C-USA Baseball Game Eight: Southern Miss 5, Marshall 3 - CONFERENCEUSA.COM - The Official Athletic site of The Conference USA

C-USA Baseball Game Eight: Southern Miss 5, Marshall 3

	Drew Carson

May 23, 2008

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NEW ORLEANS, La. - Southern Miss left fielder Drew Carson went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a home run, and closer Tyler Conn pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning as the second-seeded Southern Miss baseball team defeated sixth-seeded Marshall, 5-3, in day three of the 2008 Entergy Conference USA Baseball Championship Friday evening at the new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

Barry Bowden (8-3) earned the victory after fanning six and allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits in a 6.0-inning start and Wade Weathers allowed a pair of hits in 1.1 innings out of the bullpen. Conn, meanwhile, entered the ballgame with one out in the eighth and retired the only two batters he faced in the inning.

Marshall trailed 5-2 going into the final stanza, but got a walk, and a hit-and-run single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Herd third baseman Ben Jurevicius cut the lead to two with a sacrifice fly to right and Marshall followed with a single by Adam Yeager before Josh Valle was hit by a pitch to load the bases with only one away. Conn, however, bounced back to strike out Nate Lape and get Victor Gomez to fly out deep to left to pick up his 18th save of the year.

Southern Miss began the scoring when left fielder Drew Carson hit a towering home run to left center field that cleared the 40-foot high state-of-the-art video board beyond the left field wall. The ball traveled an estimated 410 feet.

The Herd tied things up in the fourth when Gomez singled to center field and advanced to third on a throwing error on Jeff Rowley's bunt attempt. Gomez later scored on a ground out by Tommy Johnson.

The Golden Eagles went on top 3-2 in the top of the fifth after Carson doubled to begin the frame, advanced to third on a groundout and was singled home by Keith Winstead.

Marshall's Ben Jurevicius countered USM's score when he smashed a solo home run down the left-field line that just managed to stay fair in the bottom of the fifth, but Southern Miss' Brian Dozier put his team up for good after he blasted a long ball to lead off the sixth inning to give the Golden Eagles the lead again at 3-2.

Southern Miss added another run in the sixth on a Corey Stevens ground out that scored Chris Matesich. The Golden Eagles then pushed their lead to 5-2 when Drew Carson doubled to lead off the ninth, was advanced to third on a sac fly from Matesich and later stole home.

With the win, Southern Miss (40-18) moves on in the winner's bracket and will take on the winner of tomorrow's Tulane/Marshall game at 4:30 p.m. Marshall (27-29-1), meanwhile, will take on host Green Wave at 9 a.m. tomorrow.