Sunday, February 21
Pete Taylor Park
1 p.m.
Southern Miss
1-0
5
vs
1
Northwestern State
0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Northwestern State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
3
1
Southern Miss
1
0
0
2
0
0
2
0
X
5
8
0
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Baseball Splits Opening Day Twinbill with Northwestern State
2/21/2021 9:14:00 PM | Baseball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss pitching staff recorded 33 strikeouts over the opening two games of the season, defeating Northwestern State 5-1 in game one, before falling 7-1 in the nightcap Sunday at Pete Taylor Park.
In the opener, Hunter Stanley lived up to his preseason All-Conference nod, as the right-handed pitcher from Hammond, La., recorded 13 strikeouts over six innings of work, allowing no runs on one hit. The 13 punch out total was the most for an opening day starter under head coach Scott Berry and the most by a Golden Eagle hurler since Nick Sandlin fanned 13 versus Rice on March 30, 2018.
The trio of Gabe Montenegro, Slade Wilks and Dustin Dickerson all had multi-hit efforts on the day in the opening game for the Golden Eagles.
Montenegro kick started the Golden Eagle offense in game one with a lead-off double deep to center field and later scored the first run of the season on a Christopher Sargent sacrifice fly.
Southern Miss extended the lead with two more runs in fourth. After Will McGillis earned his way on with an eight-pitch walk, DJ Lynch launched a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right-centerfield to push the lead to 3-0.
The Golden Eagles extended their lead in the seventh with their second two-run inning of the contest. Dustin Dickerson snuck a ball down the left field line and Montenegro brought him home with an RBI single to rightfield. Sargent added his second RBI of the game, lacing a 1-1 pitch to leftfield to plate Montenegro for the final Southern Miss run.
Making his first appearance since 2019, Audrey Gillentine earned his first career save, tossing the final 3.0 innings, allowing a run on two hits with a strikeout.
NSU starter Jonathan Harmon suffered the loss by allowing three runs on three hits with two walks and a strikeout over four innings.
In the nightcap, the Golden Eagles tied a school record as four Southern Miss hurlers combined for 19 strikeouts, tying a mark initially set against Loyola (N.O.) in 1948. Reliever Ben Ethridge led the way by fanning a career-best 12 in 5 2/3 innings, while starter Chandler Best added six over 2 1/3 innings.
Unfortunately, Southern Miss managed just two hits in the game along with 10 walks a hit by pitch but stranded 11 runners.
NSU, on the other hand, managed solo runs in each of the first two innings and added a three-run third to break open the contest and never look back.
Kendall Foster, who accounted for the only Demon run in the first game with a solo homer, added another one in the nightcap. Marshall Skinner added three hits and two RBI as the Demons mustered 12 hits in the finale.
Best allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits with a walk and six punchouts to suffer the loss, while Alex Makerewich threw 2 1/3 frames, allowing a run on no hits with four walks and four strikeouts to capture the victory.
The two teams complete the three-game series Monday at 12 noon.
In the opener, Hunter Stanley lived up to his preseason All-Conference nod, as the right-handed pitcher from Hammond, La., recorded 13 strikeouts over six innings of work, allowing no runs on one hit. The 13 punch out total was the most for an opening day starter under head coach Scott Berry and the most by a Golden Eagle hurler since Nick Sandlin fanned 13 versus Rice on March 30, 2018.
The trio of Gabe Montenegro, Slade Wilks and Dustin Dickerson all had multi-hit efforts on the day in the opening game for the Golden Eagles.
Montenegro kick started the Golden Eagle offense in game one with a lead-off double deep to center field and later scored the first run of the season on a Christopher Sargent sacrifice fly.
Southern Miss extended the lead with two more runs in fourth. After Will McGillis earned his way on with an eight-pitch walk, DJ Lynch launched a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right-centerfield to push the lead to 3-0.
The Golden Eagles extended their lead in the seventh with their second two-run inning of the contest. Dustin Dickerson snuck a ball down the left field line and Montenegro brought him home with an RBI single to rightfield. Sargent added his second RBI of the game, lacing a 1-1 pitch to leftfield to plate Montenegro for the final Southern Miss run.
Making his first appearance since 2019, Audrey Gillentine earned his first career save, tossing the final 3.0 innings, allowing a run on two hits with a strikeout.
NSU starter Jonathan Harmon suffered the loss by allowing three runs on three hits with two walks and a strikeout over four innings.
In the nightcap, the Golden Eagles tied a school record as four Southern Miss hurlers combined for 19 strikeouts, tying a mark initially set against Loyola (N.O.) in 1948. Reliever Ben Ethridge led the way by fanning a career-best 12 in 5 2/3 innings, while starter Chandler Best added six over 2 1/3 innings.
Unfortunately, Southern Miss managed just two hits in the game along with 10 walks a hit by pitch but stranded 11 runners.
NSU, on the other hand, managed solo runs in each of the first two innings and added a three-run third to break open the contest and never look back.
Kendall Foster, who accounted for the only Demon run in the first game with a solo homer, added another one in the nightcap. Marshall Skinner added three hits and two RBI as the Demons mustered 12 hits in the finale.
Best allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits with a walk and six punchouts to suffer the loss, while Alex Makerewich threw 2 1/3 frames, allowing a run on no hits with four walks and four strikeouts to capture the victory.
The two teams complete the three-game series Monday at 12 noon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Makarewich, Alex (1-0)
L: Best, Chandler (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Sibley, Cam 1 ; Skinner, Marshall 1 ; Brown, Hilton 1 ; Davis, Peyton 1
HR: Foster, Kendall 1
RBI: Sibley, Cam 1 ; Skinner, Marshall 2 ; Brown, Hilton 2 ; Foster, Kendall 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Sibley, Cam 1 ; Stuart, Daunte 2 ; Skinner, Marshall 1 ; Brown, Hilton 1 ; Foster, Kendall 1 ; Davis, Peyton 1
HBP: Sibley, Cam 1
Batting:
2B: Ewing, Reece 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lynch, Danny 1
HBP: Wilks, Slade 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
ph/dh
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
LHP
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/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
UTIL
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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