Bulldogs slug past Eagles

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles (23-17) traveled to Trustmark Park in Pearl on Tuesday to face in-state rival Mississippi State Bulldogs (25-16). To start the game, the Eagles sent sophomore pitcher Boomer Scarborough to the bump to try to quail the Bulldog bats. Scarborough went two innings for giving up one run on one hit and striking out three. The Eagles replaced Scarborough with Jay Myrick after Scarborough faced only two batters in the third.  

The first run of the game came when the Bulldogs hit a ground ball to Southern Miss third baseman Travis Creel, who stepped on third to get the force but eliminated the force at home. After stepping on third, Creel fired the ball home, which would have been a smart move, except Creel had eliminated the possibility of turning the double play by stepping on third and getting the force out there.

The Bulldogs put the game out of reach in the third inning as they put four runs on the board to push the lead to 5-0 over the Eagles. Upon Myrick entering the game, the Eagles’ chances of winning quickly flew over the fence, as MSU launched two two-run home runs, one by Hunter Renfroe and the other by Mitch Slaughter.

The Eagles were unable to get anything going offensively despite out hitting the Bulldogs six hits to five. The Eagles were paced offensively by Kameron Brunty, who notched two hits for the Eagles.

Other players that had hits for the Eagles were: Dillon Day, Masson Robbins and Ashley Greater

After the four-run third, the two teams settled into a pitchers’ duel, as neither team was able to sustain a rally and push across any runs. With the 5-0 loss to the Bulldogs, the Eagles were blanked in the run column for only the second time this season. This is also the second time within the calendar year that the Bulldogs shutout the Eagles, the last time being in the Atlanta Regional last summer.

The Eagles will travel to Charleston, W.Va. on Friday to play C-USA foe Marshall Thundering Herd. The Eagles are currently in fourth place in C-USA and are looking to pick on the last place team, Marshall, to help the Eagles soar even higher in the C-USA rankings.