A large midweek crowd at Pete Taylor Park was pleased with the performance by the home team, as an explosive offensive outing allowed No. 12 Southern Miss to annihilate Alabama 14-4 in a shortened game. Fueled by a pair of grand slams, the Golden Eagles (7-1) were able to 10-run rule their SEC foe on Tuesday night.
The Crimson Tide (6-2) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, with a sacrifice fly scoring a run and a single roped into left field scoring another. The visitors’ momentum would quickly fade. Southern Miss, after sending a baserunner to home plate in the bottom of the first inning, erupted in the next offensive frame. A Ben Higdon grand slam in the bottom of the second put the Golden Eagles on top 5-2.
Alabama countered in the top of the fourth as a Luke Vaughn long ball scored two runs, cutting the deficit significantly. Southern Miss promptly rebutted, with a counter the Crimson Tide could not withstand. A bases-loaded walk scored Seth Smith, then a Matthew Russo single sent Higdon and Caleb Stelly to home plate. The icing on the cake, however, was the team’s second grand slam of the night, which was launched over the right field wall by Kyle Morrison, completing a seven-run frame.
Southern Miss added a pair of insurance runs, one off a Davis Gillespie RBI single in the bottom of the seventh and a game-securing Alabama fielding error that scored Ty Long to end things early.
Golden Eagle skipper Christian Ostrander threw nine pitchers on Tuesday with Bruce Littleton getting the win. Littleton fanned all three batters he faced during the top of the second. Offensively, along with big nights from Higdon and Morrison, Southern Miss had strong performances from Gillespie and Smith. Gillespie logged four hits and two RBI, while Smith had three hits.
For Alabama, seven pitchers were active in the game. JT Blackwood was handed the loss after giving up six hits and five runs in two innings. Offensively, Vaughn led the way with two hits and three RBI.
Next up for Southern Miss is a weekend series at Louisiana Tech beginning on Friday at 6 p.m.