HATTIESBURG, Miss. (March 26) - The University of Southern Mississippi handed the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff their third straight loss as the Golden Eagles defeated the Lady Lions, 4-1 in game one and 13-5 in game two, here Wednesday afternoon at USM Softball Complex.
 
UAPB (5-24) recorded four hits in the contest with Delya Jackson, Rolanda Murry, Tiressa Jacobs and Lacie Sutterfield garnering one hit each for the Lady Lions.
 
USM (16-16) tallied eight hits with Sarah Evans going three-for-three from the plate to lead the Golden Eagles.
 
Shelbee Rodgers (10-7) received the win for the USM as she pitched seven innings, allowing four hits, one earned runs and striking out six in the 26 batters she faced, while Sutterfield (5-11) took the loss for UAPB as she gave up eight hits, four earned runs and striking out five in her six innings in the circle for the Lady Lions.
 
Evans single up the middle scoring both Arielle Pollock and Katie Cleary gave the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.
 
USM made the score 4-0 as they pushed across a run in the bottom of the third and another in the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
Jackson recorded the Lady Lions only RBI as she singled to second base scoring Sutterfield for the 4-1 finale.
 
In game two, UAPB tallied six hits with Paige Garcia garnering two hits to lead the Lady Lions, while USM recorded 15 with Rodgers tallying three hits to lead the Golden Eagles.
 
UAPB jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a Garcia two-run homer to left field.
USM would reclaim the lead in their half of the first with a Mackenzie Sher three-run homer, giving the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead.
 
The Golden Eagles made the score 7-2 as USM plated four runs in the bottom of the second inning.
 
D. Block made the score 8-2 in favor of the Golden Eagles as she scored on an Evans double to left field.
Garcia would cut USM's lead to 8-5 on a three-run homer as she homered for the second time in the contest.
 
USM would invoke the eight-run mercy rule as they plated five runs on six hits for the 13-5 finale in the bottom of the fifth inning.