May 24, 2006

HOUSTON - No. 5 seed Southern Miss registered a 6-2 victory over No. 4 seed Memphis in game four of the 2006 Conference USA Baseball Championship at Reckling Park. Golden Eagle starter Barry Bowden held the Tigers scoreless through 6.2 innings of work to secure his third win of the season. Freshman Toddric Johnson had three hits, including a pair of run-scoring singles to lead a 14-hit attack by Southern Miss.

"Barry was outstanding tonight," Head Coach Corky Palmer said. "He beat a very good offensive team and Toddric had some big hits for us in the game. Overall, we defended well, caught the ball well, Barry pitched well and it was good win for us."

Trey Sutton also had three hits, including the only Southern Miss extra-base hit of the game when he led the game off with a double. Sutton's two-base hit led to a pair of first-inning runs for the Golden Eagles. Senior Marc Maddox, who had a pair of hits, drove home Sutton with a single, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Ewing.

The club tacked on two more runs in the third to build a 4-0 cushion on an RBI-single by catcher Kevin Coker and a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Luke Adkins. Johnson's run-scoring singles came in the seventh and ninth innings to give Southern Miss a 6-0 lead.

The Tigers loaded the bases in the eighth inning on a pair of singles and a walk, but Southern Miss reliever Daniel Best induced Chris Newsome into a comebacker to end the frame. Best ran into trouble in the ninth as the Tigers rallied for two runs break up the shutout, but the sidewinder was able to close out the game to record his career-high 12th save of the season. The senior had 11 saves his previous two seasons.

Going scoreless through eight innings was the longest Memphis was held off the scoreboard in a game this season. Will Peterson had three hits and drove in the Tigers' first run of the game with a ninth-inning infield single. Adam Amar drove in the second run with a fielder's choice groundout.