MONROE, La. -- With
runners on the corners and one out in the eighth, Dalton Herrington delivered a
sacrifice fly to left that proved to be the difference as ULM came from behind
to defeat No. 24 Southern Miss, 6-5, Tuesday night at Warhawk Field.
Kodie Tidwell led off the eighth inning with a single to
left center and stole second base to move into scoring position. With one out, Taylor Abdalla stepped into the
batter's box in place of Jeff Fuller.
Abdalla singled up the middle to put runners on the corners and force a
pitching change by the Golden Eagles.
Herrington followed with a sacrifice fly to left as Tidwell crossed home
plate to give ULM a 6-5 advantage.
To start the ninth, Devin Malone replaced Jared Dye on
the mound. After recording a line out
and a pop out, Malone gave up back-to-back singles before striking out Breck
Kline to pick up his second save of the season.
“Andrew (Richardson) made some great pitches early but
things didn't go his way,” said head coach Jeff Schexnaider. “He was able to battle and got us four
innings. We brought in Tyler Bray in a
bases loaded situation and he limited Southern Miss to one run and that gave us
a chance. We battled back with the home
run by Corben (Green) and then we scored again in the eighth. I thought it was a total team effort --
Taylor Abdalla had a big hit for us and it was good to see Devin Malone enter
in a pressure situation and get the save tonight.”
ULM's Jared Dye picked up the win in relief to improve to
1-0. Dye entered in the eighth and
allowed one hit before forcing a fly out to end the top of the eighth.
Southern Miss took an early lead as they plated two runs
in the top half of the first inning.
The Warhawks responded with two runs of their own in the
home half of the inning. Herrington
scored ULM's first run (unearned) on a Corben Green RBI single and Green evened
the contest at two when he scored (unearned) on a bases loaded walk to Tidwell.
ULM moved in front, 3-2, in the bottom of the third
inning when Justin Stawychny scored on a double play.
Southern Miss responded with a single run in the top of
the fourth to even the contest at 3-3.
Breck Kline drove in Connor Barron with a single to right field.
The Golden Eagles added a single run in the top of the
sixth and seventh innings to take a 5-3 lead after six and a half innings of
play.
ULM evened the contest in the home half of the seventh
when Green connected on a two-run homer over the wall in left center. Green's first homer of the season and fifth
of his career also plated Judd Edwards.
The Warhawks concluded the scoring with its single run in
the bottom of the eighth inning.
Green led the Warhawks at the plate as he finished Tuesday's
contest with two hits, three RBI and two runs scored.
A.J. Glasshof (0-1) took the loss for the Golden Eagles
after allowing two runs on two hits in one inning of work. Connor Barron led Southern Miss at the plate
as he was a perfect at the plate with four hits and one run scored.
ULM will return to action this weekend as it travels to
Memphis, Tenn., for a three-game series at Memphis. The series will begin Friday at 4 p.m. and
all three games can be heard on 540 AM in Monroe.
