Southern Miss sweeps Charlotte in their three-game series
|Jack Duggan, Assistant Athletic Director/Media Relations
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Tim Lynch collected a career-high four hits and Dylan Burdeaux notched a career-best five runs batted in to lead Southern Miss to a 16-6 Conference USA victory over Charlotte in eight innings at Hayes Field Sunday to complete the three-game sweep.
The Golden Eagles (22-7 overall, 8-1 C-USA) won for the 18th time in the last 19 regular-season league games while winning their sixth consecutive league series – including sweeps the last two weekends – dating back to last season.
Lynch’s four hits led a season-high 17 hits for the Golden Eagles as Burdeaux added three, along with two each from Tracy Hadley, Chase Scott, Storme Cooper and Nick Dawson.
Southern Miss scored in just four different innings in the game, overcoming a 4-1 deficit to after three innings. Charlotte (12-16, 3-6) scored three runs in the first off of Golden Eagle starter Kirk McCarty and added one more in the third.
The visitors, though, took the lead for good with a five-run fourth inning.
After a leadoff walk to Lynch, Chase Scott and Daniel Keating singled to load the bases. Jake Sandlin’s groundout to first knocked in the first run. Following a strikeout, Storme Cooper singled home a pair of runs over the second baseman’s head and Burdeaux, who knocked in the Golden Eagles’ first run in the third on a fielder’s choice, tripled in two more runs off the centerfield wall.
Southern Miss then added six more runs in the sixth as Burdeaux started the scoring with a two-run double, before Hadley drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Lynch tallied a RBI with a single. Scott completed the scoring with a two-run homer to left, his fifth of the year.
The Golden Eagles completed their scoring barrage with four in the eighth which allowed them to 10-run rule the 49ers.
After Dawson and Burdeaux lead off the innings with singles, Hadley drove in a run with a single and Lynch then knocked in two more with a double. The final run scored on a grounder that the second baseman threw wild of first base.
Charlotte added two more runs in the seventh to complete its scoring.
Jake Winston, the second of four Golden Eagle pitchers garnered the victory to improve to 2-0, allowing two runs on two hits, with a walk and a strikeout over 3 1/3 innings.
The 49ers starters, Josh Maciejewski, suffered the loss to fall to 3-3. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits over five innings with a pair of walks and five strikeouts in the contest.
The Golden Eagles return to action Tuesday when they play Ole Miss at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
