Derek Gallello waiting for a ball to get hit his way. Photo by Ben Robson.

The Charlotte 49ers (12-15, 3-5 C-USA) dropped the second game of the series to Southern Miss (21-7, 7-1 C-USA) Saturday evening 9-1, giving up 15 hits and not taking advantage when getting runners on base.

Colton Laws got the start for the 49ers, only going 4.1 innings and giving up four runs on seven hits. The freshman transfer from East Carolina struggled in the first, allowing three hits to the first three Golden Eagle batters. Laws got a ground-ball double play from the next USM batter but a run came in to score, making for a quick lead for Southern Miss.

Charlotte got their first three runners on base in the first, but were unable to score any runs after Reece Hampton got caught stealing and Drew Ober got thrown out at third base.

The 49ers put pressure on the Golden Eagles’ defense again in the home half of the second inning, but failed to score any runs. T.J. Nichting led off the inning with a single to right field, followed by another single from Zach Jarrett to third base.

Derek Gallello did his part at the plate, bunting the two runners up 90 feet closer to home, but nothing doing as Nichting got caught up between third and home. Nick Daddio grounded to the shortstop to end the 49ers threat in the second, leaving another runner on base at the end of the inning.

Southern Miss put up three runs in the fifth inning off of three hits, one of those being a home run, bringing an end to Laws’ outing. Matt Horkey and Philip Perry finished off the game for Charlotte, giving up at least one run in every inning from the fifth to the ninth.

The 49ers left seven runners on base, majority of those being runners in scoring position, not getting those timely hits to bring in any runs.

Charlotte will face off against Southern Miss for the final game of the three-game series at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Pitching Coach Brandon Hall talking to his pitcher and infield on the mound. Photo by Ben Robson.