Southern Miss
South Alabama
South Alabama Too Much for Softball
3/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MOBILE, Ala. - The Southern Miss softball team dropped a 9-1 decision in six innings to South Alabama on Wednesday night at Jaguar Field in Mobile, Ala. With the loss, the Golden Eagles fell to 15-11, while the Jaguars improved to 18-6.
Southern Miss was unable to get anything going offensively as the South Alabama pitching limited the Golden Eagles to two base hits. Selena Estrada belted a home run in the first inning, while Kaelyn Christofferson recorded her first collegiate double in the game. Estrada scored and drove in the lone run with her solo home run.
In the circle, the Golden Eagles used a pair of pitchers in the game. Shelbee Rodgers started the game and was charged with the loss. Rodgers scattered nine hits over 4.0 innings of work. She allowed seven runs (five earned runs) with a walk and a strikeout. Rodgers gave way to Danielle Block to start the fifth inning. Block allowed two unearned runs on three hits in 1.2 innings of work.
Southern Miss jumped out to a quick lead with a run in the top of the first inning. Estrada smashed a pitch over the left field wall for her second home run of the season to put the Golden Eagles in front 1-0. The home run was the fifth of the sophomore's career.
South Alabama responded with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. The leadoff batter singled to shortstop to start things for the Jaguars. She advanced to second base on a wild pitch. A one-out single moved runners to the corners, but an error allowed each runner to advance, tying the score at 1-1.
The Jaguars took the lead in the second inning. The leadoff batter singled up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, South Alabama used a single up the middle to score the runner and take a 2-1 lead.
South Alabama added a run in the third inning. The Jaguars started the inning with a double to right center field. With two outs, the runner moved to third on a wild pitch. The runner was able to score on a fielding error by the Golden Eagles, extending the lead to 3-1.
The Jaguars broke the game open with four runs in the fourth inning. South Alabama used four hits, including a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly to manufacture four runs and push the lead to 7-1.
South Alabama ended the game with two unearned runs in the sixth inning. The leadoff batter reached on a fielding error by Southern Miss. The next batter bunted to move the runner over and was able to beat the throw for an infield single. With two outs, the Jaguars used back-to-back singles to plate two runs and end the game.
Southern Miss returns to action this weekend as the Golden Eagles return to Conference USA play with a three-game series with Louisiana Tech. Live stats, live video and in-game tweets (@SouthernMissSB) will be available throughout the weekend. It will be Breast Cancer Awareness Weekend at the Southern Miss Softball Complex and all fans are encouraged to wear pink.
