University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, March 26
Bowling Green, Ky.
1 pm
Southern Miss
16-7, 4-1
14
at
2
WKU
9-13, 1-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Southern Miss
3
0
2
1
0
0
4
2
2
14
21
0
WKU
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
Eagles Club Five Homers in 14-2 C-USA Saturday Victory at WKU
3/26/2022 4:48:00 PM | Baseball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Christopher Sargent had five hits and drove in six runs to lead Southern Miss to a 14-2 Saturday afternoon Conference USA victory over WKU at Nick Denes Field.
The Golden Eagles (16-7 overall, 4-1 C-USA) banged out a season-high 21 hits with two home runs each from Sargent and Slade Wilks, and one from Will McGillis.
Two Southern Miss relievers, Isaiah Rhodes and Dalton Rogers, allowed just three base runners over the final 5 1/3 innings as the Hilltoppers (9-13, 1-4) were limited to just three hits.
Rhodes entered in the fourth and after walking a batter to load the bases, he got out of a jam with a groundout. He allowed just a hit and two walks over 2 1/3 innings with a strikeout to earn the victory and improve to 2-0. Dalton Rogers retired the final nine batters, with six strikeouts, to earn his first save.
It did not take long for the Golden Eagles to jump out to the lead. With one out in the first, Dustin Dickerson singled up the middle to extend his hitting streak to six games, before Reece Ewing was hit by a pitch. Sargent then followed with a home run to left-center to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.
Southern Miss added to its lead with two more solo home runs to start the third. Sargent, who now has a team-best seven homers with now six in his career versus WKU, started the scoring with his second blast of the contest to left on the second pitch he saw. Slade Wilks immediately followed with a homer of his own to right.
The lead was extended to 6-0 in the fourth. After Rodrigo Montenegro walked to open the frame and Dickerson doubled to put runners at second and third, Reece Ewing singled down the leftfield line to knock home Montenegro.
WKU cut into the Golden Eagle lead off Golden Eagle starter Hunter Riggins. After hitting and walking the first two batters in the fourth, Riggins collected a pair of outs with the second one moving the runners up to second and third via a groundout. A wild pitch then by Riggins gave the Hilltoppers their first run and an RBI single followed by Brian McAuliffe.
Riggins then walked another batter before being replaced by Rhodes. Riggins finished by allowing two runs on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings.
The Golden Eagles added four more runs in the seventh. After a leadoff single by Sargent, Wilks laced his second homer of the day, his fourth, over the batter's eye in center field. Carson Paetow added a run-scoring single and Rodrigo Montenegro added an RBI double.
McGillis then added a two-run shot in the eighth, his fourth, and Sargent completed the scoring with a two-run double in the ninth.
WKU starter Aristotle Peter (0-4) allowed six runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts over 3 1/3 to suffer the loss.
Southern Miss goes after the sweep in a Sunday 1 p.m. contest to conclude the series.
The Golden Eagles (16-7 overall, 4-1 C-USA) banged out a season-high 21 hits with two home runs each from Sargent and Slade Wilks, and one from Will McGillis.
Two Southern Miss relievers, Isaiah Rhodes and Dalton Rogers, allowed just three base runners over the final 5 1/3 innings as the Hilltoppers (9-13, 1-4) were limited to just three hits.
Rhodes entered in the fourth and after walking a batter to load the bases, he got out of a jam with a groundout. He allowed just a hit and two walks over 2 1/3 innings with a strikeout to earn the victory and improve to 2-0. Dalton Rogers retired the final nine batters, with six strikeouts, to earn his first save.
It did not take long for the Golden Eagles to jump out to the lead. With one out in the first, Dustin Dickerson singled up the middle to extend his hitting streak to six games, before Reece Ewing was hit by a pitch. Sargent then followed with a home run to left-center to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.
Southern Miss added to its lead with two more solo home runs to start the third. Sargent, who now has a team-best seven homers with now six in his career versus WKU, started the scoring with his second blast of the contest to left on the second pitch he saw. Slade Wilks immediately followed with a homer of his own to right.
The lead was extended to 6-0 in the fourth. After Rodrigo Montenegro walked to open the frame and Dickerson doubled to put runners at second and third, Reece Ewing singled down the leftfield line to knock home Montenegro.
WKU cut into the Golden Eagle lead off Golden Eagle starter Hunter Riggins. After hitting and walking the first two batters in the fourth, Riggins collected a pair of outs with the second one moving the runners up to second and third via a groundout. A wild pitch then by Riggins gave the Hilltoppers their first run and an RBI single followed by Brian McAuliffe.
Riggins then walked another batter before being replaced by Rhodes. Riggins finished by allowing two runs on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings.
The Golden Eagles added four more runs in the seventh. After a leadoff single by Sargent, Wilks laced his second homer of the day, his fourth, over the batter's eye in center field. Carson Paetow added a run-scoring single and Rodrigo Montenegro added an RBI double.
McGillis then added a two-run shot in the eighth, his fourth, and Sargent completed the scoring with a two-run double in the ninth.
WKU starter Aristotle Peter (0-4) allowed six runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts over 3 1/3 to suffer the loss.
Southern Miss goes after the sweep in a Sunday 1 p.m. contest to conclude the series.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rhodes, Isaiah (2-0)
L: Aristotle Peter (0-4)
S: Rogers, Dalton (1)
Batting:
2B: Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Ewing, Reece 1 ; Sargent, Christopher 2 ; Wilks, Slade 1 ; Montenegro, Rodrigo 1
HR: Sargent, Christopher 2 ; Wilks, Slade 2 ; McGillis, Will 1
RBI: Ewing, Reece 1 ; Sargent, Christopher 6 ; Wilks, Slade 3 ; McGillis, Will 2 ; Paetow, Carson 1 ; Montenegro, Rodrigo 1
SH: Montenegro, Gabe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dickerson, Dustin 2 ; Ewing, Reece 2 ; Sargent, Christopher 4 ; Wilks, Slade 2 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; McGillis, Will 2 ; Montenegro, Rodrigo 1
HBP: Ewing, Reece 1
Batting:
RBI: Brian McAuliffe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tristin Garcia 1 ; Aidan Gilroy 1
HBP: Tristin Garcia 1
Game Leaders
AB
6
R
4
H
5
RBI
6
AB
5
R
2
H
3
RBI
0
AB
6
R
2
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
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