Southern Miss finishes weekend sweep
Published 8:26 am Monday, April 4, 2016
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Southern Miss kept swinging, rocking and rolling on Sunday.
Tim Lynch and Dylan Burdeaux had career highs with four hits and five RBIs, respectively, and the Golden Eagles beat Charlotte 16-6 to finish a three-game sweep.
Southern Miss (22-7, 8-1 Conference USA) remained tied for first place with Florida Atlantic by winning their sixth consecutive league series dating to last season.
The Golden Eagles scored 34 runs and had 47 hits in their sweep of Charlotte (12-16, 3-6). They’ve had at least 10 hits in each of their last six games.
Despite the prolific offense, however, USM trailed 4-1 after three innings on Sunday. It finally got going by scoring five runs in the fourth inning and six more in the sixth to take a 12-4 lead.
The Golden Eagles added four runs in the ninth for good measure.
“We had a really good start to the day,” Charlotte coach Loren Hibbs said. “But then we weren’t able to stop them. We weren’t able to stop them from scoring all weekend. They have a good offensive team and you have to give them credit.”
Storme Cooper’s two-run single in the fourth inning tied the game at 4, and Burdeaux put the Golden Eagles in front with a two-run triple to center field.
Burdeaux doubled in two more runs in the sixth inning, while Lynch had an RBI single and Chase Scott hit a two-run home run.
Lynch’s two-run double in the eighth helped the Golden Eagles put a bow on the victory. The game ended after eight innings because of Conference USA’s 10-run mercy rule.
Burdeaux finished a home run short of the cycle. He went 3-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored.
Lynch was 4-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored, Scott had two hits, two RBIs and scored twice, and Tracy Hadley drove in two runs.
Cooper and Nick Dawson scored three runs apiece for Southern Miss.
Southern Miss will play Ole Miss Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Trustmark Park in Pearl.