Southern Miss baseball’s new ace dazzles on opening day

Scott Berry has been saying since the beginning of fall camp last year that Southern Miss would play a different style of baseball in 2020 than fans have seen from the Golden Eagles in recent seasons.

A lot of pitching, a lot of defense and a grind-it-out approach at the plate is the kind of game Berry envisions, and that style was on full display Friday at Pete Taylor Park in the Golden Eagles’ season opener.

USM got smothering pitching from Gabe Shepard and Ryan Och, some big plays in the field and just enough offense to roll past Murray State 6-0 as an announced crowd of 3,707 watched on a gorgeous late-winter afternoon.

“I think defensively and on the mound that’s how we’re hanging our hat,” said Berry. “But, offensively we’ve got to cut out the strikeouts.

“We’re not going to hit the longball. I hope I’m wrong, but I haven’t seen it enough to where I’m OK with us striking out. I think we need to embrace being able to compete at the plate and put the ball in play.”

Against the Racers, Southern Miss made the most of six hits, the biggest of which was a two-run single by redshirt sophomore Will McGillis in the bottom of the seventh inning, when the Golden Eagles scored all their runs.

“They had just walked the bases loaded, so I knew they were going to bring in a guy who could fill up the (strike) zone,” said McGillis.

“Coach Berry told me to be aggressive and look for something over the plate that I could shoot up the middle. I got one a middle away that I could shoot to rightfield.”

Only one of those six runs were needed, the way Shepard and Och pitched. The two threw a combined one-hitter, striking out 11 Racers, seven by Shepard and four by Och.

Shepard went to a 3-0 count with the first batter that he faced, came back to get a flyball out and he was never seriously threated again.

“I felt good, a little bit of jitters, but mostly just excited,” said Shepard, a right-hander from Mobile, Alabama. “I told myself to just calm down. I kind of let the fans and some stuff get to me. I got excited, so I had to calm down and just fill up the zone.”

Shepard gave up a hit batter with two out in the first and a leadoff single in the third, then retired the last 14 batters he faced before coming out of the game with two out in the top of the seventh.

“I was (on a pitch count),” said Shepard, who threw 77 pitches. “I just wanted to take it easy for the first game. We haven’t talked about (extending the pitch limit), but I’m sure it’s just a feel thing for me. I think the coaches do a pretty good job with that.”

Berry turned to Och, a redshirt sophomore lefty who didn’t pitch the second half of last season after suffering an injury at midseason.

Och surrendered a walk to the first batter he faced but got a strikeout to get out of the seventh and allowed just a single walk with two out in the ninth.

“I was excited to get him back,” said Berry. “He pitched 12-and-a third innings for us last year, before he had the injury and we had to shut him down.

“He’s got really good stuff, as you saw tonight. I think his velocity was up there, and his ability to find the zone was good. I think he ran up some counts that were hitter’s counts and was able to get back in for outs.”

Murray State starter Trevor McMurray kept the Golden Eagles off balance through the first five innings, allowing just three singles, striking out four and walking two. Reliever Brayton Cook did the same in the sixth, getting a 1-2-3 inning.

But it was a different story in the seventh. Cook opened the inning by issuing walks to sophomore Charlie Fischer and freshman Ryan Trimble, then redshirt freshman Andrew Stanley executed a perfect sacrifice bunt down the first base line.

After that, Cook completely lost the strike zone, walking the next three batters to allow the first two runs of the game to trot home. Redshirt freshman Fisher Norris walked in the first run and senior Matt Guidry walked in the second.

“We stayed in the middle of the ring with them, exchanged punches and finally got a big blow there in the seventh,” said Berry. “It all started with the walks. (Norris) has been swinging it awfully good all fall and spring, so I liked our chances there. I was very confident in Fisher.”

Sophomore Danny Lynch made it 5-0 with a single, then he and pinch-runner Brant Blaylock executed a perfect double-steal for the final run of the inning.

The defense was there as well for the final piece of the puzzle for Southern Miss.

McGillis, making his first start at first base after playing shortstop last season, made a diving stop on a sharp grounder in the hole in the fourth in his best effort of the day, as well as the routine plays.

“I felt really comfortable over there,” said McGillis. “I think it will depend on the game, but I think we’ve got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things, a lot of versatility. So you’ll see some bunts like you saw with Andrew Stanley, but we’ll have some guys who can hit.”

The Golden Eagles and the Racers will square off again Saturday, beginning at 4 p.m. Senior right-hander Walker Powell is scheduled to start on the mound for Southern Miss.

This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 9:20 PM.