Southern Miss reaches 30 wins with Friday win over South Alabama

Southern Miss Sports Information

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - Tanner Hall threw eight strong innings and Danny Lynch homered in the sixth inning to put the Golden Eagles ahead for good in lifting Southern Miss to a 6-4 Sun Belt Conference victory over South Alabama Friday night at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.

The Golden Eagles (30-15 overall, 15-7 Sun Belt) won for the eight-straight time and reached the 30-win plateau for the 21st consecutive season. The series continues Saturday with a 12-noon contest. The game was moved up two hours due to expected inclement weather in the area.

Hall limited the Jaguars (23-22, 11-11) to a pair of runs on three hits with two walks and nine strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 9-3 on the season. The reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week did not allow a hit after the second and retired the final 14 batters he faced.

The Jaguars did open the game with back-to-back hits off Hall – a single to Erick Orbeta and a double to JG Bell before Will Turner knocked in the first run with a sacrifice fly. Hall then gave up a solo home run to Austin Thrasher in the next frame, his third of the year, as the Golden Eagles fell behind 2-0.

Southern Miss scratched back with one run in the fourth. Christopher Sargent opened the inning with a double to increase his hitting streak to 10 games. After a groundout that moved him to third, Sargent scored on a single to left-center field by Reece Ewing.

The game then was tied in the fourth when USA starter Leif Moore hit three straight batters, before Carson Paetow collected a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 2-2.

Lynch then put the Golden Eagles ahead for good in the sixth with a solo home run to right-center for his sixth of the year, before Rodrigo Montenegro knocked in another run later in the frame on an infield single.

Up 4-2, the Golden Eagles got two more runs in the seventh. After Dustin Dickerson walked to open the stanza, Slade Wilks tattooed a ball past the first baseman into the right field corner for a run-scoring triple, Southern Miss finished their scoring with a sacrifice fly by Nick Monistere to plate Wilks.

Heading into the last frame, Southern Miss went to its bullpen for Kros Sivley. After allowing a leadoff walk, Sivley enticed a double play. The Jaguars, though, then followed with a single and two walks to load the bases, before the Golden Eagles went to the pen again. This time it was Justin Storm that entered the game.

After surrendering a two-run single by Thrasher that got over Dickerson’s head at shortstop, Storm got a strikeout to end the game and earn his seventh save.

Southern Miss outhit the Jaguars 8-5 in the game.

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