Southern Miss
23-8, 10-2
Charlotte
17-14, 4-8
McGillis Home Run in the 13th Lifts Southern Miss to 6-5 Victory Sunday to Complete Three-Game Sweep
4/10/2022 6:39:00 PM | Baseball
CHARLOTTE – Will McGillis homered to left field in the top of the 13th which proved to be the game winner as No. 18 Southern Miss posted a 6-5, extra-inning victory Sunday afternoon over Charlotte at Hayes Stadium to complete a three-game Conference USA sweep.
The Golden Eagles (23-8 overall, 10-2 C-USA) won for the fifth time overall and for the 13th time over last 15 games. Charlotte (17-14, 4-8) lost for the seventh consecutive time.
Five Southern Miss pitchers limited the 49ers to three earned runs and only four hits. Garrett Ramsey, the final Golden Eagle hurler, threw the final 1 2/3 innings and allowed a hit and a walk with two strikeouts to get the victory and improve to 4-0.
Southern Miss jumped out in front in the second with a pair of runs. With one out, Slade Wilks walked and Danny Lynch singled, before Gabe Montenegro got a single of his own to load the bases one out later. Blake Johnson then followed with a two-run single to left-center field for the early advantage.
The 49ers tied the game in the fourth in weird fashion. Starter Hurston Waldrep, who did not surrender a hit until the seventh, hit a batter and then walked one to start the frame. After a strikeout, Nate Furman hit a ball to Christopher Sargent who fired to Dustin Dickerson at second base for an apparent out. The 49ers called for a video review and after a 10-minute delay, the umpires ruled that Dickerson did not have his foot on the bag to load the bases.
Another ground ball to Sargent by the next next hitter resulted in an out on a fielder's choice at second, but the relay throw from Dickerson was wild and allowed both runners to score to tie the game at 2-2.
A two-run sixth helped the visitors take the lead again as McGillis doubled down the left field line to score both Reece Ewing and Wilks, who reached via a walk and a single, respectively.
But the 49ers responded again in the seventh with a two-run homer by Kaden Hopson, his second of the year, to knot the game again at 4-4.
Neither team scored until the 12th when the Golden Eagles went up a run on a two-out RBI single by Sargent.
The Golden Eagles got into some trouble in the bottom half of the 12th. Landon Harper, who threw 2 1/3 solid relief frames gave up a single to open the stanza. After a foul out, Harper hit a batter to put a pair of runners on. Southern Miss then went to Garrett Ramsey, who walked the first batter he faced to load the bases.
After a strikeout, Nate Furman hit a slow ground ball to second that McGillis flipped to first for what was called the final out of the game. Like the fourth inning, the umpires went to review and overturned the original call and Furman ended with an RBI single to tie the contest at 5-5. With the bases loaded and two outs, the 49ers followed with a screamer into right-center field that Carson Paetow dove for and caught to end the inning.
After McGillis' homer in the 13th, Ramsey got Charlotte in order to seal the contest. With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 1-1 in extra innings.
Hale Sims, who threw the final three innings for Charlotte suffered the loss and fell to 1-1 on the year. He allowed two runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout.
The Golden Eagles return home for the only time in this nine-game stretch, Tuesday, when they entertain Southeastern Louisiana at Pete Taylor Park. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ramsey, Garrett (4-0)
L: Hale Sims (1-1)
Batting:
2B: Paetow, Carson 1 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; McGillis, Will 1
HR: McGillis, Will 1
RBI: Sargent, Christopher 1 ; McGillis, Will 3 ; Johnson, Blake 2
SH: Montenegro, Gabe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Ewing, Reece 1 ; Wilks, Slade 2 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; McGillis, Will 1
SB: Dickerson, Dustin 1
HBP: McGillis, Will 1 ; Johnson, Blake 2
Batting:
HR: Kaden Hopson 1
RBI: Nate Furman 1 ; Cam Fisher 1 ; Kaden Hopson 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Austin Knight 1 ; Jack Dragum 1 ; Kaden Hopson 2 ; Drew Tyndall 1
CS: Jack Dragum 1
HBP: Cam Fisher 1 ; Kaden Hopson 3
