HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Ben Higdon and Kyle Morrison each hit grand slams to power No. 12 Southern Miss to a 14-4 non-conference baseball win over Alabama in eight innings Tuesday night at Pete Taylor Park. The Golden Eagles (7-1) have now won seven straight games and have defeated the Crimson Tide (7-2) for the sixth consecutive time at home.
The game started with Alabama taking an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Jason Torres and a run-scoring single by Luke Vaughn. Southern Miss responded in the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with a single by Davis Gillespie, who later drove in Joey Urban with a double.
Southern Miss took the lead for good in the second inning when Higdon hit a grand slam off Alabama starter TJ Blackwood, who suffered the loss to fall to 0-1. The Crimson Tide cut the lead to 6-4 with a two-run homer by Vaughn in the third, but that was the closest Alabama got the rest of the game.
The Golden Eagles blew the game open in the bottom of the second with a seven-run inning. After two walks and a bunt single loaded the bases, Urban walked to bring in the first run. Matthew Russo then doubled in two more runs, and Morrison cleared the bases with his second homer of the season, ending the inning with a 13-4 lead.
Southern Miss added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings, ending the game via the 10-run rule. Gillespie drove in one of those runs in the eighth, and the final run scored on Alabama’s third error of the night.
Bruce Littleton, making his collegiate debut, pitched two innings and struck out all three batters he faced to earn the victory. The Golden Eagles outhit Alabama 13-4, with Seth Smith, Higdon, and Morrison each collecting three or more hits.
Southern Miss will now travel to Ruston, Louisiana, to face Louisiana Tech in a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m.
