Southern Miss rallies in 9th to top SELA

HAMMOND, La. -- Southern Miss scored four times in the ninth inning to rally for a 9-7 non-conference baseball victory over Southeastern Louisiana Tuesday night at Alumni Field.

The Golden Eagles (11-2) won for the fourth consecutive game, while SLU fell to 6-6 on the year.

Down two runs heading into the top of the ninth, Nick Dawson opened the last inning with a walk before Dylan Burdeaux singled and Jake Sandlin reached on a wild throw to first base on a sacrifice bunt.

With the bases loaded, Tim Lynch cut the gap to one with a run-scoring single to right and then Burdeaux tied the game on a passed ball.

After a strikeout, Chuckie Robinson lined out and Brennan Breaud threw back to first base to try and pick Lynch off first, but the throw kicked away and Sandlin scored to give the visitors the lead. Michael Gilbert added an insurance run with a wind-aided single to second base to plate Lynch.

The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early advantage with four runs in the second. With two outs, Hunter Slater double and was followed by back-to-back walks to Daniel Keating and Storme Cooper. Dawson drove in the first two runs with the first of three hits, a single to center, and Burdeaux added a two-run double to give Southern Miss the 4-0 lead.

The Lions broke through with six runs of their own in the third as they took advantage of two Golden Eagles errors. Jameson Fisher provided the big blow with a three-run homer, while Sam Roberson added a two-run double and Webb Bobo notched a RBI triple.

Carson Crites extended the SLU lead to 7-4 in the seventh on a Carson Crites run-scoring fielder's choice, before the Golden Eagles got one back in the eighth on an RBI double down the left field line by Keating.

Mason Walley, who pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, walked three and fanned three to earn the victory in his first outing of the season and Cody Livingston retired the side in order in the ninth to earn his third save.

Senior Nick Johnson, who made his first collegiate start in 40 career appearances, threw five strong innings and allowed six runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Drew Avans, the fourth Lion pitcher of the night, gave up three unearned runs over the final inning to suffer the loss and fall to 0-1.

The two teams conclude their two-game season series Wednesday with a 6 p.m., contest at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.

This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 10:23 PM with the headline "Southern Miss rallies in 9th to top SELA ."