Friday, May 10
Jonesboro, Ark.
6 p.m.
Southern Miss
32-17, 16-9
5
at
2
Arkansas State
21-27-1, 7-17-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Southern Miss
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
3
0
5
12
0
Arkansas State
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
2
5
0
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Three-Run Eighth Propels Golden Eagles to Season-Best 5th-Straight Victory Friday at A-State
5/10/2024 10:44:00 PM | Baseball
JONESBORO, Ark. – Southern Miss ended a tied score with a three-run eighth to defeat Arkansas State 5-2 in the opener of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series Friday night at Tomlinson Stadium-Kell Field.
The Golden Eagles (32-17 overall, 16-9 Sun Belt) won for a season-best fifth consecutive time, while Arkansas State fell to 21-27-1 and 7-17-1.
Southern Miss enjoyed 12 hits, including two each from Dalton McIntyre, Ozzie Pratt, Davis Gillespie, and Carson Paetow, while the Golden Eagles also got seven strong innings for the fourth straight outing on the mound from right-hander Billy Oldham.
With the score tied at 2-2 in the eighth, Pratt opened the inning with a single to right. After a flyout, Gillespie hit a ball to left field the skipped by the defender for a double which also allowed Pratt to score the go-ahead run from first. Paetow then homered to right-center for a two-run shot. It was his 10th round-tripper of the season.
The Golden Eagles initially fell behind in the third as the Red Wolves put a pair of singles together before Allen Grier knocked in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly.
The visitors then took their first lead of the game with a pair of runs in the sixth. McIntyre opened the frame with an infield single. After a sacrifice bunt from Pratt and a strikeout, Gillespie tallied his first RBI double of the game and then scored on a Paetow run-scoring single to right.
The 2-1 advantage did not last long as A-State scored their final run in the bottom of the inning on an inside-the-park home run that got between left fielder Gillespie and center fielder McIntyre. The duo could not pick up the ball and Blake Burris finished with his third homer of the year.
In between the sacrifice fly and home run, Oldham retired 10 batters in a row, and then got out four of the final five batters he faced, throwing his eighth quality start of the year.
Oldham finished the game by allowing two runs on a walk and four hits with three strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 7-1 on the season.
Colby Allen threw the final two innings, giving up a leadoff single to open the ninth before immediately getting it erased on a ground ball double play to along with a pair of strikeouts to earn his third save.
Slade Wilks also singled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 22 games, which is tied for eighth for the longest in school history with Bryant Bowen (2019).
A-State reliever Walker Williams suffered the loss by giving up a run on three hits over 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout to fall to 0-1.
The second game of the series takes place Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Golden Eagles (32-17 overall, 16-9 Sun Belt) won for a season-best fifth consecutive time, while Arkansas State fell to 21-27-1 and 7-17-1.
Southern Miss enjoyed 12 hits, including two each from Dalton McIntyre, Ozzie Pratt, Davis Gillespie, and Carson Paetow, while the Golden Eagles also got seven strong innings for the fourth straight outing on the mound from right-hander Billy Oldham.
With the score tied at 2-2 in the eighth, Pratt opened the inning with a single to right. After a flyout, Gillespie hit a ball to left field the skipped by the defender for a double which also allowed Pratt to score the go-ahead run from first. Paetow then homered to right-center for a two-run shot. It was his 10th round-tripper of the season.
The Golden Eagles initially fell behind in the third as the Red Wolves put a pair of singles together before Allen Grier knocked in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly.
The visitors then took their first lead of the game with a pair of runs in the sixth. McIntyre opened the frame with an infield single. After a sacrifice bunt from Pratt and a strikeout, Gillespie tallied his first RBI double of the game and then scored on a Paetow run-scoring single to right.
The 2-1 advantage did not last long as A-State scored their final run in the bottom of the inning on an inside-the-park home run that got between left fielder Gillespie and center fielder McIntyre. The duo could not pick up the ball and Blake Burris finished with his third homer of the year.
In between the sacrifice fly and home run, Oldham retired 10 batters in a row, and then got out four of the final five batters he faced, throwing his eighth quality start of the year.
Oldham finished the game by allowing two runs on a walk and four hits with three strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 7-1 on the season.
Colby Allen threw the final two innings, giving up a leadoff single to open the ninth before immediately getting it erased on a ground ball double play to along with a pair of strikeouts to earn his third save.
Slade Wilks also singled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 22 games, which is tied for eighth for the longest in school history with Bryant Bowen (2019).
A-State reliever Walker Williams suffered the loss by giving up a run on three hits over 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout to fall to 0-1.
The second game of the series takes place Saturday at 3 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Oldham, Billy (7-1)
L: Williams, Walker (0-1)
S: Allen, Colby (3)
Batting:
2B: Gillespie, Davis 2
3B: Broadus, Gabe 1
HR: Paetow, Carson 1
RBI: Gillespie, Davis 2 ; Paetow, Carson 3
SH: Pratt, Ozzie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McIntyre, Dalton 1 ; Pratt, Ozzie 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 2 ; Paetow, Carson 1
CS: Broadus, Gabe 1
Batting:
HR: Burris, Blake 1
RBI: Grier, Allen 1 ; Burris, Blake 1
SF: Grier, Allen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Burris, Blake 1 ; Campbell, Cason 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballOF/LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballOF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballTrue Grit: Final Episode
Friday, October 20
Episode 1: War Damn Golden Eagle
Tuesday, August 22
Episode 5: Battle for the Belt
Thursday, August 17
Episode 4: Battle for the Belt
Saturday, August 12