Baseball Game Halted in 8th with No. 13 Golden Eagles Leading, 7-2

Friday, April 6

Hattiesburg, Miss.

7:00 PM

Western Kentucky University

14-15, 4-6

#13 Southern Miss

21-8, 7-2

WKU

Southern Miss

Photo by: Joe Harper, Southern Miss

Baseball Game Halted in 8th with No. 13 Golden Eagles Leading, 7-2

4/6/2018 11:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (See below for EDIT) — Four WKU Baseball errors translated into the first six Southern Miss runs, as the No. 13 Golden Eagles led the Hilltoppers by a score of 7-2 on Friday night before both teams were called off the field due to lightning in the area.

The contest - which was halted in the bottom of the eighth inning with zero outs - will be completed starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 7, with the second game of the series to follow 45 minutes afterward.

Steven Kraft and Jacob Rhinesmith each had two hits for WKU and Richard Constantine had a two-run, bases loaded single in the sixth.

Lefty Evan Acosta earned the start, getting through three scoreless innings before the home team struck for two unearned runs in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead. Righty Michael Martin came in from the bullpen and walked in the second of those runs with two outs and the bases loaded.

In the next frame, Martin fell victim to three unearned runs after a two-out error allowed Southern Miss to load the bases with two outs. Then, a diving effort by Rhinesmith in left-center field couldn't quite reach a Luke Reynolds double that brought home all three for a 5-0 lead.

The Hilltoppers struck for a pair in the next half-inning, as the pinch-hitter Constantine ripped a single into center field with the bases loaded that drove in Rhinesmith and Colie Currie.

Currie made his return to the WKU lineup after missing four games and reached twice via hit by pitch. Coming into the game, the senior had only been hit by pitch four times in his first 78 games on The Hill.

Lefty Troy Newell provided extended relief help for the second consecutive weekend, retiring six straight batters from the last out of the fifth to the second out of the seventh. But another error by the Hilltoppers with two outs helped the Golden Eagles with their sixth unearned run and a 6-2 lead after seven.

Hunter Slater led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo homerun to left-center, then Cole Donaldson followed with a triple off the center-field wall. Righty Conner Boyd then relieved Newell and threw one pitch before the umpires called both teams off the field due to lightning and the hosts rolled the tarp over the infield.

EDIT
To re-start the game, Michael Darrell-Hicks came in from the bullpen. He allowed the inherited runner on third base to score, but ended his inning of work by striking out Fred Frankling with a 96 MPH fastball.

Kraft and Rhinesmith each recorded their third hits of the game to begin the top of the ninth against Keller Bradford and moved to second and third on a ground out. But Luke Brown lined out to the pitcher to end the game, robbing the freshman of two RBI and a seven-game hit streak.

The final score was 8-2, as Southern Miss improved to 21-8, 7-2 and WKU dropped to 14-15, 4-6. The continuation of the game took 19 minutes to complete the final for outs.