Southern Miss
Southeastern La.
Softball Downs Southeastern Louisiana, 9-1
3/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 7, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Freshman Logan James hit a two-out two-run home run to score Melissa Prouty from third base and give Southern Miss the lead in its 9-1 victory over Southeastern Louisiana, tonight, at the Southern Miss Softball Complex, in front of 514 in attendance.
Prouty doubled down the left field line after Allison Bullard popped up to shortstop, stole third after Brandi Alonzo flied out to center field and was sent home on James' home run, putting the Lady Eagles on the board and on top of the Lady Lions, following four scoreless innings.
"This was a great confidence booster headed into this weekend, both offensively and for Shea (Naramore)," Southern Miss Assistant Coach Auriel Jenkins said. "We needed a game like this."
Southeastern Louisiana (14-9) answered back with a one-run homer from Rebecca De la Garza in the top of the sixth, but Southern Miss (7-13) notched seven runs in the bottom of the inning to enforce the eight-run rule.
Jennifer Fox opened the sixth inning for the Lady Eagles with a double to left field, her sixth double of the season. Newcomer Kristen Chaney entered as Fox's pinch runner, before advancing to third on Lauren Castellvi's sacrifice bunt and reaching home when Kristen Pilgrim doubled to left center. Brittney Pigott entered for Pilgrim and scored on a throwing error by the catcher in an attempt to catch Brittany Wright stealing second.
After pitcher Jamie Militello walked Bullard and struck Prouty with a pitch to load the bases, Alonzo tripled to left field to extend Southern Miss' lead to 7-1. Militello then walked James, before Megan Hill grounded out to shortstop, sending Alonzo home for the score. On the next play, Fox singled through the right side, sending James home and ending the contest.
Naramore (6-13) pitched a complete game for Southern Miss, while Rachel Ray (7-2) and Militello split time on the mound for Southeastern Louisiana.
James and Fox led the Lady Eagles with two hits each, while Alonzo, Hill, Castellvi, Pilgrim, Wright and Prouty each recorded one.
Southern Miss begins Conference USA play this weekend, hosting Houston in a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. and a third game on Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m.
"Headed into this weekend, we need to clean up some of our base running mistakes and execute better in order to be successful over a tougher opponent like Houston," Southern Miss Assistant Coach Robyn Killebrew said.
