University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Marshall
Golden Eagles Sweep Marshall in Baseball Action
4/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The nationally ranked Golden Eagles (30-9 overall, 9-3 C-USA) collected their second sweep of league play in 2011 as it was also just the fourth sweep in league series through the first five weeks of C-USA play.
Southern Miss used the long ball in the first game as Bourgeois, Tyler Koelling and Mark Ellis all homered.
After Bourgeois doubled home the opening game's first run in the first inning, the Golden Eagles added three more runs in the second before Bourgeois cranked a two-run shot in the third, his fifth of the season, and Koelling lifted his third homer of the year - a two-run shot - in the fourth to make the score 8-0.
After Marshall added a pair of runs in the fifth, Ellis notched a solo home run to leftfield, his third of the campaign, and B.A. Vollmuth delivered an RBI single in the sixth to make the score 10-2.
The Herd (15-23, 2-10) rallied with three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings, but Collin Cargill came in to finish the game in the ninth by getting a groundout and then a double play, after he hit a batter, to end the contest and get his seventh save of the season.
Geoffrey Thomas (8-2) allowed five runs (four earned) on 10 hits over 6 1/3 innings as he also walked one and fanned five to capture the victory. MU starter Mike Mason (1-3) lasted just two innings as he surrendered four runs (three earned) on five hits and two walk to suffer the loss.
In game two, Bourgeois was again the hitting star as he collected four hits, including a pair of doubles, and scored three times.
The Golden Eagles again took an early advantage in the finale. Southern Miss got two runs in the second on a Ellis RBI double and a sacrifice fly from Kameron Brunty, before Ashley Graeter delivered a run-scoring single to go along with a run on a Herd fielding error to make it 4-0 in the third.
Grey Stafford cut the gap in the fourth on a three-run home run, his second of the year, to cut the gap to 4-3. MU then tied the game in the fifth on a RBI single by Victor Gomez.
That was as close as the visitors would get the rest of the way as Adam Doleac plated a run with a groundout and USM increased the lead to 6-4 on a Herd wild pitch. After a Rodriguez RBI single in the seventh, Southern Miss ended the scoring in the eighth as Brunty tripled home Chase Fowler and then scored on a wild pitch.
Jonathan Thompson delivered his second-straight strong outing by getting a victory and upping his record to 5-0. Thompson scattered five hits over seven hits and gave up four runs, just one earned, with a pair of strikeouts. Boomer Scarborough, who made his first relief appearance since Feb. 27, against Troy, threw the final two innings to get his first save of the year. The freshman fanned two over his two innings of work.
Herd starter Arik Sikula (2-4) suffered the loss as he allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Following this three-game sweep, the Golden Eagles return to action at home to face Alabama in a 6 p.m., contest, Tuesday, April 26.
