Sunday, March 14
Pete Taylor Park
1 p.m.
Southern Miss
9-5
6
vs
3
Louisiana-Lafayette
9-8
1
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3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
R
H
E
Louisiana-Lafayette
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0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
3
8
2
Southern Miss
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
4
6
8
2
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Trimble Grand Slam Propels Eagles over Ragin’ Cajuns to Complete Sweep
3/14/2021 6:36:00 PM | Baseball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Reed Trimble belted a grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift Southern Miss to a 6-3 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette Sunday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park, completing the three-game non-conference sweep.
The Golden Eagles (9-5) increased their winning streak to a season-high five games as they registered a three-game sweep for the first time since the Murray State series last season. It was the first time Southern Miss had swept the Ragin' Cajuns (9-8) in Hattiesburg since Feb. 16-18, 2001.
Once again, the Golden Eagle pitching staff threw brilliantly as four Southern Miss pitchers combined to fan 15 and walk just one – which was intentional – finishing the weekend with 36 total strikeouts and only two walks.
That pitching kept the Golden Eagles in the contest and the home team trailed by only one run heading into the final at bat.
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the 11th, Southern Miss started their half of the inning with a runner at second base as part of a new tiebreaker rule in the NCAA which was utilized for this game. With Michael Wein at second, Andrew Stanley put down a sacrifice bunt. Dustin Dickerson followed with a line drive that fell just in front of the Ragin' Cajun right fielder. Although Wein did not score on the play, Dickerson alertly went to second on the throw to the plate.
Gabe Montenegro was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, before Trimble laced a 2-0 pitch for a grand slam over the right-center wall off of Jacob Schultz to seal the victory.
Schultz (0-1) threw the final 2/3 innings for the Cajuns as he allowed four runs (three earned) on two hits and a hit batter to suffer the loss.
Meanwhile, Southern Miss starter Ben Ethridge threw six strong innings, giving up a run on four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. After Tyler Stuart retired all five batters he faced, Ryan Och threw two strong innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Tanner Hall then came on and gave up an unearned run on a hit over the final 1 1/3 to get the victory. The Cajuns tried to threaten with one out and a runner on second in the 11th after scoring on a groundout to first to retake the lead.
Drake Osborn, though, lined a shot to Dickerson at short he threw behind the runner at second base to force a double play to get out of the inning and negate any further damage.
The scoring started early for Southern Miss as they jumped out early with a run in the opening frame via a run-scoring single by Charlie Fischer. The game stayed that way until the sixth when the Cajuns answered with an RBI groundout by Connor Kimple.
The game headed to extra innings still at 1-1 when each team got to put a runner at second with no outs.
Pinch hitter Jonathan Brandon put UL up for the first time in the game with an RBI single in the 10th, but the Golden Eagles rallied to tie the game again in their half of the frame as they scored on a wild pitch.
The game was the first extra-inning affair for Southern Miss since beating Central Arkansas last season in 10 innings on a walk-off single by Fischer. It was the 20th walk-off win for Southern Miss since the start of the 2017 season.
The Golden Eagles return to action Tuesday when they travel to Mobile, Ala., and take on South Alabama for the second time this season. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.
The Golden Eagles (9-5) increased their winning streak to a season-high five games as they registered a three-game sweep for the first time since the Murray State series last season. It was the first time Southern Miss had swept the Ragin' Cajuns (9-8) in Hattiesburg since Feb. 16-18, 2001.
Once again, the Golden Eagle pitching staff threw brilliantly as four Southern Miss pitchers combined to fan 15 and walk just one – which was intentional – finishing the weekend with 36 total strikeouts and only two walks.
That pitching kept the Golden Eagles in the contest and the home team trailed by only one run heading into the final at bat.
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the 11th, Southern Miss started their half of the inning with a runner at second base as part of a new tiebreaker rule in the NCAA which was utilized for this game. With Michael Wein at second, Andrew Stanley put down a sacrifice bunt. Dustin Dickerson followed with a line drive that fell just in front of the Ragin' Cajun right fielder. Although Wein did not score on the play, Dickerson alertly went to second on the throw to the plate.
Gabe Montenegro was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, before Trimble laced a 2-0 pitch for a grand slam over the right-center wall off of Jacob Schultz to seal the victory.
Schultz (0-1) threw the final 2/3 innings for the Cajuns as he allowed four runs (three earned) on two hits and a hit batter to suffer the loss.
Meanwhile, Southern Miss starter Ben Ethridge threw six strong innings, giving up a run on four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. After Tyler Stuart retired all five batters he faced, Ryan Och threw two strong innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Tanner Hall then came on and gave up an unearned run on a hit over the final 1 1/3 to get the victory. The Cajuns tried to threaten with one out and a runner on second in the 11th after scoring on a groundout to first to retake the lead.
Drake Osborn, though, lined a shot to Dickerson at short he threw behind the runner at second base to force a double play to get out of the inning and negate any further damage.
The scoring started early for Southern Miss as they jumped out early with a run in the opening frame via a run-scoring single by Charlie Fischer. The game stayed that way until the sixth when the Cajuns answered with an RBI groundout by Connor Kimple.
The game headed to extra innings still at 1-1 when each team got to put a runner at second with no outs.
Pinch hitter Jonathan Brandon put UL up for the first time in the game with an RBI single in the 10th, but the Golden Eagles rallied to tie the game again in their half of the frame as they scored on a wild pitch.
The game was the first extra-inning affair for Southern Miss since beating Central Arkansas last season in 10 innings on a walk-off single by Fischer. It was the 20th walk-off win for Southern Miss since the start of the 2017 season.
The Golden Eagles return to action Tuesday when they travel to Mobile, Ala., and take on South Alabama for the second time this season. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hall, Tanner (1-1)
L: Schultz, Jacob (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Robertson, Tyler 1 ; Fitzgerald, Ben 1
RBI: Kimple, Connor 1 ; Fitzgerald, Kevin 1 ; Brandon, Jonathan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Robertson, Tyler 2 ; Roccaforte, Carson 1
SB: Robertson, Tyler 1 ; Catalano, Anthony 1
CS: Fitzgerald, Ben 1
Batting:
HR: Trimble, Reed 1
RBI: Trimble, Reed 4 ; Fischer, Charlie 1
SH: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; Stanley, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; Trimble, Reed 3 ; Wein, Michael 1 ; Dickerson, Dustin 1
HBP: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; Lynch, Danny 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
3
H
3
RBI
4
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF/P
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
IF
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