Southern Miss
East Carolina
Baseball Falls in Game Two of the C-USA Tournament
5/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 27, 2010
Houston - One day after dropping a lopsided decision to the regular-season league champion, sixth-seeded East Carolina bounced back to defeat No. 2 seed Southern Miss 8-1 to open day two of the 2010 Conference USA Baseball Championship Thursday afternoon at the University of Houston's Cougar Field.
The Pirates got the job done both at the plate and on the mound as left fielder Devin Harris went 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and a career-high five RBI while Seth Maness fanned eight in a solid 7.2 inning start. Harris was one of four East Carolina players to post multiple-hit performances as shortstop John Wooten went 3-for-5 while third baseman Corey Thompson and designated hitter Austin Homan tallied two hits apiece.
Southern Miss dropped to 33-22 for the season with the loss, but can still earn a berth in the C-USA Championship game with a win tomorrow vs. host Houston and a Memphis win over the Pirates.
Maness had a no-hitter going through five innings before giving up a leadoff double to right fielder Tyler Koelling to open the sixth. The 2010 C-USA Pitcher of the Year shook off the bump in the road to remain effective throughout his time toeing the rubber, giving up just one unearned run on five hits and a walk to improve to 10-3.
Harris, meanwhile, went yard in each of his first two at-bats - belting a solo home run in the second to open the scoring and crushing a grand slam in the third to put the Pirates on top, 5-0. Following a scoreless fourth, East Carolina stretched the lead to 8-0 in the fifth courtesy of an RBI-single by Homan, a run-scoring fielder's-choice groundout off the bat of second baseman Cameron Freeman and a throwing error by the Southern Miss defense.
The Golden Eagles avoided the shutout in the eighth when second baseman Taylor Walker reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to second on a single by shortstop B.A. Vollmuth and came around to score in an RBI-knock by designated hitter Adam Doleac.
Koelling and centerfielder Dillon Day posted two hits each to lead Southern Miss. Lost in the shuffle of East Carolina's win was a solid relief effort by Golden Eagles' hurler Mandella Mingo, who came out of the bullpen to scatter three hits and strike out two in three scoreless innings.
Southern Miss starter Geoffrey Thomas was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on four hits and four walks while fanning a pair in 2.1 frames. The Pirates also tagged Cody Schlagel for three runs (two earned) on four hits and a free pass over the next two innings.
Southern Miss will play the final pod contest of the championship against Houston with first pitch of that game slated for 7 p.m on Friday
-southernmiss.com-
