Southern Miss baseball has high hopes on the heels of hosting its first Super Regional
Expectations are soaring in Hattiesburg after Southern Mississippi baseball hosted a super regional for the first time in school history in 2022, punctuating its sixth consecutive trip to the college baseball postseason.
And soon enough, Pete Taylor Park will once again host throngs of fans to watch the newest iteration of one of college baseball’s fastest-elevating programs.
The Golden Eagles have earned national recognition in recent years, and this season are mentioned in every preseason top 25 poll that’s been released to date, including landing as high as No. 8 at College Baseball Nation.
Coach Scott Berry’s club has developed into a mainstay among traditional powers in a state that boasts each of the past two national champions: Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
The Rebels were responsible for USM’s exit from the tournament last year, but Berry says the pressure has been applied to keep the championship trophy in-state.
“I’ve had both (Ole Miss and Miss. State) coaches reach out and say, ‘Hey, one year it was us, one year it was them, it’s your year next year,’” Berry said during media day. “But I’m sure they’re going to be trying to get another year of a national championship under their belts, as well. That speaks volumes about the state of Mississippi and college baseball and baseball as a whole.
“Those two programs winning national championships the last two years, you look at our program right there getting beat by the national champion last year. I don’t think there’s any other state that’s more representative of the college baseball world than the state of Mississippi, and I’m very proud of that.”
Berry made sure to note the fan support surrounding the Eagles is in place. The school has broken its season ticket record for the third year in a row, just one season removed from finishing 13th in the nation in total attendance.
The USM lineup is experienced. Multi-year starters return in three different spots in the infield and the corners of the outfield are filled with familiar faces.
New players have arrived with promise of putting a charge into an offense that was prone to falling stale at times a year ago.
The biggest question mark lies with the pitching staff, where Berry has to replace two weekend starters and several key bullpen arms.
But All-American ace Tanner Hall returns to anchor the group and keep afloat the programs expectation to return to the final stage of the postseason.
“It starts with our players that are returning,” Berry said. “That experience, that excitement, experiencing the grind. Everything that went into the resume of last year’s season to get to that point to be selected as one of the at-large bids... but once again falling short of what our goal is and that is to go to the national tournament there in Omaha.
“In year ‘21, I felt like that momentum played so well going into the championship game against Ole Miss in their regional kind of gave us momentum into last year. Hopefully our finish and the way it ended up will give us that momentum going into this year.”
Southern Miss returns 20 players from last year’s team, though left-hander Chandler Best is lost for the season with Tommy John surgery. Of the 19 healthy returners, Berry said 12 saw significant action on last year’s 47-win club.
Berry is excited about the mix of experience and new blood the roster boasts. Position battles have cropped up and depth has been addressed.
That includes the catcher position, where split-starters Blake Johnson and Rodrigo Montenegro both return. But unlike last season when a Johnson injury left the Golden Eagles with just Montenegro for 21 games, there’s depth behind the plate with the additions of Alabama transfer Graham Crawford and freshman Tucker Stockman.
Second base has its own battle after the graduation of Will McGillis, but that same blend of experience and youth has given Berry options to work with that didn’t exist a season ago.
The other lineup opening is in center, but everyone wearing Black and Gold at Pete Taylor Park will tell you there is no competition at that position.
Thunder in center
No player drew more praise over media day than one of the newest junior college products. Ranked by D1 Baseball No. 1 on the list of the 100 most impactful JUCO transfers in the country, League City, Texas native Matthew Etzel has solidified his spot as the team’s next center fielder.
Replacing fan-favorite Gabe Montenegro is no easy task, but Etzel represents instant offense and athleticism on the base paths, and in the field.
“He’s 99th percentile,” right fielder Carson Paetow said of his new outfield mate, grinning over the exploits he and his teammates have already seen firsthand.
Etzel arrives from Panola College, where he slashed .433/.509/.711 in his sophomore season with 33 extra base hits and 20 stolen bases.
Berry refers to him as a four-tool player with his arm strength, which he notes is still playable, as the only tool that isn’t at least above average.
“Matt Etzel has won our center field job,” Berry said. “Boy, he really, really excited us in the fall. I think every coach will tell you and I think every player, that he is a really nice player. He’ll probably hit there at leadoff, certainly at the top of the order. Big, strong left-handed hitter. Plays the outfield just really, really easy. One of the best center fielders, having played this fall, that I’ve seen compared to what we’ve had in the past. He makes it look really easy.”
Etzel was invited to play in the six-team 2022 MLB Draft summer league against some of the top draft-eligible players in the country and clobbered pitching that will be taken in the next draft.
He hit .371 with a 1.049 OPS while driving in 22 runs in 33 games. Etzel stole 25 bases in 27 attempts and struck out only 13 times in 136 plate appearances.
Etzel hit .385 across fall practice as a precursor for a season that some experts think could be his only in Hattiesburg. ProspectLive.com ranks Etzel as the No. 124 prospect and the No. 11 college outfielder available in this summer’s draft.
“(Etzel) is a very rare gem,” Paetow said. “He’s elite.”
Etzel’s addition instantly boosts the athleticism of the outfield, where he’ll pair with the rangy Paetow, who has has own unique blend of speed and power that will likely keep him near the top of the order.
Reece Ewing, who has 96 hits in two seasons, will likely be a split-start with incoming JUCO star Tate Parker. The Pearl River C.C. product ranked No. 50 on the same list on which Etzel landed No. 1.
The only true battle that continues to rage into the final weeks of season preparation is at second base, where Tennessee Tech transfer and Gulfport High graduate Gabe Lacy is battling a pair of young infielders in Creek Robertson and Brady Faust.
Berry said he thinks his positional group is deep and is expecting familiar faces like Christopher Sargent and Danny Lynch will continue to push the improvement of the offense.
Next arm up
Pitching was a question mark this time last year for the Golden Eagles — until it quickly wasn’t. Hall was flanked by Hurston Waldrep and Hunter Riggins, creating a weekend trio that stymied batters to a combined .227 hitting average.
Waldrep hit the transfer portal, Riggins graduated and five relievers were taken in the MLB draft from a team that had the second-lowest ERA in the country.
“Last year was the best staff in 38 years I have ever been a part of,” Berry said. “As an assistant, as a head coach, I don’t care. That was the most quality and the most depth of quality of a staff I’ve ever seen in my tenure of coaching at this level. It’s going to be hard to duplicate that in all honesty. We’re not saying we can’t, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
At the top of the rotation is, of course, Hall. The junior posted a 2.81 ERA in his first season as a starter with a commanding low-velocity fastball that carried plenty of deception and a complimentary slider that moves quick enough on the front-end to fool batters before it sweeps across the plate.
Around him, the players all point to a few arms who have been the toughest off which to hit base hits during the fall: Matt Adams, Niko Mazza and Billy Oldham.
Oldham, who rocks the same big hair flow Riggins sported on the mound, is a D-III transfer from East Connecticut State. Oldham mowed down hitters last year with a 11.9 strikeout/nine innings rate and carried an ERA of 2.53.
He’s adapted well to the competition so far, according to teammates, and is a leading contender for a starting role.
Adams and Mazza have been in the system and are two arms that Berry notes himself as potentially strong options. Adams struggled in most of his appearances a year ago, but flashed the possibilities his arm creates with 32 strikeouts in 23.1 innings.
Mazza was used sparingly as a freshman, but was only blocked by the depth of talent ahead of him throughout the 2022 season.
“Matt Adams, who really finished last year on a really strong note, has looked good this fall,” Berry said. “Niko Mazza, the young man had only 6.1 innings last year... He had a tremendous fall this fall on the mound.”
The bullpen is shaping up to be headed by lefty Justin Storm, who will be relied on heavily to eat late-game innings.
He’s one of a few arms that have impressed Lacy over the fall and into winter workouts.
“We have some guys that I’ve never really seen before throughout my career in college,” Lacy said. “It’s just a lot of tools that they have, I’ve never seen anywhere else. It’s a common theme here at Southern Miss. The pitching here is always on point... I’d say this past fall was the most frustrating, but also learning a lot from these guys’ arms. It will only make us better. I can’t wait to face somebody else rather than ourselves.”
The rest of the pen could be a gradual construction project, but one thing is clear: Shortstop Dustin Dickerson is going be featured in the back end of it.
Berry said Dickerson will take the mound and Roberston, considered a strong glove as a second-year in the program, will take his spot at short.
“He’s a little turd out there, in a good way,” Lacy said of Dickerson’s pitching. “He shows his dominance up there. He’s out there to compete and he’s one of the biggest competitors on the team I think. He’ll get up there and dominate you. You got to be on the attack early against him. He shows absolutely no mercy up there.”
There’s still three weeks until the team’s opener against Liberty, and the final wrinkles will iron out over what few scrimmages remain.
The Golden Eagles will host the Flames on Feb. 17 to begin the new season.
This story was originally published January 29, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
