Southern Miss baseball holds off LSU at Hattiesburg regional, forces decisive final game
Editor’s note: For our print and e-edition readers, go to www.sunherald.com on Tuesday to see results from Monday’s Southern Miss-LSU game.
Southern Miss has survived another day and forced a winner-take-all Monday battle with LSU.
The Golden Eagles used a three-run sixth inning Sunday night against the Tigers to separate themselves and held on to win, 8-4 in the nightcap of a marathon day. Earlier in the day, USM pulled out a gritty, extra-inning victory over Kennesaw State that ended just 90 minutes prior to the first pitch against LSU.
“We emphasized one game at a time and for us to get to the second game, we had to win the first game,” USM head coach Scott Berry said. “To get to the third game, we had to win that second game tonight. Couldn’t be more proud of this group of young men. How resilient they are and what they were able to do, their body of work tonight from the mound to offensively to defensively.”
Justin Storm pitched a strong game in relief, giving USM its fourth dominant individual pitching performance of the weekend.
Embrace the Storm
Southern Miss entered the day in an all-hands-on-deck situation on the mound, and, as has been the theme of the weekend, got a regional-altering outing from the pitching staff.
Berry found magic in his bullpen when he turned to Storm in the fifth inning of the nightcap. The sophomore had 9.2 innings under his belt this season and his previous career-long outing lasted just five outs.
Storm entered the game and set down the first six Tigers he faced. It was the beginning a career-high five-inning outing that left the LSU lineup lost.
“Really excited to get the opportunity, this is big boy baseball over here,” Storm said. “That’s a good club over there, we have a good club in our dugout, as well. Just excited.”
Storm struck out seven batters and walked only one in his 15 outs of work. He allowed just four base runners through his 85-pitch night.
Being able to chew through so many innings in USM’s fourth game of the weekend has opened doors for Monday’s finale. Primary back-end bullpen arms Dalton Rogers and Landon Harper will be available, as will Friday starter Tanner Hall if needed.
Cold bats coming back
Dustin Dickerson and Slade Wilks entered the game a combined 1-for-24 in regional play with six strikeouts among them. Carson Paetow was 1-for-16 when he stepped up to bat in the eighth inning.
All three delivered.
Dickerson and Wilks each had two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Down 4-2 in the bottom of the third, Wilks drove in Dickerson with a bases-loaded single.
Later in the sixth, Dickerson slapped the first pitch into left field and scored Gabe Montenegro and kept the line moving in what would be a go-ahead three-run inning.
Then, looking for insurance in the eighth against an LSU team that has performed two miracles in Hattiesburg already, Paetow took a full-count pitch on a ride to the Right Field Roost.
“Good hitters were going to have to step up and we’re going to have to have them be good hitters,” Berry said. “In those moments and on this stage, that’s what these kids dream about.”
Southern Miss had 11 hits in the game, the most the Eagles have strung together in a contest during the regional.
The final contest of the Hattiesburg bracket will be played on Monday at 3 p.m.
The winner moves on to the Super Regional, where they’ll face the winner of Arizona vs Ole Miss.
This story was originally published June 5, 2022 at 9:43 PM.
