Graduate transfer Hunter Riggins is bringing composure to Southern Miss pitching staff
Hunter Riggins spent four years and nearly 300 innings pitching at the Division II level for Delta State before finally deciding he was ready to compete at the highest level of college baseball.
The graduate transfer landed at Southern Miss at just the right time, giving the Golden Eagles an instant weekend starter a season after losing two All-Americans to the professional ranks.
Riggins made his season debut Saturday against North Alabama and showed why head coach Scott Berry was so high on him in spring practice.
He threw six innings of efficient ball on just 74 pitches and was not charged with an earned run. Riggins struck out five and walked just one in USM’s 7-3 win over the Lions.
His pitch mix confounded hitters throughout the afternoon as he induced 11 groundouts to just two fly outs.
“It’s a long time coming,” Riggins said after the win. “I’ve been here all fall working hard. It’s great to be out there ... it was a good experience.”
According to Berry, Riggins has a composure on the mound that reminds him of former starter Walker Powell, who now plays in the Chicago Cubs organization.
“They’re very similar,” Berry said. “Their arm angles are different, but their presence is the same. They don’t really get sped up with anything and I think our players feed off of that. They can feel that those guys are in command of what they’re doing.”
That composure was on display at multiple points in Riggins’ start. He allowed a base hit in the first at-bat of the game but escaped damage by forcing a pair of groundouts around a punchout.
Then the right-hander was tested in the fourth inning when a myriad of errors led to two unearned runs coming across for the Lions.
With the game teetering on a momentum shift and a runner in scoring position, Riggins calmly struck out the final batter on only three pitches.
He then came back and pitched perfectly clean fifth and sixth innings.
“I trust these guys, obviously we’re making great plays out there,” Riggins said. “They’ll make them for me. It just happened all at once, a couple of bad-played balls. It’s all right.”
Riggins’ calm demeanor and attitude on the mound played a key role in Southern Miss clinching the opening series against UNA.
It may have helped Riggins knowing that he has the unique distinction of playing against UNA at both the D-II level before the Lions reclassified and now at the D-I level. Riggins appeared in three games against UNA as a freshman in 2018, surrendering zero runs across two innings of work.
There’s 53 regular-season games left to be played, but the maturity of Riggins’ play and style is already impacting the Golden Eagles.
This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
