Southern Miss
South Alabama
Softball Edges South Alabama, 1-0
2/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 14, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Megan Hill's one-out suicide-squeeze bunt scored Melissa Prouty from third base in the third inning to give the Lady Eagles all the scoring they needed to down South Alabama in its first game in the school's history, 1-0, tonight, at the Southern Miss Softball Complex in front of 485 in attendance.
Prouty was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, stole second before Allison Bullard was walked, and both runners moved up a base on Logan James' sacrifice bunt. Hill reached safely on the suicide squeeze when Jaguar pitcher Linden Jones attempted to retire Prouty at home.
"You always want to win your home opener, it doesn't matter who you play," Southern Miss Head Coach Gay McNutt said. "You have to give credit to South Alabama. Being a first-year program, they are a scrappy team, and they play hard. They are going to get better as the year goes on and are going to be a very good program when we play in Mobile later in the season.
"Defensively, we were solid. For her sixth game in a row, Shea (Naramore) threw a good game and pitched with a lot of heart. I can't say enough about her. I didn't think we swung the bats as well as we could have. The pitcher had a good rise on the ball and we couldn't adjust well enough to it. We had Megan (Hill) coming up and hope for the big home run, but you've got to score a run so you do what you have to do."
Naramore (2-4) won her second game of the year, pitching a complete-game shutout, giving up four hits, three walks and striking out five batters. This marked her first shutout of the season and the team's first of the year as well. It also marked Naramore's season-high in strikeouts. Jones (0-1) pitched a complete-game as well, giving up one run on two hits, walking three and striking out a game-high 11 batters.
South Alabama (0-1) outhit Southern Miss (2-4), 4-2, but left nine runners on base, while the Lady Eagles stranded five. South Alabama had four players with one hit each, and Southern Miss had two players, Brittany Wright and Karissa Jones, each finish with a hit.
The Jaguars threatened in the second inning but were left scoreless with the bases loaded. Kristen Hayes singled up the middle to lead off the inning, moved to second when Jenny Stevens reached on a fielding error by second baseman Jones. After Carolina Mendoza struck out looking, Julie Morton was hit by a pitch to load up the bases. Katie McGuire popped up to the shortstop, and Evelyne Pare grounded out to third base to end the inning.
Once again, South Alabama threatened in the third inning and came up empty. Kait Chernomaz singled up the middle to lead off the inning, moved to second when Corey Race was walked, and both runners tagged up and advanced a base when Tara Donaldson flew out to center. Hayes struck out, and Stevens flew out to right field to end the inning.
Southern Miss hosts Jackson State on Tuesday, February 20, in a doubleheader, starting at 5 p.m., at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.
