Southern Miss
Alabama
Big Middle Innings Lead Golden Eagles Past Alabama
3/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 2, 2011
Final Stats | Box Score (PDF) in PDF Format 
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Ashley Graeter's opposite field home run helped erase an early in deficit in leading Southern Miss to a 10-6 baseball victory over Alabama here Wednesday night at Thomas-Sewell Stadium.
The Golden Eagles (7-2) won for the third consecutive time over Alabama dating back to the 2007 season.
Southern Miss rallied from a 4-1 deficit with three-run innings in both the fifth and sixth frames and got outstanding relief pitching down the stretch.
With the score tied at 4-4, Graeter lifted an opposite field home run to rightfield with one out in the sixth. It was his first round-tripper of the campaign to put the Golden Eagles up for good. Graeter added an RBI single in the eighth.
Isaac Rodriguez added a two-run single in the frame to increase the advantage to 7-4.
The Golden Eagles had tied the score at 4-apiece with its three-run fifth. With two outs, Kameron Brunty singled. Tyler Koelling then delivered an RBI double to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. Alabama then allowed three straight walks with Doleac driving home a run with a free pass and Vollmuth scoring on a passed ball.
Southern Miss got great pitching from its relievers as Josh Rogers threw three innings to garner the victory and earn his first win of the season and improve to 1-0. The freshman from Jackson, Miss., allowed two unearned runs on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Collin Cargill tossed the final 2 1/3 and allowed a walk and a hit while fanning three to earn his third save of the year.
The Golden Eagles collected 11 hits in the contest and got two safeties each from Graeter, Koelling, Doleac and Mark Ellis. Ellis registered his second home run of the season to account for USM's first run in the fourth as he laced a pitch off the scoreboard in left-centerfield.
Alabama reliever Charlie Sullivan (0-1) suffered the loss allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts. The Crimson Tide (4-4) lost for the fourth straight time.
Southern Miss returns to action Friday when they play host to Louisiana-Lafayette for the first of a three-game series at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field. Game time is set for 6 p.m., and starts an eight-game homestand for the Golden Eagles.
