No.12 Southern Miss Overpowers Alabama Baseball 14-4 in Midweek Blowout

Alabama gets run ruled in Tuesday’s 14-4 midweek loss against No.12 Southern Mississippi, which saw the Golden Eagles come away with two grand slams. 

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The game started with Alabama scoring first at the top of the opening inning. The Tide drove in two runs thanks to a sacrifice fly by third baseman Jason Torres, which brought home leadoff batter and center fielder Bryce Fowler, who had singled to start the inning. Later, first baseman Luke Vaughn hit an RBI single to left field, driving in shortstop Justin Lebron, who had been walked after Fowler’s single. That made it 2-0 going into the bottom of the first.

Southern Miss responded immediately with a run of their own in the bottom of the first inning, courtesy of an RBI single to shallow center field to drive home Joey Urban from second base, making it just a one-run game going into the second inning.

The top-15 ranked Golden Eagles struck in the bottom half of the second inning when right fielder Ben Higdon knocked a grand slam 400 feet over center field for his first homerun of the season and to add four runs to the scoreboard, giving Southern Miss a 5-2 advantage going into the third inning. 

Alabama responded in the top of the third inning with a two-run, 388-foot home run over left-center field from the Crimson Tide’s first Baseman, which gave him his third RBI of the game and his third home run of the season. This made it a one-run ball game going into the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Golden Eagles answered again in the bottom of the fourth, scoring seven runs. Second baseman Kyle Morrison hit a 389-foot grand slam over right field, marking his second home run of the season and the team’s second grand slam of the night. Matthew Russo added three runs with a two-RBI single to left field, and Seth Smith scored after Joey Urban was walked by Alabama pitcher Evan Steckmesser, who had come in to relieve Connor Lehman following two walks to start the inning.

Following Southern Mississippi’s barrage of runs in the fourth inning, the Golden Eagles held a 12-4 lead going into the midway point of the game. By this point in the game, Alabama had already featured four pitchers, with JT Blackwood starting the day off on the mound, but he was pulled in the third inning after allowing six hits and five hits through two innings. 

The Crimson Tide couldn’t respond and didn’t score again for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles added two more runs, triggering the mercy rule in the bottom of the eighth. By then, Alabama had used seven different pitchers in the bullpen during Tuesday’s 14-4 loss.

Alabama will fall to 7-2 on the season with its seven-game winning streak coming to an end in Tuesday’s loss. Rob Vaughn and his Crimson Tide will be back in action this weekend in Frisco, Texas, at the Frisco College Baseball Classic, where Alabama will start the tournament off against Iowa on Friday, February 27th, at 6 p.m. CT.

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