USM gets first win in Oxford since ‘04

Published 11:24 am Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Southern Miss took out a week’s worth of frustration on Ole Miss on Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles racked up 17 hits, held Ole Miss to three, and crushed the Rebels 10-0 in Oxford.

Blake Brown went 3-for-5 with a triple, homer, three RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Southern Miss onslaught. Six USM players had at least two hits apiece, led by Brown and Chase Fowler with three each.

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Southern Miss had lost three of its last four games coming in, including two of three at home against Murray State over the weekend.

USM has won three straight games over Ole Miss, but it was the Golden Eagles’ first win in Oxford since 2004. The teams play again April 3 at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

Ole Miss, which dropped two out of three in its weekend series with Auburn, has lost three of four overall. It will return to action Friday when it opens a Southeastern Conference series at Alabama.

“We have to get tougher,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “We have to have better at-bats, hit more balls, be more on time with the fastball and hit when we have the opportunity and guys in scoring position. I wish I could say it is one thing, but it isn’t. We have to be able to execute and get better at-bats.”

Brown tripled with two outs in the top of the first inning, then scored on a single by Mason Robbins to give Southern Miss (12-9) a quick 1-0 lead. The Golden Eagles added three unearned runs in the fourth inning, then pulled away late.

Brown belted a three-run homer in the seventh inning to make it 7-0, and Michael Sterling drove in two runs with a single in the eighth to key another three-run outburst.

Four Southern Miss pitchers combined to throw a three-hit shutout. Boomer Scarborough started and went 4 2/3 innings, and was credited with the victory. He struck out two, walked four and allowed two hits. He was lifted in the fifth after hitting a batter and issuing a pair of two-out walks to load the bases.

Paxton King finished the fifth inning for Scarborough, James McMahon allowed one walk in three innings of relief, and Bradley Roney finished up in the ninth.

LSU 15, Southern 5

Tyler Moore and Jackson Slaid homered, Austin Nola was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and LSU collected 18 hits in a win over Southern University.

Moore went 2-for-4 with four RBIs — three of them on an inside-the-park home run in the seventh inning. Slaid hit a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the eighth.

Mason Katz, Ty Ross and Chris Sciambra all drove in two runs apiece for LSU (17-4). Cameron McGriff hit a solo homer for Southern (9-11).

Wichita State 12, Alcorn State 4

Don Lambert went 3-for-3 with a triple, RBI and three runs scored, and Wichita State (13-10) scored in six of its eight at-bats in a rout of Alcorn State (3-17).

Wichita State had 10 hits, but also benefited from a dozen walks issued by Alcorn’s pitchers. Starter Mike Peters walked nine batters, and gave up six hits and eight runs in five innings. Reliever Kevin Gonzalez walked three and threw four wild pitches in two innings on the mound.

Angel Rosa went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and three runs scored for Alcorn.

Delta State 13, Ouachita Baptist 3

Ben Kingsley and Morris Grant had three hits apiece, and Jonathan Andrews went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored as Delta State (16-5) beat Ouachita Baptist (14-14).

Kris Koerper had a pinch-hit, two-run homer for Delta State in the sixth inning, and Sam Kidd delivered a bases-loaded triple in the fifth. The Statesmen scored five runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth to blow open a close game.

Belhaven 15, MC 7

Anthony Doss went 5-for-6 with two homers and six RBIs to lead Belhaven (22-12) past Mississippi College (10-12).

Bud Britt, Tyler Wrinkle and Clay Bonds also had three hits apiece for Belhaven, which jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning. Doss hit a three-run home run during that early outburst and added a two-run shot in the ninth inning.

Spencer Brunson went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored for Mississippi College, and Josh Perez was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.