By Staff
Staff, Wire Reports
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — In a key Conference USA series, Southern Miss put on a hitting clinic in a 14-4 drubbing of the East Carolina Pirates on Friday night.
Southern Miss (27-17, 9-7), winners of nine straight, now sits in fourth place in the C-USA standings.
The Pirates (27-19, 8-8), who have dropped two straight, fell into fifth place.
The Golden Eagles had three huge innings, scoring five runs in the first, five runs in the eighth and four runs in the seventh. Southern Miss finished with 15 hits in the game.
Joey Archer’s three-run blast helped to give the Golden Eagles a 5-0 lead in the first inning. All five runs came with two outs.
B.A. Vollmuth (1-4, 3 runs) walked to start the uprising. Southern Miss then collected four consecutive hits. Adam Doleac (2-4, 2 RBIs) singled to get two aboard. Mark Ellis (3-5, 2 RBIs) slapped an RBI single to left field and Dillon Day (2-4, 2 RBIs) followed with an RBI single into right field for a 2-0 advantage.
Archer (2-4, HR, 4 RBIs) cleared the bases with a three-run shot into left-center. It was his seventh home run of the year.
The Pirates pulled within a run thanks to a four-run third inning, coming off five hits. Devin Harris singled and Cam Freeman (2-3) doubled to get two aboard. Trent Whitehead’s (1-4, RBI) groundout scored Harris to make it 5-1.
Corey Thompson (1-4, RBI) laced a run-scoring single into center. After Kyle Roller (1-2) singled, John Wooten (3-4, 2 RBIs) ripped a two-run double to make it 5-4.
That’s all the Pirates would get off Scott Copeland (7-0), who remained unbeaten on the year. Copeland allowed the four runs and scattered nine hits over seven innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
The game remained 5-4 until the seventh, when the Golden Eagles put up a four spot, thanks to five hits.
Kameron Brunty (2-4, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) started the rally with a leadoff single. Taylor Walker (2-4, 2 runs) was hit by a pitch and Vollmuth’s bunt single loaded the bases. Doleac’s two-run single gave the Golden Eagles a 7-4 advantage. Day and Archer added RBI singles in the frame for a 9-4 lead.
Brunty’s solo shot highlighted a five-run eighth inning that gave Southern Miss a 14-4 advantage. Ellis added an RBI single and Walker, who had singled earlier, scored on a wild pitch. A second error by ECU allowed Southern Miss to score its fourth run of the inning. Marc Borgeois hit a sac fly to plate the fifth run, giving Southern Miss the 10-run cushion.
Zach Woods (6-3) suffered the loss. The ECU starter allowed five runs on 6 hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Mike Wright (2 runs, 2 hits in 2/3 of an inning), Brad Mincey (3 runs, 5 hits in 1 1/3 innings), D.J. Jauss (4 runs, 2 hits in 0 innings) and Brad Hughes (2/3 of an inning) also pitched for ECU.
The two teams will play again today at 5 p.m. ECU’s Seth Maness (8-2) will square off with Southern Miss starter Todd McInnis (4-4).
ECU and Southern Miss conclude the series Sunday with a noon game.