Feb. 25, 2001

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Jeff Cook walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Southern Miss a 5-4 victory at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field on Sunday.

The walk completed a five-run comeback for Southern Miss (9-3), who trailed 4-0 heading into their last at-bat. The win also gave the Golden Eagles a three-game series sweep of Samford (1-8), who led in the last inning in two of the three losses.

Trailing 4-0 in the Golden Eagles' last at bat, Cook led off with a walk and then avanced to second on an error by Bulldogs third baseman Philip Holmes to put Darren Welch at first. Dusty Haley then homered on a 3-2 pitch from Robert Evans to score three, and Chris Dunn reached on a second error by Holmes before moving to second on a sacrifice by Jonathan Wright.

Shea Douglas had a pinch-hit single that scored Dunn to tie the game at 4-4. Pinch runner Bobby Garner stole second and later took third as a ball got away from catcher Grant Caldwell. Charlie Crabbe intentionally walked Michael Artman to put runners on first and third with two outs, then walked Allen Winningham to load the bases with Cook at the plate. Cook's game winning RBI was the second in three days, as he hit the grand slam on Friday night that led to the Bulldogs' first loss in Hattiesburg.

Samford scored two runs in the third inning, keyed by singles by Ricky Honeycutt, Sae Evans and Cory Sumner. The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 4-0 in the fifth inning when Sae Evans hit a two-run homer to score Honeycutt. Sae Evans led the Bulldogs offensively, going 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and two runs scored. Honeycutt finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs.

Sophomore left hander Robert Evans limited the Golden Eagles for most of the game, pitching eight innings and allowing four runs, two earned, on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Shane Weeks allowed one run on one hit in 1/3 of an inning, and Charlie Crabbe pitched a third, walking three including the winning run.

Samford scored four runs on nine hits and committed two errors. Southern Miss scored five runs on four hits and committed one error. Samford stranded two runners while the Golden Eagles left eight runners on base.

Samford returns home to host Middle Tennessee State at 3 p.m. on Feb. 27 and Alabama A&M at 3 p.m. on Feb. 28.

Samford 002 020 000 4 9 2

Southern Miss 000 000 005 5 4 1

WP: Anthony Rawson 1-0, LP: Shane Weeks 0-1