Southern Miss
Florida Atlantic
Softball Concludes Season with Senior Day
5/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss softball team fell to Florida Atlantic, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the regular season at the Softball Complex. Prior to the game, the Golden Eagles honored their seniors Priscilla Burns and Shelbee Rodgers.
In the circle, Rodgers was charged with the hard-luck loss. The senior scattered eight hits over 7.0 innings. She allowed three unearned runs on the day, walking six and striking out one. Rodgers finishes her career with 255 strikeouts, finishing 10th in Southern Miss' career records for Ks.
Offensively, the Golden Eagles scored two runs on seven hits. Kaelyn Christofferson led the charge with a pair of hits, while Morgan McKeever, Sarah Evans, Bailey Stokes, Arielle Pollock and Michelle Stringer each added base knocks. Evans finished the day with a RBI double, while Christofferson also added an RBI. McKeever and Peyton Garner scored the runs for the Golden Eagles.
Southern Miss was the first team to score, taking the lead in the bottom of the first inning. McKeever led off the inning with a single to right field. Rodgers dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move McKeever into scoring position. With two outs, Evans laced a double down the left field line, scoring McKeever from second and giving the Black and Gold a 1-0 advantage.
The Golden Eagles added a run in the bottom of the fourth to double their advantage. Stokes led off the inning with a single and Garner entered the game at first to pinch run. Pollock followed with an infield single down the first base line to move Garner into scoring position. Stringer moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Christofferson dropped a Texas-League single just inside of fair territory. Garner scored easily from third, putting Southern Miss in front 2-0.
Southern Miss relied on solid defense and effective pitching by Rodgers to keep Florida Atlantic off the scoreboard through the first six innings.
Florida Atlantic rallied in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, FAU used a walk to put a runner on base. The Owls took advantage of a misplayed ball by the Golden Eagles to place a second runner on base. FAU loaded the bases with a single up the middle. The Owls got on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly to right field. Florida Atlantic took the lead, 3-2, with a two-run double to left center field. The next batter hit a line drive to left field that Christofferson was able to snag for the final out of the inning.
The Golden Eagles were unable to score in the bottom of the inning to extend the game. Southern Miss finishes the season 18-34 overall and 3-21 in Conference USA.
