SAN ANTONIO — Southern Miss scored 15 runs in the final two innings to rally for a 20-13 victory over UTSA on Saturday afternoon at Roadrunner Field, evening the Conference USA series at 1-1.
Trailing 12-5 in their final at-bat, the Golden Eagles scored eight runs in the top of the seventh to take a 13-12 advantage. A grand slam by Alyssa Davis with two outs gave the visitors the lead.
UTSA tied it up in the bottom of the frame, as Camryn Robillard singled to left field with two outs to plate Ciarra Mata and force extra innings.
Southern Miss tacked on seven more runs in the eighth, highlighted by a three-run homer from Hannah Borden, and held the Roadrunners scoreless in the bottom of the inning for the win to improve to 27-17 overall and 7-10 in league play.
The Roadrunners, who blasted four home runs and got three hits apiece from Emily Dear, Erykah Guerrero, Kat Ibarra and Camryn Robillard, fell to 15-25 and 8-8 with the loss.
Paige Kilgore earned the win in relief for USM, striking out three and allowing seven earned runs on 11 hits in seven and two-thirds innings of work to run her record to 4-3 on the year.
Dear launched a pair of home runs to pace a UTSA offense that pounded out 16 hits, including six for extra bases.
USM struck first, plating a pair of runs on four hits — all with two outs — in the top of the first. Scout Jennings and Jana Lee had RBI-singles up the middle to highlight the inning.
UTSA answered with seven runs in the bottom of the frame. Riley Grunberg got UTSA on the board with a base hit up the middle that scored Ibarra, who led off with a single to left field. Dear's single to left field plated Robillard, who reached on a double down the right field line, to knot the score at 2-2. Guerrero followed a strikeout with a two-run double to the fence in left center. Kaitlyn Morado then smashed a three-run home run to left center to make it 7-2.
The Golden Eagles got one run back on an RBI-single by Maria Smith to right field in the top of the second, but the Roadrunners pushed their lead to 10-3 in the third when Ibarra belted a three-run homer to center.
Dear lifted a solo home run to right center in the fourth to put the home team up by eight, but USM avoided the eight run-rule in the top of the fifth with a two-run blast to center by Borden.
Dear went yard again in her next plate appearance to give UTSA a 12-5 advantage through six frames before USM's rally.
Jamie Gilbert took the loss for the Roadrunners, surrendering six runs on five hits in two innings.
The rubber game of the series is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.
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