Eagles take two in Southern Miss Invitational

Game 1

Andrew Pierce tossed seven and a third scoreless innings in a 6-3 win over Eastern Illinois in the Golden Eagles’ first game of the Southern Miss Invitational.

Isaac Rodriguez started a four-run second inning with a leadoff double to left-center before Blake Brown followed with a single to left field put runners on the corners with no outs. Designated hitter Tim Lynch plated Rodriguez on a single through the right side of the infield, followed by a sacrifice fly by Andrew Furr scoring Brown.

Bradley Roney walked before Chase Fowler’s single to right scored Lynch and Roney after the ball was misplayed in the outfield, making the score 4-0. The Eagles pushed across one more run in the sixth on a Panther error to stretch the lead to five.

Pierce (2-0) set down the first ten hitters of the game before allowing a one-out single in the fourth. He struck out five, allowing only three hits before an hour and a half rain delay ended his night after only 77 pitches, 55 of which were strikes. 

The Panthers plated three runs in the eighth off Luke Lowery before Daniel Wineski came on to get the save, pitching one and a third innings of hitless relief.

Furr drove in his second run of the game in the bottom half of the eighth on a single up the middle scoring Brown.

Game 2

The Golden Eagles struggled hitting with runners in scoring position, stranding eight runners in a 5-1 loss to Missouri State on day two of the invitational.

Missouri State took a 1-0 lead on two-out Koby Peebles single up the middle in the fourth after a leadoff double off Eagle starter Jake Drehoff. The Bears added two in the fifth on three errors and two wild pitches via the Eagle defense.

The Bears’ starter Nick Petree (1-0), a 2012 All-American, allowed only one run in seven innings of work, striking out seven. Petree stranded eight Southern Miss runners, giving up seven hits and four walks en route to his first win of the season.

Petree set the NCAA record for consecutive scoreless innings, pitching 38 straight innings without giving up a run. He went 73 innings without giving up an earned run, another NCAA record.

Blake Brown drove in the only run on an RBI groundout, scoring Michael Sterling from third.

Cameron Giannini, one of the lone bright spots for the Eagles, threw four solid innings out of the pen, striking out a career-high for the second time this season with seven strikeouts. Drehoff picked up the loss for Southern Miss, pitching four and a third innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

Game 3 

Southern Miss collected a season high 15 hits in route to a 7-2 win over Alcorn State in the final game of the invitational on Sunday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park.

The Golden Eagles struck first, pushing two runs across in the opening frame. Mason Robbins drove in the first run on a double, his first of four hits, in the right-center field gap before scoring on an error by the Alcorn State first baseman.

Southern Miss added two runs in the third inning on five hits and a walk. Roussel ripped a bases loaded single back up the middle scoring Isaac Rodriguez and Tim Lynch, pushing the lead to 5-0.

“I am proud of the way we responded from the loss, setting the tone early by scoring some runs,” head baseball coach Scott Berry said. “All in all, we are just making too many mistakes as a whole right now. We are just an average team because we are not doing any of the little things to be a good team.”

Two-way star Robbins picked up the win, pitching six innings, giving up one earned run on six hits, striking out five.

Alcorn State scored their first run in the sixth inning of Robbins. Cedric Walker led the inning off with a single, followed by a double from Angel Rosa, and scored on Christian Hickman’s sacrifice fly to center field.

James McMahon came on in relief, stranding runners on second and third in the seventh before giving way to Sean Buchholtz in the eighth. Buchholtz threw one inning giving up one run on three hits.

The Eagles tacked on two runs in the bottom of the eighth on three consecutive hits with two outs. Day began the rally with a two-out walk, Rodriguez double down the line scored him, and Robbins drove Rodriguez in on a single over shortstop, his fourth hit of the game.

“I think we are just pressing a little bit so it was good to come out and swing the bats good today,” Robbins said. “Its better to have an ugly win than an ugly loss any day.”