Southern Miss
Ball State
Softball Claims First Win at Louisiana Classic
2/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
LAFAYETTE, La. - Southern Miss improved to 1-1 after the Golden Eagles defeated Ball State, 8-1, in the first game of the 2017 Louisiana Classic in Lafayette.
In the circle, saw action from two pitchers, Kim Crowson, who posted her first start as a Golden Eagle and Jillian Johnson who now has one save on the season. Crowson, a junior transfer from Shelton State, pitched for 4.2 innings allowing one run on five hits before Johnson came in as a relief pitcher. Johnson who pitched 2.1 innings and had zero runs on zero hits wrapped the game up defensively.
Offensively, the Golden Eagles scored eight runs on eight hits highlighted by a Lauren Holifield home run. Chase Nelson, Lauren Holifield, Caitlyn Aldous, Eva Scott, Bailey Stokes and Kaelyn Christofferson each notched hits in the contest.
Southern Miss was the first team to score in the bottom of the second inning. Aldous was walked to get on base and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Scott walked to put two runners on and Stokes followed with a single to left field allowing Aldous to score the first run of the game. Up next, Christofferson, singled to the pitcher driving in Scott for another run, but Ball State was able to escape without any more runs. The Golden Eagles led the Cardinals 2-0.
Ball State cut the Southern Miss lead in half in the top of the third. The third batter was walked to get on base, with the next batter doubling to right field to plate the run. A pop up to third base closed the inning with a 2-1 score.
In the bottom of the fifth, Nelson walked, Holifield singled up the middle and advanced to second on a field error, Nelson advanced to third. Tori Dew drew another walk for the Golden Eagles to load the bases; Arielle Pollock came in to run for Dew. Ciarra Cherry reached base on a fielder's choice that resulted in an out at home. Aldous singled through the left side to drive Holifield in for the score. This gave Southern Miss a 3-1 lead.
Selena Estrada added a sacrifice fly to drive in Pollock in for the second run of the inning. With a stolen base by Aldous and a launched triple by Scott, which brought in Aldous and Cherry, the Golden Eagles ended the fifth inning with four runs, three hits and a score of 6-1.
Ball state was not able to score the remainder of the game, but the Golden Eagles weren't done yet. In the bottom of the sixth, Nelson had her first hit of the game as she singled to center field with Holifield up next. Holifield hit her first homer of the season to left field to increase the score by two runs, 8-1.
Southern Miss will continue play in the Louisiana Classic with a pair of games on Saturday. The Golden Eagles play Iowa State at 11:30 a.m. before closing out the night with a game against Ball State at 7:00 p.m. Live stats and in-game tweets (@SouthernMissSB) will be available for both games.
