Southern Miss
36-14, 18-7
UTSA
33-16, 17-8
Six Run Inning Lifts UTSA over Southern Miss 8-7 Friday Night in C-USA Opener
5/13/2022 10:59:00 PM | Baseball
UTSA cut the gap in the standings to just one game behind league-leading Southern Miss (36-14, 18-7 C-USA) as the Roadrunners snapped a four-game losing streak to the Golden Eagles.
Carson Paetow led the Golden Eagles with four RBI, while Dustin Dickerson and Rodrigo Montenegro each paced the Golden Eagle attack with two hits apiece. Dickerson registered a pair of doubles to give him a team-best 21 this season.
After UTSA scored a solo run on a bases-loaded walk off Golden Eagle starter Tanner Hall, Southern Miss took its only lead of the game in the fifth on a three-run home run by Paetow, just inside the right field fair pole, for his 10th of the year in giving the home team a 3-1 advantage.
The Roadrunners (33-16, 17-8) then exploded for six runs on two different USM pitchers as it was the most runs given up in an inning by the pitching staff since allowing six against Louisiana Tech in the team's final C-USA Tournament game last season.
UTSA exploded for five runs on five hits in the pivotal frame – three coming off of Hall and three more off reliever Landon Harper - before Isaiah Rhodes come in to get a strikeout to end the stanza.
Down 7-3, Paetow drove in his fourth run of the game for Southern Miss with a sacrifice fly in the sixth to cut the gap, but UTSA once again added to its lead by scoring its final run in the seventh on an Ian Bailey single.
Southern Miss added a run in the seventh on fielder's choice by Slade Wilks and Gabe Montenegro and Dustin Dickerson added a run-scoring single and double in the eighth, respectively, to cut the gap to 8-7. The Golden Eagles, though, left the bases loaded and managed just a leadoff double by Danny Lynch in the ninth.
UTSA starter Daniel Garza (3-0) went five innings and allowed four runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts to earn the victory, while Hall fell to 7-2 after giving up four runs on five hits over five frames with two walks and eight strikeouts in the loss.
Luke Malone threw a scoreless ninth for the Roadrunners to earn his second save.
Game two of the series will take place Saturday at 2 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Daniel Garza (3-0)
L: Hall, Tanner (7-2)
S: Luke Malone (2)
Batting:
RBI: Jonathan Tapia 1 ; Ryan Flores 1 ; Sammy Diaz 2 ; Leyton Barry 2 ; Austin Ochoa 1
SH: Ian Bailey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jonathan Tapia 1 ; Josh Killeen 1 ; Ryan Flores 1 ; Shane Sirdashney 1 ; Chase Keng 2 ; Sammy Diaz 1 ; Ian Bailey 1
CS: Jonathan Tapia 1
HBP: Jonathan Tapia 1 ; Shane Sirdashney 1
Batting:
2B: Dickerson, Dustin 2 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; McGillis, Will 1
HR: Paetow, Carson 1
RBI: Montenegro, Gabe 1 ; Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Wilks, Slade 1 ; Paetow, Carson 4
SH: Montenegro, Gabe 1
SF: Paetow, Carson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Wilks, Slade 1 ; Lynch, Danny 1 ; McGillis, Will 1 ; Paetow, Carson 2 ; Montenegro, Rodrigo 1
