Southern Miss put an end to Rice’s 40-series home field winning streak by taking two-of-three games at Reckling Park, winning both games by one run. The series opened with an outstanding pitching matchup on Friday night. Golden Eagle righthander Barry Bowden struck out 10 in eight shutouts innings and Tyler Conn added his seventh save to top the Owls Ryan Berry, who allowed just one run and struck out 13. Rice bounced back with a convincing 9-0 win on Saturday and then on Sunday Southern Miss scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth and then turned back a Rice rally in the bottom of the inning to preserve the series win.
The Marshall Thundering Herd posted their first sweep in league play since 2006, taking three straight against Memphis over the weekend in Charleston. Marshall won a pair of one-run games on Saturday, including a 3-2 win game one on a walk-off balk, and then posted an 11-1 run-rule win in seven innings on Sunday. Dan Straily fired six innings of one-hit ball to earn Sunday’s win, as the Herd pitching staff threw a one-hitter (3-0 win at N.C. State last Wednesday)and a two-hitter (Sunday) this week.
East Carolina took two-of-three in Orlando against No. 19 UCF. The Knights won Friday night’s opener, 3-2, as Mitch Houck struck out nine to lead UCF. ECU bounced back on Saturday with a 10-2 win as Seth Maness worked seven strong innings and Broc Sutton banged out a career high four hits. On Sunday, Justin Bristow fired eight innings of scoreless ball with a career-high eight strikeouts the as Pirates registered another convincing win, 10-1, as to even their league record at 3-3.
Tulane and UAB opened their weekend series with a pair of 8-7 games. The Green Wave held off a bottom-of-the-ninth rally on Friday to earn the victory, but the Blazers came back to even the series on Saturday. On Sunday, Tulane earned its fifth consecutive opening C-USA series win by taking a 12-10 victory.
Houston made its annual trek to the West Coast, facing off at San Diego State. The Aztecs posted an 8-0 shutout on Friday and then rallied to win on Saturday, 7-6 before holding off a furious Cougar rally to sweep UH on Sunday with a 9-6 win.
