University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Cal State Fullerton
Baseball Drops Series Opener at Cal State Fullerton, 4-1
3/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 8, 2008
FULLERTON, Calif. - Southern Miss left 11 runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded twice in a 4-1 loss at No.26 Cal State Fullerton Friday night.
"We had every opportunity to get some runs early, but could not get the big hit we needed," head coach Corky Palmer said. "We struck out too many times and left too many people on base tonight."
Southern Miss left the bases loaded in the third inning and again in the ninth with the go ahead run at the plate.
The Golden Eagles (6-4) chased Cal State Fullerton starting pitcher Adam Jorgenson after only two-and-a-third innings, but reliever Jason Dovel shut the Golden Eagle offense down for the next six innings allowing only two hits.
"When Dovel entered the game we had some momentum, but he was able to shut us down for almost six innings," Palmer added
Barry Bowden (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season, throwing 100 pitches in five innings allowing five hits and two runs.
Keith Winstead led Southern Miss at the plate going two-for-three with two doubles and a walk in the contest.
Cal State (6-4) struck early for the first run of the game in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Khris Davis doubled to left field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Center fielder Josh Fellhauer followed with a hard ground-ball single that first baseman Trey Sutton knocked down but could not corral, allowing Davis to score from third for a 1-0 Titan lead.
Southern Miss made a bid to tie the game in the top of the second inning. Keith Winstead led off with his third double of the season and Josh Fields drew a walk. With two outs Bo Davis singled to right field and Winstead was thrown out at the plate by Fullerton right fielder Erik Komatsu.
The Golden Eagles did however tie the game in their next at-bat, Brian Dozier made just missed his first homerun of the season but the ball was caught by Fullerton's left fielder against the wall. However, Drew Carson connected on a 2-1 fastball from Adam Jorgenson and drove it deep over the leftfield wall for his second home run of the season.
Cal State retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth. First baseman Jared Clark doubled to lead off the inning softly down the left field line. Corey Jones followed with a single up the middle scoring Clark from second base.
The Titans added to their lead in the bottom of the seventh off reliever Collin Cargill. Fellhauer singled past Josh Fields at third base and scored from second base on Khris Davis' RBI single to left field, making the score 3-1.
Cal State manufactured their final run in the bottom of the eighth with a little help from Southern Miss. Khris Davis lead off with a bunt that catcher Keith Winstead grabbed, but tripped as he went to throw. Davis stole second on a delay steal to get himself into scoring position. Christian Colon hit a slow roller to Josh Fields at third base which he fielded and over threw first base allowing Davis to score the unearned run.
The Series will continue with the second game tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. CST. David Clark (1-0) will face off vs. the Titans RHP Corey Arbiso (0-2).
-southernmiss.com-
