Wednesday, March 2
Gainesville, Fla.
6 p.m. ET
Southern Miss
12-5
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4
No. 4 Florida
16-1
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H
E
Southern Miss
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1
0
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Florida
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1
Golden Eagles Knock Off No. 4 Florida in Gainesville
3/2/2022 7:52:00 PM | Softball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Fueled by home runs from Jana Lee and Maria Smith, the Southern Miss softball team knocked off the No. 4 Florida Gators on the road on Wednesday night. The Golden Eagles picked up the 5-4 victory on the road and defeated their first ranked foe since 2018.
A run from graduate student Destini Brown in the top of the seventh inning clinched the win for the Black & Gold, while Morgan Leinstock recorded her seventh win of the season in the circle. The Golden Eagles held strong defensively, holding Florida's fifth-ranked offense to just four runs.
"We've been telling them the whole time, how good they are and how good they can be," head coach Brian Levin said following the win. "They needed something like this to pull out that confidence and to know that they can beat anybody on any given day."
The Golden Eagles got off to a strong start in the first inning, as Southern Miss put runners on first and second with just one out. Lee crushed a three-run shot over the left field fence to give her squad the 3-0 lead.
The Gators would trim Southern Miss' lead to two, as an RBI single moved the score to 3-1. Smith responded right back in the top of the second, as with two outs and two strikes, the Edwardsville, Ill. native registered her first home run of the season. The solo shot extended the Golden Eagles' lead back to three runs heading into the third.
Florida once again responded, putting up a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to trim the Golden Eagles' lead to one. Scoreless frames in the third and fourth would follow, as Southern Miss took the 4-3 lead into the top of the fifth.
After Southern Miss failed to score in top of the frame, the Gators tied the contest at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth. A scoreless sixth inning followed, leading into a tied contest in the top of the seventh.Â
A throwing error from the Gators brought Brown home, as Southern Miss took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh. A double play from in the bottom of the final frame gave Southern Miss the victory.
"Going into this game, I had all the confidence in the world in our team," Brown said. "We knew they were No. 4, and we just said 'that's just a number.' We just went out and played our best and we didn't lay down for anything."Â
The Golden Eagles secured their first win over a ranked opponent since they knocked off then-No. 17 Ole Miss on March 4, 2018. Southern Miss also defeated its highest-ranked foe since May 25, 2000 when the Black & Gold defeated No. 3 Arizona in the Women's College World Series.Â
The Golden Eagles improved to 3-0 in road contests in 2022, giving Florida their first loss of the season in the process.Â
Up Next:
The Golden Eagles head to Madeira Beach, Fla. for five contests in THE Spring Games. Southern Miss will face off with five different foes over the weekend, starting with a matchup against Central Michigan on Friday, March 4 at 10 a.m. All of the games this weekend with be streamed on FloSoftball.
For the latest information on Golden Eagle Softball, follow the program on Facebook (facebook.com/SouthernMissSB), Twitter (@SouthernMissSB), and Instagram (@southernmisssb).
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A run from graduate student Destini Brown in the top of the seventh inning clinched the win for the Black & Gold, while Morgan Leinstock recorded her seventh win of the season in the circle. The Golden Eagles held strong defensively, holding Florida's fifth-ranked offense to just four runs.
"We've been telling them the whole time, how good they are and how good they can be," head coach Brian Levin said following the win. "They needed something like this to pull out that confidence and to know that they can beat anybody on any given day."
The Golden Eagles got off to a strong start in the first inning, as Southern Miss put runners on first and second with just one out. Lee crushed a three-run shot over the left field fence to give her squad the 3-0 lead.
The Gators would trim Southern Miss' lead to two, as an RBI single moved the score to 3-1. Smith responded right back in the top of the second, as with two outs and two strikes, the Edwardsville, Ill. native registered her first home run of the season. The solo shot extended the Golden Eagles' lead back to three runs heading into the third.
Florida once again responded, putting up a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to trim the Golden Eagles' lead to one. Scoreless frames in the third and fourth would follow, as Southern Miss took the 4-3 lead into the top of the fifth.
After Southern Miss failed to score in top of the frame, the Gators tied the contest at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth. A scoreless sixth inning followed, leading into a tied contest in the top of the seventh.Â
A throwing error from the Gators brought Brown home, as Southern Miss took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh. A double play from in the bottom of the final frame gave Southern Miss the victory.
"Going into this game, I had all the confidence in the world in our team," Brown said. "We knew they were No. 4, and we just said 'that's just a number.' We just went out and played our best and we didn't lay down for anything."Â
The Golden Eagles secured their first win over a ranked opponent since they knocked off then-No. 17 Ole Miss on March 4, 2018. Southern Miss also defeated its highest-ranked foe since May 25, 2000 when the Black & Gold defeated No. 3 Arizona in the Women's College World Series.Â
The Golden Eagles improved to 3-0 in road contests in 2022, giving Florida their first loss of the season in the process.Â
Up Next:
The Golden Eagles head to Madeira Beach, Fla. for five contests in THE Spring Games. Southern Miss will face off with five different foes over the weekend, starting with a matchup against Central Michigan on Friday, March 4 at 10 a.m. All of the games this weekend with be streamed on FloSoftball.
For the latest information on Golden Eagle Softball, follow the program on Facebook (facebook.com/SouthernMissSB), Twitter (@SouthernMissSB), and Instagram (@southernmisssb).
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Leinstock, Morgan (7-1)
L: Lexie Delbrey (5-1)
Batting:
HR: Lee, Jana 1 ; Smith, Maria 1
RBI: Lee, Jana 3 ; Smith, Maria 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brown, Destini 1 ; Jennings, Scout 1 ; Davis, Tata 1 ; Lee, Jana 1 ; Smith, Maria 1
SB: Brown, Destini 1
HBP: Davis, Tata 2
Batting:
3B: Skylar Wallace 1
RBI: Hannah Adams 1 ; Skylar Wallace 1 ; Charla Echols 2
SF: Charla Echols 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kendra Falby 1 ; Skylar Wallace 1 ; Cheyenne Lindsey 1 ; Sam Roe 1
CS: Cheyenne Lindsey 1
HBP: Hannah Adams 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballINF
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