Southern Miss
Old Dominion
Baseball Sweeps ODU and Win Nine Straight
4/29/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NORFOLK, Va. - For a second consecutive day, Southern Miss' bats proved relentless, as the Golden Eagles swept their Conference USA road series with a 9-2 win Sunday over Old Dominion.
The win was the ninth in a row for No. 11 Southern Miss (32-11, 16-4 C-USA) , as the Golden Eagles claimed their 11th straight C-USA series with a sweep of their second consecutive three-game conference set.
Southern Miss had another 15 hits Sunday, matching Saturday's total in a 9-4 victory, and like Saturday, every Golden Eagle starter had at least one hit. All told, Southern Miss collected.
The boom-fest gave all the run support right-handed starter Walker Powell (5-2) would need. The sophomore went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on eight hits. He struck out three and walked two.
Reliever Mason Strickland picked up his first career save with 3 1/3 innings of one-hit, shutout baseball. After ODU (12-29, 5-16) had cut Southern Miss' lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Strickland entered the game with Monarchs on second and third and two outs and got a weak tapper in front of the plate to end the threat.
Strickland handcuffed the Monarchs over the final three frames, striking out one and walking none. And for a second consecutive day, the Golden Eagles continued to add to their lead every time ODU threatened.
The Golden Eagles scored twice in the first off ODU starter Jason Hartline (1-3). Gabe Montenegro led off the game with a double for the second consecutive day and scored on Matt Wallner's two-out single. After a single by Hunter Slater, Daniel Keating brought home Wallner with a double.
Southern Miss made it 3-0 in the third when Mason Irby reached on an error, went to second on LeeMarcus Boyd's bunt single, third on Montenegro's bunt and scored on Matthew Guidry's sacrifice fly.
ODU touched Powell for an unearned run in the bottom of the second when Will Morgan reached on error and eventually scored on Bryce Windham's two-out single.
But the Golden Eagles got that run back in the third for a 4-1 when Slater reached on a two-base error in the outfield, went to third on a passed ball and scored on Keating's sacrifice fly.
Southern Miss tacked on another run in the sixth inning on Cole Donaldson's double and Boyd's run-scoring single for a 5-1 lead, before Craig Lopez' single in the bottom of the inning got ODU back within 5-2.
That was the final hurrah for the Monarchs. With Strickland sending potential ODU baserunners back to the dugout, Southern Miss added two runs in the seventh inning on Irby's two-run double and another pair in the ninth on run-scoring singles by Boyd and Montenegro.
Boyd led Southern Miss with three hits and two RBIs. Keating had a pair of doubles, two RBIs and a run scored. Wallner hit two singles, scored twice and drove in a run.
Montenegro finished with a double and single, a run scored and a run driven in. Irby had his two-run double and scored a run and Luke Reynolds hit two singles and scored a run.
Southern Miss returns home at 6 p.m. Tuesday to welcome long-time rival Tulane University to Pete Taylor Park
