Southern Miss
South Alabama
Southern Miss Defeats South Alabama, 5-0
4/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 16, 2009
MOBILE, Ala. - Southern Miss took advantage of three South Alabama errors, while getting strong pitching and timely hitting to defeat the Jaguars, 5-0, Thursday night at Jaguar Field. With the win, the Lady Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak.
Courtney Ramos struck out five while improving to 10-10 on the year. Ramos also did not allow a hit over the final 5 2/3 innings. Lauren Castellvi led the Lady Eagles, going 3-for-3 with two RBI. Megan Hill added two hits and two runs, and Casey Jo Matthews had two hits, a run and an RBI.
After retiring Southern Miss (20-21-1) in order in the top of the first, South Alabama led off with a single to left field by Christin Crocker. Katie McGuire flied out to center, and Crocker was thrown out at second trying to steal. Tara Donaldson singled though the right side to extend the inning, but Carolina Mendoza grounded out to end the frame.
Logan James got things going in the second when Mendoza could not handle her grounder. Ashley Razey sacrificed her to second, and Lauren Castellvi hit a bloop single over Mendoza to put runner at the corners. Chanell Thurman then hit a seeing-eye single just past the outstretched glove of Crocker to score James, giving the Lady Eagles a 1-0 lead. However, the runners were left stranded as Britney Dinelt hit into a force out and Leslie LeJune struck.
In the bottom of the inning, Corey Race hit a leadoff single, and advanced to second on Megan Hill's throwing error. However, Courtney Ramos retired the next three batters to preserve the lead.
Hill made up for error in the top of the third, hitting a leadoff triple off the right field wall. Casey Jo Matthews gave the Lady Eagles a 2-0 lead with a single. Kristin Pilgrim then reached on Crocker's fielding error. James then laid down a sacrifice but to move the runners to second and third. After Razey grounded out to short, Castellvi lined a double down the left field line, driving in Matthews and Pilgrim. Thurman grounded out to end the inning, but not before Southern Miss grabbed a 4-0 advantage.
The Lady Eagles struck again an inning later, After USA pitcher Katy Neal retired the first two batters, Hill beat out an infield single to keep the inning going. Matthews followed with a check-swing double to center field, putting runners at second and third. Then, for the second straight inning, Pilgrim reached on a fielding error, this time by third baseman Race, scoring Hill. But James fouled out to left field, as Southern Miss took a 5-0 lead.
Southern Miss threatened again in the fifth inning. Haley Hopkins took over from the circle for the Jaguars, and immediately hit Razey to lead off the inning. Castellvi then sacrificed pinch-runner Stephanie Shiflet to second. Hopkins then hit her second batter of the inning, this time putting Thurman on base. But, she rebounded to strike out pinch-hitter Alexis Hurley and Leslie LeJune to end the inning.
Southern Miss returns to conference play this weekend when it hosts UTEP. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. CT. They then play a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
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