Southern Miss pummels Gaels in curfew-shortened game
Published 12:00 am Sunday, April 4, 2010
Southern Miss used a big inning and an efficient offense to blast Saint Mary’s in the finale of a three-game series Saturday in Hattiesburg.
The Golden Eagles pounded out 15 hits — eight of them during an 11-run third inning — and hit four home runs in a 15-7 victory over the Gaels.
The game was shortened to six innings because of a preset travel curfew.
California-based Saint Mary’s had to catch a flight out of New Orleans, so no inning was allowed to start after 3 p.m. The game also started almost an hour later than its scheduled 11 a.m. first pitch because of heavy rains that fell in Hattiesburg throughout the morning.
Anthony Doss and Adam Doleac each hit a three-run homer in the third, and Taylor Walker hit a two-run double as Southern Miss (16-10) erased a five-run deficit and went up 13-7.
Doss and Mark Ellis each finished the game 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs. Marc Bourgeois also homered for Southern Miss.
Justin Fazio was 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored for Saint Mary’s (8-15-1).
Tennessee 5, Ole Miss 2
P.J. Polk went 4-for-5 with two home runs, three RBIs and two runs scored to lead Tennessee to a series-evening win over Ole Miss in Oxford.
Polk led off the game with a home run and added another leadoff homer in the ninth inning to give the Volunteers a 5-2 lead. He also singled in a run in the third inning.
Matt Duffy led off the fourth inning with a home run to break a 2-2 tie and give Tennessee (14-14, 1-7 Southeastern Conference) the lead for good.
Ole Miss (21-7, 5-3) tied the game on Matt Snyder’s two-run homer in the third inning, but ultimately hurt itself with missed opportunities. The Rebels left nine men on base, including two in the bottom of the ninth, and went 1-for-11 with runners on. They had only four hits total.
“It’s not hard to figure out why we lost,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “They got 12 hits and we only got four, along with three home runs. Tennessee just played better than we did. We had a couple opportunities early on with some HBPs and walks with men on base, but we didn’t get the big hit. We had a lot of runners in scoring position, but we didn’t get the hit we needed, especially early, to score runs.”
Tennessee starter Stephen McCray (3-3) allowed all four hits. He struck out five and walked five in seven innings of work. Ole Miss’ Aaron Barrett (6-1) walked none and struck out seven in 6 2/3 innings, but took his first loss of the season.
The final game of the three-game set is today at 1:30 p.m. in Oxford.
Delta State 9, Henderson State 5
Former Warren Central star Josh Gordon hit a solo homer and a triple, and finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored as Delta State (24-10-1, 8-3 Gulf South Conference) finished a sweep of Henderson State (18-14, 3-8).
Cade Hoggard was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, and Michael Vinson hit a solo homer for Delta State.
Georgia 12, LSU 6
Levi Hyams went 3-for-4 with a homer, double and four RBIs, and Georgia scored seven runs in the middle innings to even its weekend series with LSU (22-4, 6-2 SEC).
Hyams singled in a run in the first inning, hit a two-run homer in the third, and doubled in another run in the fifth. Georgia (10-16, 2-6) scored three runs in the fifth inning, one in the sixth and three more in the seventh to take a commanding 10-4 lead.
Kyle Farmer was 3-for-5 with a homer, three RBIs and three runs scored for Georgia. LSU’s Matt Gaudet was 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs.
Alabama 6, Auburn 5
Alabama (19-7, 4-4 SEC) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a come-from-behind win and clinch its weekend series against archrival Auburn (17-10, 4-4).
Jon Kelton, who entered the week as the NCAA leader in on-base percentage, capped the three-run seventh with a two-run single off Auburn closer Austin Hubbard to give Alabama its first lead at 6-4. He was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.