Saturday, May 8
Pete Taylor Park
2 p.m.
Southern Miss
31-15, 18-7
6
vs
0
Middle Tennessee
21-23-1, 10-15-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Middle Tennessee
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
Southern Miss
0
0
3
2
1
0
X
6
7
0
Walker Powell’s No-Hitter Highlights Doubleheader Sweep Saturday
5/8/2021 8:17:00 PM | Baseball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Pitching ruled the day again Saturday for Southern Miss baseball.
After getting a nine-inning, no-run, and a 16-strikeout performance from Hunter Stanley in an extra-inning victory Friday night, the Golden Eagles followed that with a seven-inning no-hitter from Walker Powell in the opening game and a 67-pitch complete-game shutout from Ben Ethridge in the nightcap as Southern Miss defeated Middle Tennessee 6-0 and 9-0 Saturday at Pete Taylor Park.
Powell, who enjoyed his feat on senior day, threw the school's first no-hitter since Gabe Shepard, Cody Carroll and Stanley tossed a combined no-hit performance to beat Rice in the 2019 Conference USA Tournament. It also marked the first time a Golden Eagle compiled a complete-game no-hitter since Cliff Russum did it against Eastern Illinois on March 13, 2004.
Powell allowed just one base runner in his performance, a walk to open the second, as he pitched to one batter over the minimum. The senior from Fayetteville, Ark., also fanned a career-high 12 batters to up his record to 8-2 on the year. Powell threw 89 pitches of which 60 were for strikes.
The Golden Eagles (32-15 overall, 18-7 C-USA) got all the runs they needed in the opening game in the third as Andrew Stanley registered his first career home run to start the frame, which bounced high off the scoreboard in left-center. After an out and a double by Gabe Montenegro, Reed Trimble homered to right for his team-leading 10th of the year to make the score 3-0.
Southern Miss added two runs an inning later with RBI singles from Andrew Stanley and Dustin Dickerson before completing its scoring in the fifth, taking advantage of one of two Middle Tennessee errors.
MT starter Zach Keenan allowed five runs on four hits over three-plus innings with a walk and two strikeouts to suffer the loss and fall to 2-5 on the year.
In the nightcap, Ethridge carved through the Blue Raider lineup, allowing just three hits and no walks with six strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 6-1.
The right-hander from Collinsville, Miss., retired the first seven batters he faced and pitched around a leadoff double in the fifth for his only trouble sustained in the contest. Of his 67 pitches, 51 were for strikes – 76.1 percent for strikes.
Blake Johnson and Christopher Sargent each drove in three runs for the home team.
Johnson got the Golden Eagles out front with an RBI single in the second, before Sargent blasted his ninth homer of the year, a three-run shot, an inning later to jump out to a 6-0 advantage. Charlie Fischer also provided a run-scoring single for the Golden Eagles in that five-run frame and Will McGillis homered over the scoreboard for his fourth homer of the year.
Johnson added a two-run single and pinch hitter Slade Wilks knocked in the final run with a ground out.
The Blue Raiders (21-24-1, 10-16-1) got 2 2/3 innings from Aaron Brown in the nightcap as he allowed six runs on six hits with a walk and two punchouts to suffer the loss and fall to 5-5.
The Golden Eagles go after the sweep with a 1 p.m., single game to complete the series Sunday.
After getting a nine-inning, no-run, and a 16-strikeout performance from Hunter Stanley in an extra-inning victory Friday night, the Golden Eagles followed that with a seven-inning no-hitter from Walker Powell in the opening game and a 67-pitch complete-game shutout from Ben Ethridge in the nightcap as Southern Miss defeated Middle Tennessee 6-0 and 9-0 Saturday at Pete Taylor Park.
Powell, who enjoyed his feat on senior day, threw the school's first no-hitter since Gabe Shepard, Cody Carroll and Stanley tossed a combined no-hit performance to beat Rice in the 2019 Conference USA Tournament. It also marked the first time a Golden Eagle compiled a complete-game no-hitter since Cliff Russum did it against Eastern Illinois on March 13, 2004.
Powell allowed just one base runner in his performance, a walk to open the second, as he pitched to one batter over the minimum. The senior from Fayetteville, Ark., also fanned a career-high 12 batters to up his record to 8-2 on the year. Powell threw 89 pitches of which 60 were for strikes.
The Golden Eagles (32-15 overall, 18-7 C-USA) got all the runs they needed in the opening game in the third as Andrew Stanley registered his first career home run to start the frame, which bounced high off the scoreboard in left-center. After an out and a double by Gabe Montenegro, Reed Trimble homered to right for his team-leading 10th of the year to make the score 3-0.
Southern Miss added two runs an inning later with RBI singles from Andrew Stanley and Dustin Dickerson before completing its scoring in the fifth, taking advantage of one of two Middle Tennessee errors.
MT starter Zach Keenan allowed five runs on four hits over three-plus innings with a walk and two strikeouts to suffer the loss and fall to 2-5 on the year.
In the nightcap, Ethridge carved through the Blue Raider lineup, allowing just three hits and no walks with six strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 6-1.
The right-hander from Collinsville, Miss., retired the first seven batters he faced and pitched around a leadoff double in the fifth for his only trouble sustained in the contest. Of his 67 pitches, 51 were for strikes – 76.1 percent for strikes.
Blake Johnson and Christopher Sargent each drove in three runs for the home team.
Johnson got the Golden Eagles out front with an RBI single in the second, before Sargent blasted his ninth homer of the year, a three-run shot, an inning later to jump out to a 6-0 advantage. Charlie Fischer also provided a run-scoring single for the Golden Eagles in that five-run frame and Will McGillis homered over the scoreboard for his fourth homer of the year.
Johnson added a two-run single and pinch hitter Slade Wilks knocked in the final run with a ground out.
The Blue Raiders (21-24-1, 10-16-1) got 2 2/3 innings from Aaron Brown in the nightcap as he allowed six runs on six hits with a walk and two punchouts to suffer the loss and fall to 5-5.
The Golden Eagles go after the sweep with a 1 p.m., single game to complete the series Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Powell, Walker (8-2)
L: Zach Keenan (2-5)
Base Running:
SB: Cole Escher 1
Batting:
2B: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; Lynch, Danny 1
HR: Trimble, Reed 1 ; Stanley, Andrew 1
RBI: Trimble, Reed 2 ; Stanley, Andrew 2 ; Dickerson, Dustin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; Trimble, Reed 1 ; Fischer, Charlie 1 ; Ewing, Reece 1 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; Stanley, Andrew 1
SB: Stanley, Andrew 1
CS: Montenegro, Gabe 1
HBP: Montenegro, Gabe 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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/ BaseballTrue Grit: Final Episode
Friday, October 20
Episode 1: War Damn Golden Eagle
Tuesday, August 22
Episode 5: Battle for the Belt
Thursday, August 17
Episode 4: Battle for the Belt
Saturday, August 12