HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Golden Eagles won the series, taking both games in the doubleheader on Saturday.
Southern Miss shutout the first game, 3-0 and won the second 8-2.
The Roadrunners fall to 17-19 on the season and 6-8 in conference action, while Southern Miss improves to 21-16 overall and 7-7 in C-USA play.
Game 1
Seven hits, including a solo home run pushes the Golden Eagles past the Roadrunners in game one.
In the bottom of the first, Madison Rayner singled to right field. Lacey Sumerlin hit a single to right field as Rayner advanced. Sumerlin then advanced to second on the throw and Rayner advanced to third, but was tagged out reaching home.
With two outs, Destini Brown singled up the middle in the bottom of the fourth. Sarah Van Schaik followed with a single to left field as Brown advanced to third. Van Schaik stole second and Samantha Papp singled to shortstop runners advanced and Brown scored. The Golden Eagles led 3-0 after the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, Madison Washington hit a double to left field, then advanced to third on a throwing error. With one out, Victoria Villarreal was walked, but two more strikeouts ended the top of the frame. For the Golden Eagles, Karley Nichols tripled to right field. Rayner reached first on a fielder's choice as Nichols scored. Sumerlin grounded out to the pitcher and Rayner was thrown out at third.
In the bottom of the sixth, Southern Miss added one more run with a solo homer to left field.
The Roadrunners had three hits, while the Golden Eagles posted seven hits. Both teams had an error on the game.
Game 2
Southern Miss posted 11 hits to run past UTSA in game two.
Bailee Baldwin started the game with a single up the middle with one out on the board, then stole second and third, but couldn't reach home as she was left on base. In the bottom of the frame, Chase Nelson singled pass the shortstop and Madison Rayner followed with a bunt single. Alyssa Davis singled to third base as runners advanced. Destini Brown hit a sac fly to center as Caroline Casey (pinch runner) scored. A popup to the catcher ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Breana Blankenship singled to left center and Samantha Papp reached on a fielder's choice. Heather Hill was walked and Karley Nichols followed with a single to the pitcher as runners advanced and Blankenship scored. Chase Nelson hit a sac fly to left field as Papp scored.
Victoria Villarreal opened the top of the fifth with a double to center field, she then stole third. Riley Grunberg singled up the middle to score Villarreal. Kaitlin Lopez scored Grunberg with a double to right center. Elexus Trenkle had a sac bunt to move Lopez to third. A popup and a ground out ended the top of the frame. The Golden Eagles added five more runs to increase the lead to six. Sumerlin was walked and Davis hit a sac bunt as Sumerlin advanced to second. Brown singled to center field as Sumerlin advanced to third, then Brown stole second. Van Schaik also singled to center field as Sumerlin and Brown scored. With two outs, Taylor doubled to center field as Van Schaik advanced to third. Nichols reached on an error as Taylor and Van Schaik reached home. Nelson followed with a single to center as Nichols scored. A ground out ended the inning as Southern Miss led 8-2.
The Roadrunners had five hits and two errors, while the Golden Eagles had 11 hits.
UTSA and Southern Miss return to the field tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the series finale.
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