Southern Miss
Mississippi
Softball Team Shuts Out Ole Miss, 1-0
4/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 10, 2008
OXFORD, Miss. - Southern Miss freshman Hannah Griffin pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only two hits in a 1-0 decision against in-state rival Ole Miss Thursday.
Griffin (3-1) registered her third win of the season, helping Southern Miss evened its record to 20-20. Tara Willitt (5-10) got the loss for Ole Miss (17-23).
"We have been talking all week about staying and keeping ourselves hot," head coach Howard Dobson said. "It's nice to come out a get a win on the road. It's also nice to see Hannah and Meghan Harbuck have two good outings for us. We have been depending on Sam (Davis) heavily, but to come out and throw a two hitter was nice."
Southern Miss got on the scoreboard first in the top of the third inning when Brittney Pigott led off a triple over the right fielder's head. Willitt then retired the next two batters before Megan Hill singled up the middle to score Pigott.
"We didn't have the offensive output that I would have liked," Dobson said. "We did have some hard hits. We are making some adjustments and getting better. Hopefully, this will give us some momentum going into our Memphis series."
Becky Nye came on to pinch for the Rebels in top of the fourth inning. The Lady Eagles came up empty in the inning with the bases loaded. Kristin Pilgrim began the inning when she reached base on an error by the second baseman. Holly Milner came on to pinch run for Pilgrim. With two out, Ashlyn Harmon hit a single just over the head of the first baseman, advancing Milner to third. Harmon advanced to second on the throw. Pigott then got a free pass with a walk to lead the bases, but Brittney Jones was caught looking for the final out of the inning.
Griffin had worked three complete innings, allowing only one base runner. The Rebels got their first hit in the bottom of the frame when Lauren Grill singled up the middle. Ashley Dowdy reached base on a walk, before Griffin got the next two batters to hit into ground outs.
In the bottom of the fifth, Ole Miss threatened when Lauren Rowe reached base with a walk and Aly Presswood followed with a single up the middle. Alyssa McGovern advanced both runners on a sacrifice bunt, putting both in scoring positions. Pinch hitter Rachel Torres was caught looking and Lisa Conchos to flew out to left field.
In the top of the sixth, Southern Miss put a runner in scoring position when Jennifer Fox doubled to right field. Karissa Jones came on to pinch run, but was left stranded when Nye got Logan James to fly out to right field and Harmon fouled out to the third baseman to end the inning.
Pigott led off the top of the seventh with a single to right field then stole second. Nye then retired the next two batters before issuing a walk to Hill. Kristin Chaney grounded out to the shortstop for the final out.
Griffin then retired the final three batters on four pitches.
Southern Miss continues its road swing, traveling to Memphis for a C-USA three-game series. Game time for Saturday is 1 p.m.
