TicketsHomer Happy Eagles Drop Bearcats
Contact: Shawn Sell
4/4/2003
Aaron Moll hit his second home run of the year Friday versus Southern Miss. |
AMELIA, Ohio---Southern Miss? Jeff Cook tied a school and Conference USA record by belting three home runs, while driving in seven runs, as the Golden Eagles won a shootout, 15-8 over Cincinnati on Friday afternoon at Midland Field. USM improves to 22-8 overall and a league-best 8-2 in C-USA, while the Bearcats drop to 8-20, 2-8 C-USA.
The Golden Eagles jumped all over Cincinnati starter Brian St. Jean (0-1), putting the Bearcats in a 10-0 hole after just an inning and a half of play. Southern Miss sent 13 batters to the plate in the second inning en route to scoring eight runs in the frame. Cook tagged a run-scoring double in the inning after hitting his first long ball of the ball an inning before.
The Bearcats took their first step towards marching back in the bottom of the stanza as Aaron Moll came up with a huge two-out hit with runners on first and second, knocking his second home run of the season over the left centerfield fence to cut the Golden Eagle advantage to 10-3.
Clint King went long to lead off the fourth inning for Southern Miss, but the Bearcats came back to make it a four-run game with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. All nine Bearcat batters went to the plate in the inning, with Steve Pickerell?s three-run homer, his third of the season, the most devasting blow. Jake Smith greeted USM reliever and game winner Ray Antonelli (1-0) with an RBI single, but Moll followed with a strike out that ended the rally.
Southern Miss gave themselves more breathing room in the top of the sixth, with what would prove to be the crushing blow of the game as Cook took a Kyle Markle pitch out to right center with two runners on for his second bomb of the day. Cook rounded out the Golden Eagle scoring in the ninth inning with a solo home run to center.
?I thought we did a pretty good job considering the hole we put ourselves in early,? said Bearcat head coach Brian Cleary. ?We did a good job of making a game of it, but Southern Miss is an excellent hitting club. It was the second game in a row that we swung the bats well, but we just got too far down early.?
The Bearcats came back to make it the 15-8 final score with a run in the last of the ninth. With one out, Brad Dorrmann singled and moved to second on a wild pitch, before Pickerell drew a walk. After Brad Schutz struck out, Jon DeLuca ripped a run-scoring single up the middle for his third hit of the day to score Dorrmann. The game ended just one batter later when Drew Saylor struck out.
Their were plenty of offensive stars for both teams in the game, led by USM?s Cook who finished 4 for 7, with four runs scored and seven RBI. Jason Lowery went 5 for 5, while Brad Wilcutt also homered for the Eagles. Pickerell and Moll each drove in three runs for the Bearcats, while DeLuca had a team-best three hits. Justin Niefer extended his hitting streak to 12 with a 2 for 5 day and Saylor added a pair of hits.
The same two teams return to action tomorrow morning right back at Midland. The game has been changed to a 10 a.m. start, with Bob McCrory starting for Southern Miss, against Cincinnati?s B.J. Borsa.