Can Southern Miss baseball team maintain its postseason standard, despite changes?
Southern Miss has hit a rare crossroad.
For just the fifth time since 1959, the Golden Eagles will open the season with a first-year skipper. Christian Ostrander takes over for the legendary Scott Berry following the latter’s retirement as the winningest coach in program history.
Ostrander is no stranger to USM, having served as pitching coach for the past six seasons.
He takes over a team that is joined by Stanford as the only two programs in the country to host a Super Regional in each of the last two seasons.
Expectations and standards remain high in Baseburg, but a bevy of new faces mean there are plenty of questions to answer over the next month.
The reigning Sun Belt champion is replacing every positional starter in the infield and at center field, and have numerous battles still to sort out.
There’s more experience among the pitching staff than there was at this point last season, but still plenty of decisions to be made.
“There’s still a lot left to do in these next three weeks,” Ostrander said. “You might have it in your mind what it’s going to look like, but that could change. Especially this time of year. From the lineup to the pieces where the players, right now there’s still a lot to attain.”
Southern Miss will scrimmage nine times over the next few weeks before Ostrander’s first lineup card is posted ahead of the Feb. 16 season-opener against Marist.
Sorting out the field
Southern Miss will be replacing over 400 combined starts from last season out of its lineup this year.
But Berry and Ostrander worked to reload over the last two recruiting cycles and have utilized the portal and junior college routes to their advantage when constructing the roster.
BYU transfer Ozzie Pratt and Valparaiso transfer Nolan Tucker have drawn rave reviews from staff and players on their defensive abilities in the middle of the infield.
The two are battling for the job at shortstop, where the winner will replace Dustin Dickerson and his 200-plus career starts. Pratt had an .874 OPS for the Cougars a year ago with 25 RBIs and 40 runs.
Tucker has also succeeded with the bat — racking up 102 hits over the last two seasons — but has already earned a reputation for his glovework and particularly at second base.
“Nothing is going to get past Nolan Tucker at second,” freshman pitcher Peyton Lacy said.
The corners of the infield are also up for grabs. The job at first base is hotly contested between Matthew Russo and Braden Luke, and the battle at third base is closely tied to the crowded room at left field and designated hitter.
Slade Wilks is fresh off a 20-home run campaign, but is being pushed in left field by redshirt freshman Davis Gillespie who is also battling at third base with Gabe Broadus.
While nothing is set in stone, as far as opening day starters, two positions that are close to it are in center and right field. Nick Monistere has transitioned from second base and now roams the deep part of the outfield. Fourth-year junior Carson Paetow also returns with his career .863 OPS.
“I think we got a chance to have some guys at the front and the back of the order that can handle the bat a little bit,” Ostrander said. “I think we got some guys in the middle of the order that have some pop, that can drive the ball out of the ballpark. ... I think we have a chance to have some good power.”
The lack of experience and known commodities have led to numerous outlets leaving USM out of their preseason top-25 polls despite the Golden Eagles’ history of beating national expectations.
It’s a theme Paetow thinks can continue going forward.
“We lost a lot of hitters, however that’s not a bad thing,” Paetow said. “That’s also a good thing. There’s a lot of talent. For us to have a lot of question marks, it’s not because we have a lack of talent. Coach Oz has to make some decisions, I’m excited about it. We have some guys coming in that I think can produce.”
Depth in the staff
The Friday night shoes Tanner Hall leaves to fill are going to be big, but Ostrander has a lot more experience in his arms than he did this time a year ago.
Niko Mazza and Billy Oldham return after starting 13 games each in 2023. Kros Sivley served as an elite stopper last spring and was mentioned by Ostrander as a potential option as a midweek starter.
In the bullpen, both J.B. Middleton and JUCO transfer Landen Payne drew praise from the Ostrander and hitters who struggled with the pair during the fall, and will likely be the first in line for late-game opportunities.
“I feel very good about the options we have,” Ostrander said. “You got a lot of experience back. ... I think we have a good group of guys on the front-end to get us started and a good group of guys in the middle to bridge you to your back-end guys. We have multiple options there. It reminds me of the ‘22 staff. I’m not saying that’s what they’re going to be, but we had a lot of depth and competition.”
Southern Miss had the top pitching staff in the SBC a year ago and a top-three team ERA nationally in 2022.
Chandler Best, Will Armistead and Jake Cook will also factor in, as well as a slew of newcomers that are expected to force themselves onto the mound.
The staff will be tested early with five games in the first six days of the season. They then have to follow that up with key weekend series against Missouri State and Indiana State.
Talent exists on both the mound and the field, but leadership and chemistry will have to play out in USM’s favor with so many figurehead losses and Ostrander places that responsibility on the team as a whole.
“I don’t know where the (leadership) will come from, but I believe it will,” Ostrander said. “We talk about it, we preach it and we encourage it a lot. They have to go out there and be them. You don’t want it to be fake, because if it’s fake it’s not going to work. We’ve got a lot of good kids out there embracing and buying into getting out of their comfort zone and not being afraid to lead.”
Southern Miss will face Marist at Pete Taylor Park on Feb. 16 at 4 p.m.
This story was originally published January 26, 2024 at 10:10 AM.
