USM baseball drops, 4-1, decision in Sunday's series finale to ODU

From University of Southern Mississippi Sports Information

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Blake Morgan scattered six hits over seven-plus innings as Old Dominion University salvaged the final game of the Sun Belt Conference series with a 4-1 victory over the University of Southern Mississippi Sunday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park.

The No. 22 Golden Eagles saw a five-game winning streak snapped as the Monarchs scored solo runs in four different innings.

Tyler Zedalis had three hits and drove in a pair of runs for ODU (5-12,1-2 Sun Belt), which had seen the Golden Eagles (14-6 overall, 2-1) cross home plate 22 times in best-of-three series’ first two games.

Morgan (2-1), who struck out six and didn’t walk a batter, put an end to USM’s parade of runs, retiring the first six Golden Eagles to face him and 15 of the first 18 batters he saw.

His only trouble came in the third inning, when he gave up back-to-back, two-out singles to Drey Barrett and Jake Cook. But Morgan got Ozzie Pratt to fly out to end the threat.

Barrett provided the Golden Eagles’ lone run with his second home run of the season, a solo shot off Morgan to open the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Monarchs scored first in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by TJ Aiken.

Zedalis tripled in a run in the third inning, and then blasted his first homer of the season to open the seventh.

ODU added an insurance run in the ninth on an Aiken’s RBI-double.

Golden Eagles starting pitcher Grayden Harris (2-1) allowed two runs on five hits over four innings. He struck out five and walked no one.

USM travels to Trustmark Park in Pearl for a 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday with No. 13 University of Mississippi (15-4).

The teams met on Feb. 25, with the Rebels taking a 15-8 victory on Oxford, Mississippi.

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