Western Kentucky held on to an early lead with timely pitching to beat No. 13 Southern Miss 7-1 in Conference USA baseball action Saturday in Hattiesburg, Miss.

WKU starter Ryan Thurston spun six innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts and zero extra-base hits allowed.

Richard Constantine lifted a two-out RBI single to right field, giving the Hilltoppers (15-15, 5-6) a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

In the third, WKU senior Colie Currie ripped a single down the right-field line to score two runs for his 17th and 18th RBIs of the year.

With runners on the corners, Constantine brought home Jacob Rhinesmith when he reached on an error. After a Tyler Robertson fly ball moved Currie to third, Luke Brown lined a two-out single to left field to push the WKU lead to 5-0.

The following inning, WKU’s Nick Brunson led off with his second hit of the game and came home two batters later when Rhinesmith smacked a home run over the left-field wall.

It was the 10th homer of the year for Rhinesmith, as he became only the second player in Division I this season (Bren Spillane of Illinois, 14-12) to reach double-digit home runs and stolen bases (10).

With a 7-0 lead, Thurston kept rolling. Although he had only one 1-2-3 frame, he halted every Southern Miss (21-9, 7-3) opportunity to inch closer as the game went on.

The Golden Eagles did push a run across in the sixth, but were unable to score any more, with Thurston stranding runners on the corners.

Thurston exited after 121 pitches – including 68 for strikes. He walked four and allowed six singles, but induced two double plays.

With seven strikeouts, Thurston reached 269 for his career at WKU. The lefty passed Ryan Hutchinson (264, 1998-2001) for second all-time in program history.

From the bullpen, righty Conner Boyd got the first out of the seventh inning then gave way to lefty Austin Tibbs.

Tibbs completed the final 2 2/3 innings on 39 pitches – both career-high marks – striking out four while allowing only a pair of hits. In the eighth, Tibbs struck out the side swinging on 16 pitches.

WKU and Southern Miss face off in the rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m. It will be righties Paul Kirkpatrick of WKU and Walker Powell opposing each other on the mound.{&end}