University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Southeastern Lousiana
Baseball Drills Southeastern Louisiana, 12-4
3/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 18, 2008
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss used a six run third inning that included two homeruns to beat Southeastern Louisiana, 12-4 Tuesday Night in front of 3,022 fans at Pete Taylor Park.
For Southern Miss it was their fifth consecutive win and they improved to 8-1 at Pete Taylor Park this season.
"We are playing good baseball right now," head coach Corky Palmer said. "We are pitching well, playing good defense and getting the timely hits we have been missing a lot of the year."
The Golden Eagles (11-6) scored a season high 12 runs and pounded out double digit hits for the sixth time in the last seven games with 12 hits tonight.
Todd McInnis picked up his team leading fourth win of the season, though he only pitched four innings it was a pre-determined limit that allowed him to get the victory. He allowed four hits and two runs while striking out five. Wade Weathers, JR Ballinger and Collin Cargill all pitched well in relief for Southern Miss.
Josh Fields led the Golden Eagles at the plate with a three-for-three night and a two-run homerun He ended the game with a walk, four RBI and two runs scored.
James Ewing also had three hits including a double, two runs scored and a RBI. Brian Dozier, Kyle Maxie and Corey Stevens all had two hits a piece. Maxie had four RBI and a three-run homerun.
Stevens has been the hottest hitter on the team over the past four games, he is 9-12 (.750) with a homerun, two doubles and three RBI.
Southern Miss scored a run in the first inning after James Ewing led off the game with a solid single up the middle and went to second a on wild pitch by SLU starter Brandon Efferson. Trey Sutton moved Ewing to third base and he came around to score on Efferson's second wild pitch of the inning.
The Golden Eagles broke the game wide open in the bottom of the third with their biggest inning of the year scoring six runs on five hits. Michael Ewing started with rally with a single up the middle and Brian Dozier followed with a soft single over the shortstop. Kyle Maxie cleared the bases with his second homerun of the season for the first three runs of the inning.
Drew Carson reached base after being hit by a pitch and came around to score on Corey Stevens double to left-center field. Josh Fields followed with the second homerun of the inning, a towering two-run shot over the scoreboard in left-center field for a 7-0 lead.
Southeastern Louisiana (10-8) cut into the Golden Eagle lead in the top of the fourth inning on RBI singles by DH Brandon Street and third baseman Brandon Summerlin to make the score 7-2.
The Lions continued to cut in the Southern Miss lead with two more runs in the top of the sixth inning. Ty Summerlin doubled off reliever Wade Weathers, which was the first base runner Weathers allowed over the last 5.2 innings. Summerline came around to score on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Chris Ernest . Southeastern scored their second run of the inning on a solo homerun by Josh Cryer, making the score 7-4.
Southern Miss tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth as Fields drew a walk and scored on James Ewing's double down the right field line.
The Golden Eagles continued to put runs on the board in the seventh inning. Josh Fields hit a bases loaded single back up the middle scoring Keith Winstead and Drew Carson. Corey Stevens came in to score the third run of the inning on a passed ball after reaching base on a walk making the score, 11-4.
Southern Miss added their final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning after Brian Dozier doubled and came in to score on Kyle Maxie's RBI ground ball.
The Golden Eagles will return to action tomorrow as they will visit Louisiana-Monroe, first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. at Warhawk Field. RHP Brian Leach will get his second start of the season, he has not started since he faced La. Monroe at home on February 26.
"Monroe is playing as good as they have in the past few years, it will be a good test for us tomorrow," Palmer added.
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