Baseball — Demons fall to Southern Miss in series finale

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi – The Northwestern State baseball team was able to overcome too many walks in an opening-day doubleheader split against Southern Miss on Sunday.

Monday’s series finale, however, saw the homestanding Golden Eagles take advantage of everything the Demons failed to do correctly, taking the series with a 10-0 victory in seven innings at Pete Taylor Park.

Four Northwestern State pitchers issued 11 walks and the Demons (1-2) committed three errors, leading to five unearned runs for Southern Miss (2-1).

Left-hander Drew Boyd (1-0) tossed five scoreless innings for the Golden Eagles, striking out nine without issuing a walk.

Boyd surrendered two hits – a first-inning Daunte Stuart single and a fifth-inning Hilton Brown triple – before Matthew Adams worked two hitless innings to finish the game.

Levi David (0-1) took the loss in his first career start, allowing seven runs (four earned) in two innings. The two biggest swings of the game came from Southern Miss center fielder Reed Trimble, who delivered three-run home runs in the second and third innings as the Golden Eagles built a 9-0 lead after three innings.

Nik Millsap worked three innings for NSU in relief, allowing a pair of unearned runs before turning things over to Will Hine, who worked a scoreless sixth inning in his Demon debut.

Freshman right-hander Thomas Sotile allowed a run in the seventh inning in his first outing in an NSU uniform.

The Demons return to action Wednesday when they face ULM in Monroe. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Warhawk Field.

Southern Miss 10, Northwestern State 0 (7 innings)
NSU 000 000 0 – 0 2 3
USM 234 000 1 – 10 6 0
W – Drew Boyd (1-0). L – Levi David (0-1). 3B – NSU, Hilton Brown. HR – USM, Reed Trimble 2 (2). Highlights: USM, Trimble 2-4, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs; Reece Ewing 2-4.