‘We never make it easy.’ How Southern Miss rallied for a sweep of Murray State.

Last year, Southern Miss made a capital investment for its baseball program, installing FieldTurf over the entirety of the playing surface at Pete Taylor Park.

That investment paid off the very first weekend of the 2020 season, as it allowed the Golden Eagles to play as scheduled Sunday, despite heavy overnight rains and a steady misty drizzle all day, and they made most of the opportunity.

USM (3-0) got its bats unlimbered and received clutch efforts on the mound from a pair of freshman relievers in an 8-7 victory over Murray State. An announced crowd of 3,337 braved a cold, wet afternoon to watch the Golden Eagles sweep the Racers in the three-game series.

“We probably would have played two (Saturday), and that’s what we’re trying to stay away from,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. “If, at all possible, we can get three gates on the weekend, that’s what we want to do, and that’s what our fans want us to do.”

USM showed its resiliency in Sunday’s series wrap-up, twice coming from behind with clutch hitting at big moments. The Golden Eagles smacked out 12 hits off four Racer pitchers, including a 4-for-4 effort from sophomore designated hitter Charlie Fischer.

“I struggled a bit to start the spring,” said Fischer, who was 7 for 10 over the three games. “So, I’m just starting to get the feel of everything. I’m just seeing pitches pretty well. The coaches got me ready for this moment, helped me deliver for this team.”

Both Sunday and in Friday’s 6-0 season-opening win, the Golden Eagles showed some late-inning thunder.

USM scored all its runs in the seventh inning Friday, and the Golden Eagles scored three runs in the seventh Sunday to take the lead for good, then added an insurance run in the eighth that proved to be the margin of victory.

“We had to find ways to keep scoring,” said junior outfielder Gabe Montenegro, who was 2 for 4 with two runs-batted-in. “We never take it easy. We’ve always got to keep the energy up and find ways to keep getting hits and scoring.”

Berry wasn’t certain about Montenegro’s position at the top of the Southern Miss batting order when he got to the ballpark Sunday after his leftfielder took a pitch off his right hand and had to come out of Saturday’s game.

“The first lineup I made out, didn’t have him on it,” said Berry. “But then I heard that the swelling was down, and he said he could go, so we put him out there.”

Montenegro said there was a little discomfort, but he was able to grip a bat during warmups, and he felt like he could play.

“They did some x-rays (Saturday), and there was nothing fractured,” said Montenegro, a Guatamalan. “It was just inflamed a little bit and bruised. I took some swings in the cage before the game and it felt fine. I wanted to play.”

Montenegro wasn’t the only player with an injury concern. Starting first baseman Will McGillis sat out for the second straight game after suffering a slight hamstring pull in Friday’s game. Berry said with the weather like it was, keeping McGillis on the bench was the best play.

And McGillis’ replacement, senior Brant Blaylock, came through with some big hits, going 2 for 4 with two runs on Sunday. His double with one out in the third started Southern Miss on its first comeback trail, a two-run rally than turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead.

Freshman left-hander Chandler Best got the start Sunday and was greeted by a two-run Murray State rally in the top of the first. USM tied it with two runs in the second, with Montenegro getting an RBI single.

But when Best walked the leadoff batter in the third, Berry went to another freshman making his collegiate debut, right-hander Matthew Adams.

Adams surrendered a run-scoring double to the first batter he faced, then settled in and retired the next 10 before running out of gas in the sixth.

A third freshman, right-hander Isaiah Rhodes, came on to start the seventh and went the rest of the way, giving up a leadoff home run in the ninth, but nothing else to earn the victory.

“The biggest thing is we got three guys out there who got their feet wet, and a taste of Division I baseball,” said Berry.

“There are always a lot of nerves running through there. Chandler kept missing arm-side and he just couldn’t get back inside on righties, and he’ll take that experience and move forward. Matt Adams gave us a real shot in the arm with his outing. He soaked up some innings for us.”

Adams ran into trouble after striking out the leadoff batter in the sixth. The Racers got a runner on with an error, then another reached on a walk. When Adams went to 2-0 with the next batter, Berry went to senior lefty Sean Tweedy.

But Tweedy was unable to come back on Racers’ catcher Tanner Booth, who walked, then a wild pitch got the tying run across, followed by an RBI single and a run-scoring sacrifice fly to make it 6-4.

Rhodes came in fresh for the seventh and quickly got a 1-2-3 inning.

“I was anxious,” Rhodes said. “It was a good anxious. I was excited to pitch. I’ve been wanting the ball, wanting my opportunity. I just wanted to throw strikes. My stuff moves, so I wanted to throw strikes and make these guys roll over.”

Southern Miss used walks to pave the way for their big inning in the bottom of the seventh off Murray State reliever Jake Jones, who got out of a bases-loaded jam without allowing a run in the fifth, then pitched a scoreless inning in the sixth.

Blaylock and sophomore Danny Lynch drew walks to start the inning, bringing up Fischer, who had walked in his previous at-bat on four pitches. His opposite-field single to shallow left field scored Blaylock with the first run of the inning.

“Obviously, his command wasn’t there, so I knew he had to attack me, even if it was a fastball,” said Fischer. “I got one, it was low and away. I was late on it and just drove it the other way. He had to come in to me and I was able to execute.”

Redshirt sophomore Fisher Norris singled to load the bases, and after Jones got a pop-up for an out, Dustin Dickerson – yet another freshman – was hit by a pitch for the tying run, and Montenegro drove in his second run of the game with a sacrifice fly to left.

Senior second baseman Matt Guidry was hit by a pitch to lead off the USM eighth, and that kept his on-base streak alive. The former Oak Grove standout has now reached base at least once in 58 consecutive games.

Guidry went to second on a short ground ball down the third-base line, reached third on a wild pitch and scored on Fischer’s second double of the game.

That run came in handy as Murray State’s Brock Anderson stroked a pinch-hit homer down the line in rightfield to lead off the top of the ninth, but Rhodes got three groundball outs to nail down the victory.

“You’re always disappointed when someone hits a ball like that,” said Rhodes. “I’ve been mentally preparing. This is the next level, and I know it’s going to happen, so I’m not going to let it bring me down.

“I think it’s awesome that the freshmen are stepping up. It’s nice knowing we’ve got younger guys who can pick up the older guys. I think we have a pretty exciting younger staff.”

Berry knows that if the Golden Eagles are to go where they want to go this season, the young players are going to have to do much of the work.

“We are a young team, mixed in with some older guys, that are going to have to lead by example,” said Berry.

“We had four freshmen in the field and two sophomores in our lineup today. It’s a fun team that plays together. Certainly, there are some things we have to do better, but pitching-wise, I’ve been very pleased.”

The Golden Eagles will get right back on the field Tuesday night when New Orleans comes to town for a 6 p.m. start. Berry said he has, “a pretty good idea who we’re starting, but we’re going to wait until Monday to announce it.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2020 at 7:12 PM.