University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
14-7
New Orleans
12-7
Three Homers, Solid Relief Pitching Helps Defeat UNO 12-8 Wednesday
3/23/2022 8:52:00 PM | Baseball
The Golden Eagles (14-7) won for the third-straight time over the Privateers (12-7) and also captured their 11th consecutive game at Maestri Field.
Rhodes entered the game with a 6-6 score and threw four scoreless innings that allowed the Golden Eagles to take the lead for good in the sixth.
The Privateers initially jumped out front with a solo home run to right from Pearce Howard, who belted his third of the year, for the 1-0 advantage in the first.
Southern Miss, though, responded quickly with a pair of runs in the second on a two-run homer to right from Carson Paetow, which was his fourth of the season.
UNO retook the lead in the bottom half of the frame with four runs as they collected three hits, two walks and took advantage of a Golden Eagle error that allowed two runs to score.
The Privateers added another run to go up 6-3 via a wild pitch in the fourth, before the visitors began their comeback.
With Dickerson and Ewing reaching base via a walk and hit batsman, respectively, Christopher Sargent blasted a ball off the second wall in straight-away center to tie the game at 6-6 in the fifth.
After Rhodes retired the side in order in the fifth, he allowed a runner in each of the next three innings – two by singles and a hit batsman – but that was the only damage the relief pitcher allowed as he fanned a career-best eight hitters and walked just one to get the victory and improve to 1-0.
With him putting up zeros, the Golden Eagles countered by scoring in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames to increase their advantage.
A run-scoring double in the sixth from Dustin Dickerson put Southern Miss up for good and they then extended the lead with four more runs in the seventh.
Back-to-back doubles by Sargent and Wilks started the seventh with the second two-base hit driving in a run. Danny Lynch then knocked in Wilks with a single before scoring three batters later on a Rodrigo Montenegro single. Gabe Montenegro then drove home the final run with fielder's choice.
Southern Miss added one more run in the eighth on Wilks' first homer of the campaign, a shot to right field.
UNO finally got to Rhodes in the ninth for a couple of runs, but Landon Harper came in and got the final out on one pitch to end the game.
Reliever Dylan Cunningham (0-1) suffered the loss by allowing a run on a hit and a walk in an inning of work.
The Golden Eagles return to action when the travel to Bowling Green, Ky., for a three-game C-USA series with WKU. The series starts Friday with a 5 p.m., contest.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rhodes, Isaiah (1-0)
L: Cunningham, Dylan (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Sargent, Christopher 1 ; Wilks, Slade 1 ; McGillis, Will 1
HR: Sargent, Christopher 1 ; Wilks, Slade 1 ; Paetow, Carson 1
RBI: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Sargent, Christopher 3 ; Wilks, Slade 2 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; McGillis, Will 1 ; Paetow, Carson 2 ; Montenegro, Rodrigo 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Ewing, Reece 1 ; Sargent, Christopher 2 ; Wilks, Slade 4 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; Paetow, Carson 2 ; Montenegro, Rodrigo 1
SB: Wilks, Slade 1
HBP: Ewing, Reece 1 ; Wilks, Slade 1 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; Montenegro, Rodrigo 1
Batting:
2B: Herron Jr., Anthony 1 ; Bischke, Tyler 1
3B: Cruz, Jeissy De la 1
HR: Howard, Pearce 1
RBI: Howard, Pearce 2 ; Herron Jr., Anthony 1 ; Guidry, Andrew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Furr, Kasten 1 ; Larry, Amani 1 ; Howard, Pearce 3 ; Cruz, Jeissy De la 1 ; Angeron, Drake 1 ; Bischke, Tyler 1
HBP: Furr, Kasten 1
