USM Takes Series Opener 13-6
April 25, 2006 | Baseball
* Official Statistics (PDF)
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Mississippi (28-15) jumped onMississippi State starter Brooks Dunn for seven first-inning runsTuesday night and the Golden Eagles went on to nail down a 13-6 win inthe first game of a two-game mid-week set at Pete Taylor Park. The gamedrew a paid crowd of 4,770, the second-largest at the Golden Eagles'home park.
USM sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring seven times on six hits.Three of the hits did not leave the infield and a double play grounderthat was deflected by base umpire Charles McElroy kept the inning goingand scored USM's second run. Four of the runs were unearned, crossingthe plate after Brian Dozier's two-out fly ball was dropped in rightfield. Trey Sutton, who opened the game with a double and scored USM'sfirst run, singled in the last two runs in the frame.
Catcher Kevin Coker went 4-for-4 and drove in four runs as USM piled up13 runs on 17 hits.
MSU loaded the bases off USM starter Barry Bowden to open the game butmanaged to score just once when Joseph Hunter drew a bases-loaded walk.Trailing 7-1, the Bulldogs tightened the game with a three-run blast inthe second by Edward Easley and in the third when Hunter drilled atwo-run home run to make it a 7-6 game.
But USM answered with three runs in their half of the inning to buildthe USM lead out to 10-6 and cruised on to the win. USM's 17 hits wasthe most allowed by State pitching this season and the 13 runs scoredmatched a season-high for runs allowed.
Bryan Adams, the second of four USM pitchers in the game, picked up hisfirst win of the year, striking out five and allowing one run on threehits over four innings.
Easley went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs with his third home run topace MSU's 10-hit attack.
The game heated up in the seventh inning when first base umpire JosephSmith ejected Ron Polk for disputing an inning-ending call at firstbase. In an unusual move, Southern Mississippi's uniformed securityofficials marched onto the field from first and third base gates andremoved Polk from the field.
The Bulldogs and the Golden Eagles close out their two-game midweek setWednesday at 6:30 p.m.
