Western Kentucky could not slow down the high-powered attack of No. 18 Southern Miss as the Golden Eagles claimed a 12-5 baseball triumph in Game 1 of the weekend on Friday night at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss.
WKU (24-22 overall, 10-12 Conference USA) will look to even the series on Saturday. Josh Bartley (4-3, 5.06 ERA) will start on the mound for WKU against LHP Kade McCarty (4-0, 3.21 ERA) of the Golden Eagles.
Entering the weekend ranked in the Top 10 in the country in homers, Southern Miss (32-14, 16-6) continued its power hitting as the Golden Eagles scored four of their first five runs in the game off home runs.