Southern Miss
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UTEP
UTEP Upends Softball in Series Finale
3/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
EL PASO, Texas - Southern Miss jumped out to an early lead, but UTEP responded to claim a 10-4 victory over the Golden Eagles in the series finale at Helen of Troy Field in El Paso, Texas. The Miners (10-24, 5-4 Conference USA) claimed the series 2-1 over the Golden Eagles (16-18, 2-10 C-USA).
Offensively, Southern Miss recorded six hits on the day, including a pair of base hits by Morgan McKeever. Sarah Evans, Jordan Beck, Katie Cleary and Mallory Hayden each added base hits on the day, while Samantha Reynolds drew a walk. Cleary led the team with two runs batted in with Evans and Mallory adding RBI as well. McKeever scored two of the four runs in the game. Evans and Peyton Garner rounded out the scoring for the Black and Gold.
In the circle, three pitchers saw action for the Golden Eagles. Jillian Johnson earned the start and was charged with the loss. The true freshman surrendered six runs on five hits with a walk. She gave way to Danielle Block who tossed 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Shelbee Rodgers closed out the game with 1.2 innings of scoreless ball. She allowed two hits and walked a batter, while hitting another.
Southern Miss was the first to score, batting around in the top of the first inning thanks to some help from UTEP. McKeever started the game with a single up the middle. With one out, Evans reached base thanks to a fielding error by the Miners. Beck followed by reaching on a second error of the inning, loading the bases. Cleary drove home a pair of runs with a two RBI single up the middle. Garner entered the game to run at second for Beck. Hayden singled to left field and advanced to second on a fielding error by the left fielder. On the play, Garner was able to score from second, giving Southern Miss a 3-0 advantage.
UTEP responded with a big first inning to take the lead. The leadoff batter walked and a bunt single combined with an error allowed the lead runner to score and left the home team with a runner on second. Back-to-back doubles knotted the score at 3-3 with no outs. An illegal pitch moved the runner to third base. The Miners continued the inning with a RBI single, giving UTEP the lead. UTEP used another single to place a pair of runners on base and prompt a pitching change by the Golden Eagles. Block struck out the first batter she faced and induced a groundout for the second out of the inning. A RBI single left runners on the corners. The trail runner broke for second base and was caught in a run down. Before Hayden could tag the runner out, the lead runner crossed the plate for the final run of the inning.
The Miners added an insurance run in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs, the home team used a triple to right center field and a single to left to extend the lead to 7-3.
The score remained the same until the fifth inning when UTEP used a three-run home run by Courtney Clayton to push the lead to 10-3.
The Golden Eagles comeback attempt in the seventh inning fell short. With one out, Tori Rouse reached base on an error by the Miners. McKeever followed by reaching on a second fielding error of the inning. UTEP used a fielder's choice to record the second out of the inning. Southern Miss used a wild pitch by UTEP to move the runners into scoring position. Evans singled through the left side of the infield to score McKeever from third, but a groundout ended the game with the Golden Eagles dropping the 10-4 decision.
Southern Miss returns to action on Wednesday, April 1 as the Golden Eagles travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take on nationally-ranked Alabama in a single game. First pitch is slated for 6:00 p.m. Live stats, live video and in-game tweets (@SouthernMissSB) will be available for the game.
