Trojans Outlast Southern Miss, 10-8, in Tuscaloosa Regional
6/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
| 2006 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional |
BOX SCORE
Trojans Outlast Southern Miss, 10-8, in Tuscaloosa Regional
TUSCALOOSA, ALA -- Sparked by a three-run homer by left fielder Blake Green and a two-run, two-out round tripper by second baseman Edgar Ramirez in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Troy Trojans advanced to the winners' bracket of the Tuscaloosa Regional with a 10-8 victory over the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in the opening game.
"You saw tonight what I've seen from this team for the entire season, a very determined team that keeps battling, keeps competing," Troy head coach Bobby Pierce said. "But you never know with those types of delays how that's going to affect your ball club. I actually thought J.J. (pitcher J.J. Whetsel) was better off of the delay. I thought he threw the ball better. His arm was looser. That's not always the case."
Junior relief pitcher J.J. Whetsel, who came into the game in the fourth inning, picked up his fifth win of the season, as he went 3 2/3 innings and gave up two runs. Ryan Belanger, the second of five Golden Eagle pitchers, was credited the loss, leaving him at 8-2 for the season.
"It was a long game," Southern Miss head coach Corky Palmer said. "Both teams battled hard. We made a lot of mistakes. We only had one error, but we made a lot of mistakes. We cannot afford mistakes. To win at this level, you can't make mistakes."
Trojan junior right-hand ace Clegg Snipes, who entered the game with a perfect 7-0 record, failed to last through the third inning, giving up four runs and eight hits. USM starter Barry Bowden suffered a similar fate, going three innings as well and giving up four runs.
USM took an early advantage, scoring twice in the top of the first with Trey Sutton and Toddric Johnson reaching home on a two-out bases loaded single by designated hitter Luke Adkins. Sutton opened the game with a single on the first pitch of the game by Troy starter Snipes. Johnson also singled before Kevin Coker walked to load the bases.
Troy cut the lead to 2-1 in the second when Josh Dew scored on a Ramirez sacrifice fly. After USM had scored twice in the third on a two-out single by shortstop Brian Dozier, The Trojans' Green evened it up at 4-4 in the bottom half of the inning on a three-run home run off USM's Bowden.
After Marc Maddox, who broke the Eagle school record of 292 hits with his two base raps, started the top of the fourth with a single off the left field wall, the game was delayed nearly 75 minutes after a lightning strike and a thunderstorm.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Troy took a 6-4 lead when Green doubled in Dew, who had also doubled, and then scored on an error by USM shortstop Dozier.
The Trojans extended their margin to 8-4 when Jared Keel scored on a wild pitch and Mike Felix crossed home on an Ian Craze sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.
Whetsel, who had come in the game in relief in the fourth, shut the Golden Eagles out until the eighth inning when Dozier and Johnson homered to cut the Trojan lead to 8-6.
Troy quickly re-established its four-run advantage, thanks to the two-run homer by Ramirez, upping the score to 10-6. The Trojans received a break when Ramirez popped up a foul ball on the pitch prior to his homer to right field, but the Golden Eagles couldn't locate the ball in the mist and lights and it fell harmlessly to the Sewell-Thomas turf.
In the top of the ninth, the Golden Eagles scored twice and had the tying run at the plate; but Trojan reliever Dew, who started the game as the designated hitter, struck out Maddox to end the final USM rally. Southern had scored its final two runs on a wild pitch and a run-producing single by Sutton..
Troy, the Sun Belt Champion, upped its season record to 46-14, while the Golden Eagles of Conference USA dropped to 38-22. USM had swept Troy three straight back in March in a series held in Hattiesburg.
The game was slowed by two rain delays of 90 minutes apiece, and finally finished some six hours after the first pitch at 2:30 p.m. USM will play Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in an elimination game against the loser of Alabama vs. Jacksonville State while the Trojans will meet the winner of that contest at 6:30 p.m.
