With a grand slam from Joey Archer, Southern Miss jumped out to a 13-4 lead against South Alabama on Tuesday night at Stanky Field in Mobile. Unfortunately, a nine run lead was not enough to hold of the Jaguars. USA responded with 10 runs over the next five innings to take the win.
With runners on first and third with no outs in the top of the ninth inning the Golden Eagles had a chance to tie or win the game, but Kameron Brunty was picked off at third and Adam Doleac hit into double play to end the night.
Scott Berry's club is obviously not "gelling" right now. Poor pitching has doomed the Golden Eagles all season long. Everyone knew pitching would be the achilles heel of the squad, but not this bad.
The bats were there tonight, but fell cold when really needed.
And then there is base running. Brunty's pick off at third in the ninth adds to the second straight season of base running blunders for Southern Miss. Berry or assistant coach Chad Calliet needs to work to correct these inexcusable errors.
USM returns to Hattiesburg this weekend to play St. Mary's. This should be a winnable series, but if the poor pitching and comedy of base running errors continues Golden Eagle fans could be in for a long weekend.
