March 28, 2015
Final Stats | Photo Gallery by Michael Patrick Reese 
UTEP 7, Southern Miss 5 
UTEP 6, Southern Miss 13
EL PASO, Texas - Courtney Clayton hit a walk-off home run in game one, as UTEP defeated Southern Miss, 7-5, but fell in game two, 13-6, on Saturday afternoon at the Helen of Troy Softball Complex.
The Miners (9-24, 4-4 Conference USA) were handed their first home loss of the season, while the Golden Eagles (16-17, 2-9 C-USA) stopped a 10-game losing streak.
UTEP 7, Southern Miss 5
The Miners found themselves down 5-4 after Jenifer Gary's pinch-hit three-run single to center field in the sixth inning.
Kiki Pepi answered with a pinch-hitting situation of her own in the bottom half. The sophomore transfer came in the to hit for Tahla Wade with pinch runner Morgan Rasmason on third. Pepi took a 2-0 pitch and singled up the middle, plating Rasmason to tie the game 5-5.
"They did a great job at battling," head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk said. "Timely hits, timely home runs and coming up big in the seventh inning. Especially for a freshman (Courtney Clayton), that good stuff for the future."
Starting hurler Kaitlin Fifield forced two groundouts and tallied a K, as Southern Miss went three up and three down in the seventh.
Ashley Eldridge singled up the middle with one out, while Taylor Sargent popped out. Clayton, who had been struggling in the box, took the 0-1 outside pitch and slammed the ball over the centerfield fence, giving her squad the win.
"We've tried to tweak some things in (Clayton's) swing and worked really hard on it and watched a lot of video over the last couple weeks. She's done a really good job at adjusting and seeing what she's been doing wrong," Echo-Hawk said.
Eldridge, in the third inning, gave UTEP a 4-2 lead after she connected on her second career grand slam over centerfield.
Fifield (5-9) earned the victory, throwing her eighth complete game of the season and striking out four. She also improves to 3-2 in the C-USA only games.
The Miners finished with 11 hits during the first contest.
Eldridge went 2-for-4 with a four RBI and a pair of runs. She also tallied an assist from right field, throwing out a runner at third base in the sixth inning.
Clayton tallied a pair of RBI and a run scored, while Wade went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Kawehiokalani Netane added a knock and a run scored. Linda Garcia tallied her first collegiate double in the sixth inning. Jade Rodriguez added a run and a hit, and Sargent and Hope Moreno added singles.
UTEP 6, Southern Miss 13
With UTEP down 4-2 in the fourth, Sargent and Garcia recorded an RBI each to tie the game. Sargent grounded out, but paved the way for Eldridge to cross the dish, while Garcia tallied her first collegiate RBI on a single to center, plating Pepi.
But Southern Miss scored seven runs on eight hits in the fifth frame, while tacking on another run in the sixth and seventh innings.
Eldridge connected on her seventh long ball of the season, a solo shot in the sixth that hit the scoreboard. Garcia added another RBI, a single through the left side, scoring Clayton, but the Miners couldn't muster up any more runs.
UTEP had loaded the bases on three consecutive bunts in the seventh, but Danielle Block (5-5) forced Eldridge to fly out to center, following with a double play turned by the defense to end Southern Miss' 10-game skid.
Netane went 2-for-4 and connected on her fifth long ball of the season. Eldridge and Garcia finished with a couple hits each. Wade stole her 14th base of the season, coming within one of tying the single-season record.
Up Next
UTEP and Southern Miss will play the series finale on Sunday, starting at noon and kids get in free.
