Tulsa
Southern Miss
Softball Completes Sweep at Southern Miss with 6-3 Win
3/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 25, 2012
Box Score |
Box Score
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Skylar Swanson homered and Lacey Middlebrooks picked up her second complete-game victory of the series as Tulsa completed the weekend sweep at Southern Miss with a 6-3 victory Sunday afternoon at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.
The Golden Hurricane (22-6, 8-1 C-USA) tallied double digit hits for the sixth straight game and picked up its second consecutive C-USA series sweep. Middlebrooks improved to 8-2 on the season after allowing two earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Starter Courtney Ramos (4-7) allowed four earned runs on five hits in 2.1 innings to take the loss for the Golden Eagles (10-17, 2-7 C-USA).
"We made it look pretty easy in the first few innings today," Tulsa Head Coach John Bargfeldt said. "We may have relaxed a little with a six-run lead, but in the end we made the plays we needed to."
Tulsa once again used big innings, and did all of its damage by the third frame, scoring two runs in the first and four runs in the third. USM scored all three of its runs in the fourth inning. Every player in the TU lineup with an at bat recorded a hit, led by third baseman Jill Barrett, who had a single, a double and a triple in the game.
Center fielder Everett tripled to left center to lead off the game and scored on a ground out by Barrett. Shortstop Samantha Cobb doubled to left and scored on a double to center field by Middlebrooks.
The Hurricane batted around and scored four more runs in the top of the third inning on a two-run home run by Swanson and a pair of RBI singles by catcher Cassidy Bowen and left fielder Cierra Hughes. Barrett led off with a triple to right center and Swanson smashed a one-out homer to left field. It was her team-leading eighth of the season.
Second baseman Shelby Blanton and right fielder Jessica Stoelke hit back-to-back two-out singles, followed by consecutive run-scoring base hits from Bowen and Hughes to extend the TU lead to 6-0.
Middlebrooks retired 12 of the first 13 batters she faced, allowing just an infield single in the second inning.
Southern Miss got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases twice and scored two runs on a pair of fielder's choice ground outs. The third, unearned, run scored on a throwing error at shortstop.
USM had baserunners on in the fifth and seventh innings, but the TU defense locked down with the bases loaded in the final frame to prevent any more runs from crossing the plate.
The Golden Hurricane travels to Fayetteville, Ark., midweek matchup at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Tulsa takes a break from C-USA play next weekend, and will play in Austin, Texas, against Texas and New Mexico on March 31.
Tickets to TU home softball games are $5.00 general admission and can be purchased at the gate. Youth softball girls are admitted FREE when wearing their team jersey/uniform.
For all Tulsa softball news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. Follow Tulsa softball on Twitter (www.twitter.com/TulsaSoftball) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/utulsasoftball).
Tulsa 6, Southern Miss 3 (Mar 25, 2012 at Hattiesburg, Miss.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tulsa............... 204 000 0 - 6 12 1 (22-6, 8-1 CUSA) Southern Miss....... 000 300 0 - 3 6 0 (10-17, 2-7 CUSA) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Tulsa - Creger, Aimee; MIDDLEBROOKS, Lacey(1) and Bowen, Cassidy. Southern Miss - RAMOS, C.; DIETRICH, B.(3) and SHER, M.. Win-MIDDLEBROOKS, Lacey(8-2) Loss-RAMOS, C.(4-7) T-1:55 A-360 HR TLS - Swanson, Skylar (8). Weather: Sunny, 80*
