Southern Miss rolls over WKU in the early morning hours to set up battle with La. Tech
The Southern Miss baseball team thumped Western Kentucky 11-1 in 8 innings early Thursday morning in a game that started just after 12:15 a.m. and finished at 2:59 a.m.
The game was pushed back from an originally scheduled 7:30 p.m. first pitch after the first game of the day, FAU-ODU, was delayed two hours by inclement weather and Game 3 lasted 4 hours and 59 minutes with Louisiana Tech beating Texas-San Antonio 7-6 in 12 innings.
The decision to play such a late game was left up to USM coach Scotty Berry and WKU coach Scott Pawlowski.
Berry said after the game that there was no hesitation on his part to move forward with the game.
“I wasn’t really worried about that,” he told the ESPN+ crew in the post-game interview. “We haven’t played since (May 16) at FAU. We didn’t have anything last week. I was more concerned with us being sharp after having such a big layoff with no games in 10 days. Our guys didn’t disappoint. They came hungry to play. They had a lot of energy and that’s what you need to play at this level.”
USM sophomore first baseman Christopher Sargent put the game to bed when he hit a grand slam well over the left field wall to put the 10-run rule into effect with none out in the bottom of the eighth.
The Golden Eagles (36-17) should have plenty of time to rest up before they take on Louisiana Tech in the winner’s bracket at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
WKU (26-28) will play UTSA at 4 p.m. on Thursday in an elimination contest.
USM senior right-hander Hunter Stanley was as sharp as ever in the early-morning outing, striking out 14 to tie the C-USA tournament single-game record. He allowed three hits, walking one as he faced 28 batters in 8 innings.
Stanley and the rest of his teammates did their best to adjust to the late start, watching the UTSA-Tech game drag on to set a C-USA tournament record for longest game in terms of time.
“I got up and stretched four or five times before the start of our game just because of the extra innings,” Stanley said. “It kept it the same as I have all season, routine-wise. I was just ready.”
Helped by a two-run triple by Will McGillis, the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one inning and never let the Hilltoppers back in the game.
USM’s nine-hole hitter, shortstop Dustin Dickerson, finished 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.
Southern Miss will turn to senior right-hander Walker Powell, the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year, in Thursday night’s game against Louisiana Tech.
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 3:35 AM.
