LAFAYETTE – Dustin Dickerson's one-out single to center in the eighth inning snapped a 2-2 ballgame and Southern Miss added an insurance run in the ninth to earn a 4-2 victory over the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in the finale of a three-game non-conference series Sunday afternoon at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field at Russo Park.
Garrett Ramsey (1-0) pitched 3.2 innings of scoreless relief as Southern Miss (8-3) won the final two games of the series after Louisiana (6-6) opened with a 5-3 win in Friday's opener.
Dickerson led a 13-hit day for the Golden Eagles, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate with Gabe Montenego, Danny Lynch and Will McGillis each recording two hits.
Louisiana trailed 2-0 after five innings as McGillis led off the second inning with his second home of the season before Lynch hit an RBI single in the third off Louisiana starter Jeff Wilson. The Ragin' Cajuns tied the game with a two-run sixth inning as Will Veillon drew a walk-off USM starter Hurston Waldrep before moving to second on a wild pitch.
Kyle DeBarge then greeted reliever Drew Boyd with a single to right to put runners on the corners before Connor Kimple's sacrifice fly off Ramsey scored Veillon to cut USM's lead to 2-1.
DeBarge advanced to third after a stolen base and throwing error before scoring on Heath Hood's ground-rule double to right-center field.
After both teams went down in order in the seventh, USM took the lead for good after loading the bases with one out. McGillis reached on a ground-rule double down the left-field line off Bonds (1-1) before Carson Paetow and Rodrigo Montenegro were hit by pitches to load the bases.
Dickerson recorded a single to center off Ragin' Cajuns reliever Drew Shifflet to give USM a 3-2 lead, but Louisiana kept the Golden Eagles to scoring more as Shifflet got out of the jam with pop-up and grounder back to the mound.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases again in the ninth after a pair of singles and a walk before Christopher Sargent slid in under the tag on Paetow's sacrifice fly to center.
Ramsey scattered a pair of hits for USM while Waldrep fanned four batters and allowed four hits in 5.0 innings of work. Bonds tied a season-high with five strikeouts for Louisiana and pitched a season-high 4.0 innings for Louisiana.
Hood led Louisiana at the plate going 2-for-4 with Kimple reaching on a second-inning triple and Jonathan Brandon a fifth-inning double.
Louisiana will hit the road for a pair of midweek games beginning Tuesday at Louisiana Tech. The Ragin' Cajuns will then venture to face New Orleans on Wednesday before returning home to face Houston beginning Friday in a three-game series.
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