Photo & Story Courtesy of USM Athletics
Hunter Stanley threw eight strong innings and Southern Miss got a pair of RBI each from Reed Trimble and Danny Lynch as they defeated UAB 7-2 in the series opener Friday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park.
The Golden Eagles (18-9 overall, 5-3 in Conference USA) won for the fourth consecutive time, while the Blazers fell to 10-17 and 3-6.
Stanley limited the Blazers to both runs on seven hits with a walk and eight strikeouts to garner the victory and improve to 5-1. Ryan Och came on to close out the game in the ninth, giving up just one single.
Stanley allowed just six singles, two of those coming over the first five innings, as Stanley got 12 fly ball outs.
Offensively, Southern Miss got on the board first with three runs in the third.
After an out in the third, Trimble tripled to short centerfield taking advantage of the Blazers not covering second or third on the play. After Charlie Fischer was then hit by a pitch, Christopher Sargent followed with a sacrifice fly to plate the first run. After Reece Ewing drove in Fischer with a single, he scored when Lynch tripled to right to make the score 3-0.
Trimble increased the Golden Eagle lead with a two-run homer in the fourth, his team-leading seventh, while Lynch made the score 6-0 with a solo shot in the fifth, his sixth of the of the year. Southern Miss finished its scoring the eighth on a Fischer sacrifice fly.
Austin Bohannon (0-3) allowed six runs on eight hits with three walks and a strikeout to suffer the loss.
The game got moved up three hours to beat expected rains in the Pine Belt Friday evening. The series continues Saturday with a 2 p.m., doubleheader.
