Southern Miss
Evansville
Golden Eagle Softball Collects Two Wins In Southern Miss Invitational
2/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 26, 2011
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss softball team picked up two wins in the Southern Miss Invitational, defeating Nicholls State, 9-1, and Evansville, 10-1, in five innings.
The Golden Eagles improved to 8-5.
Beth Dietrich (3-2) picked up the win against Nicholls State, giving up seven hits but only one run and striking out six. Ashton Bennett (2-3) took the loss for the Colonels.
Southern Miss put two runs on the board in the home half of the first inning as Taylor Brown doubled and advanced to third on an illegal pitch. Jill Mathis singled to plate Brown while advancing to second when the ball scooted past the outfielder. USM tacked on its second run when Michelle Takeda recorded an RBI double.
The Golden Eagles blew open the game in the bottom of the third, scoring seven runs. Freshman Brittany Lilly highlighted the inning with her first career home run, a grand slam. The Eagles started with back-to-back base hits from Leslie LeJune and Brown. Mathis grounded out to short but recorded an RBI as LeJune scored from third. Christina Roosmalen then added a base to put runners at the corners. Takeda's RBI single scored Brown. Britney Dinelt singled to load the bases. Roosmalen scored on a Chanell Thurman sac fly. Mackenzie Sher drew new life as the left fielder dropped a foul ball that would have been the final out of the inning, but Sher drew a walk to load the bases. Then Lilly sent a 1-2 pitch over left.
Nicholls (5-8) scored its only run in the top of fourth as Boudreaux walked and Granger singled down the left field line. With runners at first and second, Jolivette singled and Boudreaux was able to score from second.
"Today you could see a little bit more intensity in our at-bats, a little more focus and commitment to what we were doing," Coach Dobson Howard said. "They had a plan instead of just going up there and hacking away at it. It was really nice to see our composure at the plate and our discipline. Beth continues to get better and better. She continues to hit her spot. She kept her walks to a minimum."
USM-EVANSVILLE Box in PDF Format 
In the second game against Evansville, Southern Miss used a six-run second inning in taking a commanding lead in a 10-1 win. Kelly Smith (2-1) earned the win in the circle giving up only two hits and one unearned run while striking out seven. Emily Morris (3-3) took the loss for the Purple Aces, lasting only 1.1 innings in giving up eight runs.
Jill Mathis belted her sixth home run of the season with a two-run shot to center in putting the Eagles' up 2-0 in the bottom of the first.
Southern Miss added six runs in the second as Sher led off with a single and moved to second as the catcher threw wind to first on a bunt by Lilly. Both runners moved up a base on a LeJune deep fly ball. Brown then ripped a two-RBI double to left center. Mathis drew a walk and Brown stole third. Roosmalen then planted a double just inside the right field line to score Brown. Takeda single in driving in two more runs. Dinelt grounded out to short as Takeda moved to second. Thurman's base hit to center scored Takeda for the final run of the inning.
Evansville (1-6) finally got in the scoring column in the top of the fourth when Alsip singled with one out. Rogers walked. Both runners moved to third and second on a wild pitch. Sears walked to load the bases for the Purple Aces and Alsip scored on a pass ball.
The Eagles got the run back by tacking on two runs in the bottom half of the inning with Mathis and Roosmalen hitting back-to-back singles. Alexis Hurley's pinch hit fielder's choice moved Mathis to third and Thurman ripped a two-RBI single to left to score Mathis and pinch runner Kirsten Perry.
"I told Kelly she had to trust her pitches because she is good enough to get people out," Dobson said. "Overall, I thought our pitchers did well today." Southern Miss finished the day with 20 hits led by Brown with four including three doubles while Mathis, Roosmalen and Takeda tallied three each.
Other results from today's tournament - Troy defeated Nicholls State, 9-7; Troy defeated Mississippi Valley, 12-6; Mississippi defeated Evansville, 6-5.
The Southern Miss Invitational concludes on Sunday, starting with Nicholls State and Evansville at 10 a.m., followed by Troy and Evansville at 12:30 p.m., Nicholls State and Mississippi Valley at 3 p.m., and concluding with Southern Miss and Troy at 5:30 p.m.
