Published: April 24, 2008 10:44 am         

Southern edges Hampshire, 5-4

OAKLAND - Seth Hinebaugh homered and Derek Taylor threw six solid innings and added two hits of his own to lift Southern past visiting Hampshire in an Appalachian Mountain Athletic League game.

The Rams staked Taylor to an early 5-0 lead.

After neither team scored in the first inning, Ryan Sweitzer led off the Southern second with a double and Hinebaugh followed with his home run. Taylor singled, moved to third on a double by Jordan Pacella, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Reece Duncan that made it 3-0.

The Rams (5-5, 2-5 AMAC) tacked on two more runs in the third on an RBI double by Taylor and an RBI groundout by Pacella.

Taylor tossed five shutout innings until the Trojans scored three times in the sixth. Singles by Buddy Wells, Ollie Douthitt and Nathan Whitacre loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly by Cody Moreland made it 5-1, and a two-run single by Bo Boyer cut the margin to 5-3.

Justin Combs singled to open the seventh and scored on an infield error for the final run for Hampshire (6-17, 3-7).

Taylor got the win, pitching six-plus innings and allowing four hits while walking two and striking out seven. Jason Ashby, who relieved after Combs' leadoff single in the seventh, did not allow a hit and struck out two.

Hampshire will host Fort Hill today at 5 o'clock. Southern plays Mountain Ride on Friday, at 5, at Frostburg State. Monday's Northern-Southern game has been rescheduled for May 5, at Southern, at 4:30.