March 6, 2007

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

PEARL, Miss. - Freshman Todd McInnis pitched eight outstanding innings, not giving up his first hit until the eighth inning and striking out six batters to lead Southern Miss to a 5-0 win over Alabama at Trustmark Park in front of 3,697 in attendance.

McInnis (3-0) retired the first five batters, walked one, retired the next five, walked his second batter, retired seven more batters, walked his third batter, retired another, walked another and then retired five more batters, before giving up his first hit to Emeel Salem and then retired the final hitter. Tyler Conn pitched the ninth inning, giving up one hit, one walk and striking out one.

Tonight's shutout win over Alabama marked the third shutout over the Crimson Tide and the first nine-inning shutout. The first one was a seven-inning 4-0 victory in Hattiesburg on April 7, 1971. The second one was on March 15, 1977, in Hattiesburg, when the Golden Eagles defeated the Tide, 1-0, in a seven-inning game.

With the shutout win over Alabama, the Golden Eagle pitching staff has held their opponents scoreless for the past 22 innings, dating back to the sixth inning against UL Lafayette on Saturday, March 3.

Southern Miss (11-2) scored five runs on nine hits, while Alabama (12-3) finished with two hits and committed two errors. This marked the first win over the Crimson Tide since 2005, when Southern Miss defeated Alabama, 7-4, in Hattiesburg.

Michael Ewing led the Golden Eagles with two hits and three RBIs, Brian Dozier finished with two hits and one RBI and Trey Sutton and Jody Blount each had two hits. Salem and Ryan Rhoden had the two hits for Alabama.

The Golden Eagles scored a single run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Trey Sutton reached on a one-out walk, stole second, advanced to third on Luke Adkins' grounder to short and scored when Michael Ewing reached on an infield single to short.

Southern Miss scored a single run in the fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Bailey Hartel hit a one-out double to right center, moved to third when Jody Blount reached on an infield single to short and scored when Paiml's throw to retire Blount got away after he reached.

The Golden Eagles scored two more runs in the fifth inning to take a 4-0 lead. Brian Dozier led off the inning with a double down the left field line, moved to third on Sutton's drag bunt down the first base line and both Dozier and Sutton scored on Michael Ewing's two-out single up the middle.

Southern Miss scored a single run in the eighth inning to provide the final outcome, 5-0. Blount led off with a single through the left side and scored on Dozier's single to left field.

The Golden Eagles travel to Baton Rouge, La., for a three-game weekend series with LSU this weekend, Friday-Sunday, March 9-11. Friday's game starts at 6:30 p.m., Saturday's at 2 p.m., and Sunday's at 1 p.m.