respective hitting streaks to eight and seven games.
Allen Rice, Gabe Scott and Bentley each had a pair of hits to lead Alabama.
Southern Miss now takes to the road for a three-game Conference USA series at Memphis. The series opens with a 6:30 p.m., contest on Friday, with Saturday and Sunday's games slated for 2 and 1 p.m., respectively.
