Southern Miss
New Orleans
Billeaud and Winstead lead Golden Eagles past UNO, 8-2
6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 1, 2008
BATON ROUGE, La. - Josh Billeaud threw seven innings of three hit ball, and the Golden Eagles used the long ball to defeat UNO, 8-2, in the elimination game of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.
Southern Miss will now face LSU in the Championship Round, beginning at 6:00 p.m. tonight.
UNO scored the first run of the game in the top of the first as Joey Butler doubled down the left field line with one out in the inning, After taking third on a deep fly ball that Michael Ewing caught against the wall, Butler came in to score on a pass ball by catcher Keith Winstead.
Southern Miss answered right back in the top of the second. Drew Carson started the inning with a bunt single to third base and Chris Matisich singled though the left side of the infield. Keith Winstead followed with a towering fly ball right down the left field line that was originally called a foul ball.
Southern Miss third base coach Chad Cailliet and head coach Corky Palmer showed their objection forcing the umpires to gather together and eventually change the ruling to a three-run home run for Winstead, his third of the season, to put the Golden Eagles up 3-1.
The Golden Eagles added to their lead in the top of the third inning as Trey Sutton started a two-out rally with a solid single up the middle. Drew Carson followed with a single through the hole on the right side. Kyle Maxie then drilled his ninth home run of the season over the right field wall for a 6-1 Southern Miss lead.
Winstead blasted his second home run of the day and fourth of the year in the top of the fourth inning, as it was to almost straight away center field giving the Golden Eagles a 7-1 lead.
Jeff Lanning collected the second hit of the day off of Billeaud on a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 7-2. Billeaud had held the nation's No. 5 ranked offense hitless since the Butler double in the first inning.
Southern Miss added another run in the top of the eighth inning. Drew Carson tripled off the center field wall and came in to score on Kyle Maxie's RBI single past a drawn in infield for a 8-2 lead.
