Southern Miss
23-11, 10-4
Louisiana Tech
25-9, 11-4
Southern Miss Takes Game One of Sunday Doubleheader
4/18/2021 6:08:00 PM | Baseball
Pinch-runner Brady Faust stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch to give the Golden Eagles enough of a pad to outlast 13th-ranked Louisiana Tech 12-11 Sunday afternoon in the first game of a Conference USA doubleheader at J.C. Love Field.
Faust's run put Southern Miss up 12-8, which proved just enough as the Bulldogs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh before Garrett Ramsey got the game's final out to pick up his eighth save of the season.
The win pulled Southern Miss (22-11, 10-4 C-USA) within a half-game of Tech (25-9, 11-4) in the conference's West Division and guaranteed the Golden Eagles no worse than a split of the four-game weekend series.
The first inning set the tone, with USM tagging Tech starter Cade Gibson for five runs, only to see the Bulldogs rough up USM starter Ben Ethridge for four runs in the bottom of the inning.
USM led 8-4 after the top of the fourth inning and 11-5 after 4 ½ innings. But Tech, which banged out 15 hits, declined to go away, pulling within 11-8 after five innings and the leaving the game-tying run at second base and the winning run at first in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Will McGillis and Gabe Montenegro drove in three runs apiece, while Reed Trimble drove in two.
Montenegro, Trimble, Michael Wein, Blake Johnson and Dustin Dickerson each had two hits in a 13-hit USM attack.
Wein, McGillis and Johnson scored two runs apiece.
Tech slugged three home runs among its 15 hits, getting one each from Philip Matulia, Parker Bates and Jorge Corona.
Matulia, Bates, Corona, Hunters Wells, Cole McConnell and Ben Brantley each had two hits apiece. Bates drove in three runs, while Corona, Wells and Shemar Page each drove in two.
Chandler Best (1-1), the second of five Southern Miss pitchers, picked up the win, allowing a run on two hits in 2 2/3 innings. He walked one, struck out one.
Gibson (3-3) took the loss, giving up eight runs okn seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked two, struck out two.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Best, Chandler (1-1)
L: Cade Gibson (3-3)
S: Ramsey, Garrett (8)
Batting:
2B: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; Trimble, Reed 1 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; Sargent, Christopher 1 ; Dickerson, Dustin 1
HR: McGillis, Will 1
RBI: Montenegro, Gabe 3 ; Trimble, Reed 2 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; Sargent, Christopher 1 ; McGillis, Will 3 ; Johnson, Blake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; Trimble, Reed 1 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; Sargent, Christopher 1 ; Wein, Michael 2 ; Faust, Brady 1 ; McGillis, Will 2 ; Johnson, Blake 2 ; Dickerson, Dustin 1
SB: Faust, Brady 1
Batting:
2B: Taylor Young 1 ; Ben Brantley 1
HR: Parker Bates 1 ; Philip Matulia 1 ; Jorge Corona 1
RBI: Taylor Young 1 ; Hunter Wells 2 ; Parker Bates 3 ; Philip Matulia 1 ; Jorge Corona 2 ; Shemar Page 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Taylor Young 2 ; Hunter Wells 1 ; Parker Bates 1 ; Philip Matulia 2 ; Cole McConnell 2 ; Jorge Corona 2 ; Logan McLeod 1
HBP: Taylor Young 1
