SAN ANTONIO — Southern Miss awoke from its slumber by swinging the lumber.

The Golden Eagles scored eight runs in the last two innings to storm past Texas-San Antonio 9-3 Thursday night.

Southern Miss (42-12, 23-5 Conference USA) won its 12th game in a row and set a regular-season school record with its 42nd win.

Southern Miss and UTSA (28-24, 15-13) will finish the series with a doubleheader Friday beginning at 1 p.m.
In Thursday’s opener, Southern Miss only had five hits through the first seven innings. One of them was a solo home run by Daniel Keating, but UTSA still took a 3-1 lead into the eighth.

Finally, in the eighth inning, the Golden Eagles got to UTSA starting pitcher Steven Dressler.

A pair of walks chased Dressler from the game, and after a fly out the Golden Eagles came through with three consecutive singles to take the lead against reliever Karl Craigie. The last of the singles, by Tracy Hadley, made it 4-3.

USM didn’t score again in the eighth, but did blow it open in the ninth. Four walks, including one with the bases loaded, brought in a run. Storme Cooper and Hadley both delivered two-run singles as the lead swelled to 9-3.

Nick Sandlin, who had entered the game in the eighth inning, closed it out on the mound for his sixth save of the season.

Colt Smith (6-0) got the win. He allowed three runs in seven innings, on seven hits and one walk. Smith and Sandlin each had three strikeouts.

Hadley finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while Keating and Matt Wallner each had two hits and two RBIs.

For UTSA, Dressler left with a no-decision despite a solid outing. He pitched seven innings, and allowed three runs. He gave up five hits and four walks, and struck out four. Craigie (7-1) took the loss.

Tony Beam hit a solo home run for the Roadrunners.