Why Southern Miss is a very different baseball team than it was to start the season

With time starting to run out in the 2021 baseball season, the Southern Miss baseball team needs every win it can manage to burnish its postseason resume.

The Golden Eagles got the job done in unconventional fashion against Western Kentucky, defeating the Hilltoppers 6-5 Friday night in the first game of a four-game Conference USA weekend series at Pete Taylor Park.

USM improved to 24-12 overall and 11-5 in C-USA; WKU dropped to 18-19 and 8-9.

The Golden Eagles surrendered a three-run lead in the eighth inning, when the Hilltoppers scored four times to take a one-run lead, then rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth and held on in the ninth with the tying run at third base.

“We’re a much different team than we were earlier in the season,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. “We’ve grown up a lot as a team. We’ve learned how to compete.”

Southern Miss got another quality start from senior right-hander Hunter Stanley, who left in the eighth with a 4-2 lead. But normally reliable freshman lefty Ryan Och surrendered a walk to put the tying run on base then gave up a three-run homer to give WKU a 5-4 lead.

“Of course, he’ll be back out there for some of these next three games,” Berry said. “He’s human, but he didn’t have his best stuff tonight. He was missing and got behind in the count. He actually got real predictable with his pitches.

“On the homer, he kind of got locked into the fastball, and give credit to their guy. He didn’t miss it.”

It was a shame, too, because Stanley was superb once again as the Friday starter, allowing three runs on five hits in 7 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked just one.

“All three of my pitches were working, for the most part,” said Stanley. “I felt like we were able to keep them off-balance, get ahead in the count early with the fastball, then throw some off-speed in there.”

Stanley credits pitching coach Christian Ostrander for helping make the adjustment from a bullpen closer, a role he filled ably in 2020, into a starter capable to throwing 110 pitches, as he did Friday.

“It’s a credit to him and what we did in the fall,” Stanley said “He had told me before fall practice that’s what he wanted of me, being in the starting rotation, and we worked on it all fall.

“Every time I scrimmaged, I extended a little more, a little bit higher pitch count, and it was the same thing we did early in the spring, in preseason. I had experience starting in high school and at Meridian (Community College), so it wasn’t foreign to me.”

He could have used a little more offensive help, however, as the Golden Eagles left 12 runners on base and squandered several good scoring opportunities.

Southern Miss jumped ahead 1-0 in the second inning when sophomore Reese Ewing drew a leadoff walk off WKU starter Jake Kates. Sophomore Danny Lynch followed with a single and sophomore Will McGillis loaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch.

Kates got a strikeout, but freshman Dustin Dickerson, the No. 9 batter in the Golden Eagle batting order, stroked a sacrifice fly to right field to score Ewing. Lynch took third when the throw came home, but McGillis was tagged out at second trying to also advance.

USM loaded the bases with two out in the fifth but were unable to score, then scored two runs in the sixth. However, they came after Hilltopper leadoff man Ray Zuberer smacked a home run on Stanley’s first pitch in the top of the sixth.

“Actually, I executed the pitch I wanted,” Stanley said. “Coach Oz and I talked about it. He called a fastball inside, I got it in where I wanted it, but he was ready for it and just made a good swing. That’s going to happen sometimes. You just have to put it out of your mind and move on to the next pitch.”

It was the bottom of the order that did the damage in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, McGillis hit a double off the leftfield fence, then sophomore Blake Johnson smoked the next pitch just inside the leftfield line for an RBI double.

Kates got a strikeout, but senior Gabe Montenegro delivered a run-scoring single up the middle for a 3-1 lead.

It’s hard to recall now that at one point early in the season, Montenegro was batting under .200. He was 3 for 5 on Friday to lift his batting average to a team-high .348.

“I’ve just really tried to stay within myself,” said Montenegro. “I actually felt good (early in the season), it’s just that nothing was going right for me. So, I just tried to keep a level mind and trust that I was going to start hitting again.”

The Golden Eagles made it 4-1 in the seventh when McGillis was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. But the WKU bullpen was able to limit the rally to one run, another promising inning that fizzled out for USM.

And the Hilltoppers made the most of it in the top of the eighth. With one out, Zuberer singled and stole second. Stanley got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but Jackson Gray doubled to centerfield, driving in Zuberer.

“He’s Mr. Consistency for us,” Berry said. “He probably could have cleared eight (innings) for us. But he was at 110 pitches, the kid hits the double to move them to within two runs and we had Och, who had been performing well, so we went to the pen.”

Och has indeed been steady as the setup man all season, coming into the weekend series with a 0.44 earned-run average, 34 strikeouts and just seven walks in 20 2/3 innings.

But he was shaky from the start. He walked the first batter he faced, then grooved a belt-high fastball on a 3-2 pitch to WKU freshman pinch-hitter Ty Crittenberger, who sent it high and deep over the left field fence.

“We got to the dugout, and our team, we never hang our heads,” Montenegro said. “We just tried to get that first baserunner on and keep the momentum in our favor.”

Montenegro wasted no time in lifting the Golden Eagle spirits. He led off the inning with a double into the gap in right-centerfield and scored when freshman Reed Trimble banged a double off the center field fence.

“They just always find ways to get on base,” said Berry. “Those are the guys who always seem to get it done for us.”

Indeed, the first three batters in the USM order, Montenegro, Trimble and sophomore Charile Fischer, were 6 of 12 for the game. Fischer was back in the lineup after missing the previous five games with a hand injury he suffered on April 11 against UAB.

Freshman Brady Faust, batting in the 3-hole after Fischer was lifted in the seventh for a pinch-runner, sacrificed Trimble to third, and he scored when two Hilltopper outfielders were unable to catch a deep fly ball off the bat of Ewing.

“I was glad that we were at the top of the order after giving up that four-spot, so we could start that thing off, turn the lineup over and see those guys at the plate,” said Berry.

Unfortunately, Och’s troubles continued when he came back for the ninth. After getting a popup behind first base, Och hit WKU’s Kevin Lambert with a pitch then air-mailed a pickoff throw into the rightfield corner, allowing Lambert to reach third.

At that point, Berry sent for sophomore closer Garrett Ramsey to put out the fire. He too started shakily, hitting the first batter he faced. But Ramsey struck out Zuberer looking, and Trimble made a diving catch on a sinking line drive for the final out.

“As soon as Reed made that play, I just felt relief,” said Montenegro. “It was a great play, and after he made it I was just like, ‘Finally.’”

Trimble stayed on the ground for several minutes after making the catch before finally getting up and walking off on his own power.

“It was a game-changer for sure, especially if we don’t do anything in the bottom half (of the ninth),” said Berry. “That was a real athletic play. He got a good jump on it, and it was a tough ball to catch.

“He’s had a shoulder problem that’s bothered him, and he probably re-aggravated it some. We’ll see tomorrow how it feels. He’ll have ice on it tonight, get some rehab and hopefully he can get back to work.”

Och (5-0) did get credit for the win and Ramsey earned his ninth save of the season. Junior Bailey Sutton (2-1), the last of six pitchers for WKU, took the loss.

The two teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, with the final game of the series on tap for 1 p.m. Sunday.

This story was originally published April 24, 2021 at 1:15 AM.