Zac Lowther Leads Musketeers to Series Opening Shutout at Southern Miss

Friday, March 10

Hattiesburg, Miss.

7 p.m.

Xavier University

7-7

Southern Mississippi

9-4

Xavier

Southern Miss

Zac Lowther Leads Musketeers to Series Opening Shutout at Southern Miss

03.10.17 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)

Xavier takes game one on Friday night, 2-0

By: Greg Lautzenheiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Junior LHP Zac Lowther led the Xavier baseball team to a 2-0 shutout at Southern Miss on Friday night in the series opener between the schools. Xavier moved to 7-7 on the year, while the Golden Eagles dropped to 9-4.

The loss for Southern Miss snapped its 13-game home win streak, the longest in the nation (dating back to the 2016 season). The Golden Eagles also moved to 44-7 over its last 51 games at Pete Taylor Park.

The shutout is the first of the season for Xavier and its first since a 9-0 win over Villanova on May 21, 2016.

XU AT THE PLATE

• Xavier collected one more hit, 5-4, than the Golden Eagles. Southern Miss also left two more runners on base (7-5) than the Musketeers. Xavier also had one error, while Southern Miss had zero miscues.
• Mitch Gallagher was the lone Musketeer with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-2 at the plate.
• Joe Gellenbeck (1-for-4, R), Nate Monastra (1-for-4, RBI) and Conor Grammes (1-for-4, R) were the only other Xavier players with a hit.
• Joe Gellenbeck and Nate Soria have both reached base in all 14 games this season for XU.
• Will LaRue recorded a stolen base, his team-leading eighth of the season. He is 8-for-8 on the base paths.

XU ON THE MOUND

• Zac Lowther (2-2) pitched six scoreless innings, only allowing one hit with seven strikeouts and two walks. The junior left-handed pitcher struck out the first three batters he faced to open the night.
• Matt Kent threw two scoreless innings of relief, surrendering two hits with one strikeout.
• Taylor Williams closed the game, allowing one hit and throwing one strikeout in one inning of work. He posted his third save of the year.

HOW XU SCORED

FIRST INNING: Nate Monastra hit a two-out, RBI single through the right side to score the first run of the game.
SECOND INNING: Conor Grammes crossed home plate on a Will LaRue fielder's choice.

UP NEXT

• Xavier and Southern Miss will play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 11 at noon. Game three of the series was slated for Sunday, but inclement weather in the forecast forced the schedule change.