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Pirates fall to Eagles in tourney
By The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - Jeff Cook's homer to lead off the eighth inning gave 24th-ranked Southern Mississippi a 3-1 victory against East Carolina and its first appearance in the Conference USA baseball tournament finals.
The Golden Eagles (44-14) will play Tulane (43-16), which defeated Louisville 5-3 behind Tony Giarratano's three hits and four RBIs.
In Saturday's first game, Cook homered against ECU reliever Glenn Tucker (4-4) to break a 1-1 tie. It was the 21st home run of the season for Cook, USM's career leader with 48.
Southern Miss scored again in the ninth on Matt Shepherd's RBI single with two out.
''Two years ago we were in the same position and got beat twice on Saturday by South Florida. It's nice to win and to keep that momentum through the postseason,'' Cook said.
Bases-empty homers accounted for the first three runs. Mark Maddox homered over the left-field scoreboard with one out in the first inning for Southern Miss, and the Pirates' Jake Smith tied the score with a fourth-inning blast, his 10th of the season.
Ray Antonelli (4-0) pitched 3 1-3 scoreless relief innings to earn the victory. Austin Tubb pitched the ninth and recorded his 10th save.
The victory was the 20th in the past 24 games for the Golden Eagles, the tournament's No. 1 seed. The loss eliminated fifth-seeded East Carolina (33-25-1), which won the tournament in 2002.
Later Saturday, Giarratano gave Tulane a 3-0 lead with a three-run homer in the third inning against Louisville starter Jon Harbridge (1-3).
It was the eighth home run of the season for Giarratano, who added an RBI single in the seventh.
Gerald Clark's first homer of the season, a bases-empty blast with one out in the sixth, made it 4-1.
Brian Bormaster had three hits and scored twice for the Wave. Right-hander Billy Mohl (6-2) scattered six hits in his second complete game of the season.
Mohl became the second Tulane freshman to start and win in the tournament.
''Today was another day at the office for the Green Wave. We pitched really well,'' said Tulane coach Rick Jones, whose staff has a 1.67 ERA in three tournament games. ''Billy Mohl gave us a tremendous effort. He has really matured as a pitcher over the course of the year.''
J.T. LaFountain drove in all three runs for seventh-seeded Louisville (34-23), including a two-run homer in the eighth. Both Cardinals losses in the double-elimination tournament came against Tulane.
The Green Wave improved to 32-2 this season at Turchin Stadium and reached the Conference USA finals for the fifth time in eight years. The championship game is today at 1 p.m.
The Golden Eagles (44-14) will play Tulane (43-16), which defeated Louisville 5-3 behind Tony Giarratano's three hits and four RBIs.
In Saturday's first game, Cook homered against ECU reliever Glenn Tucker (4-4) to break a 1-1 tie. It was the 21st home run of the season for Cook, USM's career leader with 48.
Southern Miss scored again in the ninth on Matt Shepherd's RBI single with two out.
''Two years ago we were in the same position and got beat twice on Saturday by South Florida. It's nice to win and to keep that momentum through the postseason,'' Cook said.
Bases-empty homers accounted for the first three runs. Mark Maddox homered over the left-field scoreboard with one out in the first inning for Southern Miss, and the Pirates' Jake Smith tied the score with a fourth-inning blast, his 10th of the season.
Ray Antonelli (4-0) pitched 3 1-3 scoreless relief innings to earn the victory. Austin Tubb pitched the ninth and recorded his 10th save.
The victory was the 20th in the past 24 games for the Golden Eagles, the tournament's No. 1 seed. The loss eliminated fifth-seeded East Carolina (33-25-1), which won the tournament in 2002.
Later Saturday, Giarratano gave Tulane a 3-0 lead with a three-run homer in the third inning against Louisville starter Jon Harbridge (1-3).
It was the eighth home run of the season for Giarratano, who added an RBI single in the seventh.
Gerald Clark's first homer of the season, a bases-empty blast with one out in the sixth, made it 4-1.
Brian Bormaster had three hits and scored twice for the Wave. Right-hander Billy Mohl (6-2) scattered six hits in his second complete game of the season.
Mohl became the second Tulane freshman to start and win in the tournament.
''Today was another day at the office for the Green Wave. We pitched really well,'' said Tulane coach Rick Jones, whose staff has a 1.67 ERA in three tournament games. ''Billy Mohl gave us a tremendous effort. He has really matured as a pitcher over the course of the year.''
J.T. LaFountain drove in all three runs for seventh-seeded Louisville (34-23), including a two-run homer in the eighth. Both Cardinals losses in the double-elimination tournament came against Tulane.
The Green Wave improved to 32-2 this season at Turchin Stadium and reached the Conference USA finals for the fifth time in eight years. The championship game is today at 1 p.m.
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