McNeese Softball blanks Southern Miss

Staff Reports

The Contraband

McNeese State senior pitcher Jamie Allred took control of the strike zone early in the Cowgirls’ 6-0 softball win over Southern Miss here Tuesday night to extend its winning streak to seven games. The win improved McNeese to 23-6 overall. McNeese will play at South Alabama Wednesday night. The game has been moved to a 4 p.m. start due to the anticipation of rain later in the evening.

Allred improved to 9-1 on the season and picked up her third complete game shutout. She gave up three hits and struck out nine, her second most strikeouts this season, and walked two. Allred retired the first nine batters she faced, striking out six of the nine.

Taylor Goree, Erika Piancastelli, Tori Yanitor, and Justyce McClain all picked up two hits apiece. Goree and Piancastelli extended their hitting streaks to 13 and 12 games, respectively. Both of Piancastelli’s hits were extra base hits including a home run in the first inning and a double in the seventh. Goree also doubled in the seventh and led the Cowgirls with three RBI.

It didn’t take long for the Cowgirls to get on the board when Piancastelli, the Cowgirls’ second batter of the game sent her 15th homerun of the season over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead.

McNeese added three more runs in the fifth inning to take a 4-0 lead. Two of the runs came off two Southern Miss errors and the other run came off a squeeze bunt by Goree that scored Marissa Taunton from third.

Southern Miss threatened to score in the fifth inning with two outs. With a runner on third, the runner on first got caught in a run down between first and second, the runner on third attempted to steal home but was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

A two RBI double in the seventh by Goree extended the McNeese lead to 6-0. Piancastelli double to right center to lead off the inning and Yanitor drew a walk. Both would score on Goree’s double.

The win over Southern Miss is the second of the season by the Cowgirls. McNeese defeated the Lady Eagles 7-4 at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic on February 27. The loss drops Southern Miss to 16-19.