HATTIESBURG — A late lineup scratch necessitated Bryant Bowen being in the Southern Mississippi baseball team’s lineup against Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday night.
The sophomore from Shreveport, Louisiana, made the most of his chance to be the team’s designated hitter for the first time this season with two hits, including the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift No. 12 Southern Miss past Louisiana-Lafayette 9-8 at Pete Taylor Park.
Southern Miss (20-7) rallied with five runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to earn its fourth walk-off victory of the season.
“I had a different speech planned for after the game than what I was able to give, thankfully,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. “Because I’d rather not be mad. I was really happy. Very few times in our losses do I feel like we just didn’t compete to the end. Sometimes you’ve got to win ugly and I think that’s what you saw today.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns had 15 hits and built a 7-1 lead after five and a half innings.
The home squad, though, cut into the deficit with a two-run home run by Luke Reynolds, which hit the top of the left-field wall and bounced over the wall, giving him his seventh of the season.
Another run by the Cajuns in the eighth on RBI single by Tyler Stover increased the lead to 8-3, but Southern Miss rallied in the bottom half of the frame with five runs. It is the second time in the last three games Southern Miss has rallied from five runs late to win a game.
Franklin, who pinch hit to open the inning, walked. Pinch hitter Casey Maack doubled, before Reynolds walked to load the bases. Matt Wallner then connected on a 1-1 Dylan Moore offering for his third grand slam — second in as many games — to give him a round-tripper total of seven for the year.
After a couple of outs, Cole Donaldson and Mason Irby collected singles with Irby’s shot to right thrown back into the infield by Daniel Lahare wild, allowing Donaldson to score and tie the game.
Franklin started the ninth with a single. He moved to third following a strikeout and two walks to set up Bowen’s first game-winning hit as a Golden Eagle.
Hayden Cantrelle led the Cajuns (12-16) with two hits and three RBIs, while Lahare added a game-high three singles.
After the Ragin’ Cajuns scored in four-straight innings from the fourth through the seventh, Sean Tweedy and Trent Driver each threw a scoreless inning down the stretch. Driver allowed one hits and fanned two to get the victory and improve to 2-0.
Moore (1-2) suffered the loss by allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
The teams will play at 6 tonight.
n Jacksonville State 4, Alabama 0: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Crimson Tide slipped to 18-12 with their loss Tuesday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
“Jacksonville State absolutely took it to us, and I’m really disappointed with our group,” Alabama coach Brad Bohannon said. “I did a poor job of getting our kids ready to play tonight, and this was noticeably our worst effort of the year. I have to figure out a way to get our kids more prepared, especially for mid-week games.”
Jacksonville State used four pitchers to combine for the shutout. Reliever Grant Chandler (1-0) earned the win, while Alabama junior starter Sam Gardner (1-2) suffered the loss. Alabama juniors Mason Duke and Dylan Duarte and senior Tyler Adams combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
After four scoreless innings to start, Jacksonville State scored four runs in the fifth.
Alabama had its scoring chances, placing runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings and in the eighth.
Junior Cobie Vance had two of the Crimson Tide’s three hits. Classmate Keith Holcombe had Alabama’s other hit, a double.
Alabama will travel to Columbia, Missouri, this weekend for a three-game, Southeastern Conference series. Game 1 will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday (SEC Network+).
n Mississippi State will play host to Southern: At Starkville, Coming off of a nine-day stretch that featured seven road games, the Mississippi State baseball team (14-15) will open a four-game homestand with a non-conference game against Southern (7-18) at 6:30 tonight at Dudy Noble Field.
The Jaguars will be the Bulldogs’ third Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent in 2018. MSU outscored its first two SWAC opponents by a combined 28-7 (17-1 vs. Alcorn State and 11-6 vs. Texas Southern).
MSU is coming off a 1-3 week in which it lost to Nicholls and dropped two of three games to then-No. 19 LSU.
Tonight’s game is the first meeting between the programs. Nine of the 29 teams MSU will face this season are first-time opponents.
n No. 3 Ole Miss will take on Memphis: At Memphis, Tennessee, the No. 3 Ole Miss baseball team (25-4) will take on Memphis at 6:30 tonight at AutoZone Park.
Ole Miss is coming off a series victory against then-No. 5 Arkansas in which it rallied two win the final two games after losing the opener.
Sophomore right-hander Parker Caracci was named SEC Pitcher of the Week after a tremendous stretch on the mound for Ole Miss. Caracci earned the save in all three of the Rebels’ wins last week.
Third baseman Tyler Keenan was named SEC co-Freshman of the Week after hitting the game-winning home run in Game 3 against Arkansas.
Ole Miss beat Memphis 8-6 in February at Swayze Field.
Right-hander Houston Roth (3-0, 4.55 earned run average) is scheduled to start for the Rebels. He will face left-hander Danny Denz (1-1, 3.77).
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