Stanley handcuffs WKU in 11-1 USM baseball victory

RUSTON, La. (WDAM) _ University of Southern Mississippi senior Hunter Stanley tied a Conference USA postseason record by striking out 14 batters as the Golden Eagles capped off the first day of the tournament with an 11-1 win over Western Kentucky University in eight innings in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

No. 16 USM (36-17) will face tourney host, No. 18 Louisiana Tech (37-16), at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at J.C. Love Field.

Stanley (6-3) had a perfect game going through 5 1/3 innings before Matt Phipps singled to right field with one out in the sixth inning.

Phipps broke up Stanley’s shutout bid when he doubled in the eighth inning to score Jackson Swiney, who had doubled to lead off the frame.

Those were the only hits the Hilltoppers (26-28) would manage off Stanley, who allowed just four baserunners all morning.

USM jumped all over WKU starter Devyn Terbrak (2-4) for six runs in the first three innings.

The Golden Eagles took a 4-0 lead with a two-out scoring binge in the first inning on run-scoring singles by Reece Ewing and Danny Lynch and a two-run triple by Will McGills.

Dustin Dickerson’s two-out, two run double in the third inning gave USM a 6-0 lead.

After WKU scored its lone tun in the top of the eighth, USM ended the affair with five runs in the bottom of the inning on Reed Trimble’s RBI-single and a grand-slam home run by Christopher Sargent.