Southern Miss
11-6
Alabama
15-2
Baseball Holds Off Alabama in Ninth for 9-7 Victory Tuesday Night
3/12/2024 9:48:00 PM | Baseball
The Golden Eagles (11-6) defeated the Crimson Tide (15-2) for the fourth-straight time in Hattiesburg and won for the seventh time over the last 10 meetings between the schools. The crowd of 5,560 was the eighth largest in Pete Taylor Park history and the largest crowd of the 2024 home campaign.
Alabama trailed for most of the game and managed just leadoff home runs from Bryce Eblin and Evan Sleight, to open the third and sixth innings, before exploding for five runs in the ninth. After a leadoff error, the Crimson Tide followed with two singles and a strikeout to load the bases. Sleight then tripled down the line to cut the gap to 9-5.
Kade Snell then followed with a two-run homer for the final scoring of the game, before Kros Sivley came in to get a pair of outs to end the game and earn his first save of the year.
Southern Miss opened the game with three first-inning runs and has now scored in the first inning in 10 of 17 games. With a runner at first and two outs, Billy Butler and Carson Paetow walked, before Davis Gillespie doubled over TJ McCants' head in center field to clear the bases and give the home squad a 3-0 lead.
A sacrifice fly by Slade Wilks in the second gave the Golden Eagles a 4-0 advantage.
Southern Miss added to its lead with a Wilks solo shot in the fifth, his fourth of the year to straightaway center, before adding two more runs in the sixth, one on an RBI single from Dalton McIntyre and the other run scoring off a pitcher's bad pickoff throw to first. Another two-run home run, this one in the seventh by Carson Paetow – his third of the year – completed the home team's scoring.
Colby Allen (2-0) earned the victory in relief, allowing a run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings.
Golden Eagle pitching collected 12 strikeouts in the game, marking the 12th double-digit strikeout contest this season.
Alabama starter Zane Adams (1-1) suffered the loss by allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks over 1 2/3 innings.
Southern Miss now sets its sights for Sun Belt Conference play as they welcome Marshall for a three-game weekend series. The set opens Friday at 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Allen, Colby (2-0)
L: Zane Adams (1-1)
S: Sivley, Kros (1)
Batting:
2B: TJ McCants 1
3B: Evan Sleight 1
HR: Evan Sleight 1 ; Kade Snell 1 ; Bryce Eblin 1
RBI: Evan Sleight 4 ; Kade Snell 2 ; Bryce Eblin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gage Miller 1 ; Ian Petrutz 1 ; Evan Sleight 2 ; Kade Snell 1 ; Bryce Eblin 2
Batting:
2B: McIntyre, Dalton 1 ; Butler, Billy 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 1 ; Pratt, Ozzie 1
HR: Wilks, Slade 1 ; Paetow, Carson 1
RBI: McIntyre, Dalton 1 ; Wilks, Slade 2 ; Paetow, Carson 2 ; Gillespie, Davis 3
SF: Wilks, Slade 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilks, Slade 2 ; Butler, Billy 1 ; Broadus, Gabe 1 ; Paetow, Carson 2 ; Stockman, Tucker 1 ; Pratt, Ozzie 2
SB: McIntyre, Dalton 1
HBP: Pratt, Ozzie 1
