University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
35-11, 0
Southern Miss
17-37, 0
Tigers Complete Sweep of Southern Miss
May 08, 2011 | Softball
May 8, 2011
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The University of Memphis softball team completed its sweep of Southern Miss, Sunday, with a 3-1 victory over the host Golden Eagles at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.
No. 4 seeded Memphis (35-11, 15-7 in Conference USA) will face host East Carolina (No. 5 seed) in the first round of the upcoming Conference USA Softball Tournament, beginning May 12 in Greenville, N.C. Southern Miss (17-37, 4-20 C-USA) will face No. 1 seed Houston with the winner facing the victor in the Memphis-ECU contest in the semifinals.
Neither squad pushed a run across until the third inning when Memphis senior Heather Mott hit a two-run home run down the left field line, driving in Ijiah Hargrove. It was Mott’s 10th home run of the season and the 25th of her career, second most-all-time in Memphis history.
Memphis would drive across another run in the fifth thanks to a Lelani Bernardino sac fly to left field that scored Hargrove from third. Though the bases were loaded before that thanks to Hargrove reaching via fielder’s choice and consecutive singles by Alex Marshall and Mott (who went 3-for-4 on the day), the Tigers scratched across just the lone run.
Mott raises her average to .372 on the season, which should remain high enough to hold as the school record for a single season (with the old record being Cara Stiles’ .358 mark in 2006).
The three runs would be more than enough for Carly Hummel (20-5), who displayed her usual mastery on the mound. The sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif., went the distance for her 19th complete game of the season, scattering four hits and striking out four to become just the second Tiger (Jenna Kubesch, 2007 – 24) to win 20 games in a season.
Southern Miss would threaten in the bottom of the seventh inning. Back-to-back singles put a runner in scoring position, then a Memphis error brought in Southern Miss’ lone run of the day with two out in the seventh. Hummel retired the next batter to strand runners on first and second to end the game.
The Tigers record their first series sweep of Southern Miss in school history, and their first-ever series win in Hattiesburg.
Memphis needs one more win to equal the highest total in school history, a mark they hope to achieve against East Carolina, next week.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hummel, Carly (20-5)
L: DIETRICH, Beth (10-18)
Batting:
HR: Mott, Heather 1
RBI: Mott, Heather 2 ; Bernardino, Lelani 1
SF: Bernardino, Lelani 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mott, Heather 1 ; Hargrove, Ijiah 2
SB: McKinley, Maddie 1 ; Brown, Shanna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TAKEDA, Michelle 1
