University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Out-Powers Houston In 14-7 Slugfest
4/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 16, 2006
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Kevin Coker stroked a two-out, three-run double in the seventh inning to break a 6-6 tie and lead the Golden Eagles to a 14-7 victory over Houston in the final game of the weekend series at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field in front of 2,869 in attendance.
"This was a big win, as you can't afford to get swept at home," Head Coach Corky Palmer said. "We had a lot of great plays today, but two of our seniors really stood out, with Best shutting the door and Coker getting the big hit late that broke the tie. However, we have a long way to go and have got to get our pitching straightened out, but it was a good win and one we had to have."
Coker was down in the count with two outs and two strikes when he had the game-winning hit to left center field. Daniel Best (4-1) earned the win for the Golden Eagles, pitching a career-high seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and struck out five. Aaron Brown (1-3) took the loss for the visiting Cougars, pitching 1.1 innings, giving up four runs on three hits, striking out two and walking one.
Southern Miss exploded for five runs in the seventh inning to take its first lead of the game, 9-6. Trey Sutton led off with a double down the right field line and scored Johnson's RBI single. Maddox was then hit by a pitch to move Johnson to second and a walk by Michael Ewing moved Johnson to third and Maddox to second to load the bases with no outs. Luke Adkins then walked to bring in Johnson for a run to tie the game and move Maddox to third and Ewing to second. Coker would then drive in three runs with a double to give the Golden Eagles a 9-6 lead.
Southern Miss (26-12, 5-4 C-USA) scored 14 runs on 16 hits and committed one error, while Houston (24-15, 9-3 C-USA) scored seven runs on 13 hits and committed two errors.
Kevin Coker and Toddric Johnson led the Golden Eagle offense with four hits each, with Coker adding one home run, one double and four RBIs and Johnson contributing two home runs and four RBIs. As a team, Southern Miss hit five home runs with Johnson hitting two and Kevin Coker, Marc Maddox and Trey Sutton hitting one each.
Isa Garcia led the Cougar offense with four hits, one home run and one RBI. Josh Stirneman added two hits, one home run and one RBI. The Cougars hit four home runs, as Garcia, Brad Lincoln, Stewart and Matt Weston each hit a solo homer.
Stirneman got Houston on the board first with a solo home run to center field in the second inning to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Houston scored five runs in the top of the third inning behind two home runs, Stewart hit a solo homer to left center andWeston hit a three-run shot over the center field wall to build their lead to 5-0.
Southern Miss answered in the bottom of the third inning with two home runs of its own, as Coker slapped a solo shot to left field and Johnson slammed a two-run homer to left center, respectively, to trim Houston's lead to 5-3.
The Cougars added one run in the top of the fifth inning when Lincoln hit a solo home run to left center to increase Houston's lead to 6-3.
Maddox hit a solo home run to center field for the Golden Eagles in the bottom of the fifth inning that cut the Cougars lead to 6-4. Maddox's homer marked the 46th of his career, tying him with Brad Wilcutt for second all-time in career home runs.
Southern Miss scored five runs in the eight inning highlighted by Sutton and Johnson who recorded back-to-back solo home runs to build a 14-6 lead. After Sutton and Johnson's home runs, Maddox singled to left center, advanced to third on Ewing's double to right field and scored on Adkins RBI single to right field which also moved Ewing to third. Adkins then stole second and a wild pitch scored Ewing and advanced Adkins to third. Jody Blount then hit an RBI single to shortstop that scored Adkins.
Houston scored one final run in the ninth inning as Garcia hit a solo home run to finish the game at 14-7.
Southern Miss returns to action on Wednesday, April 19 to host Alcorn State at 6:30 p.m. at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
