Thrilling finish as Southern Miss sends Alabama home, earns date with Columbia
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- Southern Miss survives with 6-5 win, eliminating Alabama in tight contest.
- Tucker Stockman delivers two-run single in eighth to cap three-run rally.
- Nick Monistere records two homers as USM hits milestone 100-HR season mark.
Alabama elected to load the bases for the Southern Miss nine-hole hitter in the eighth inning. Tucker Stockman made the Crimson Tide pay.
The catcher lined a two-out single to plate two runs and give the Golden Eagles a lead it would cement in a nail-biting 6-5 win over Alabama.
The swing was a part of a three-run rally and extended USM’s season by at least a day, as it eliminated the Hattiesburg Regional two-seed with its own back against the wall.
“It was a dogfight today,” Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said after the game. “It was a heavyweight fight, it felt like. But you got to stay in the middle of the ring round after round. The ball gets out of the park, we answered and kept it close it enough to have a chance.”
Alabama would load the bases in the ninth, but Colby Allen induced a force out at third base to snag his seventh win of the year.
The game featured five lead changes and was largely a pitcher’s duel that was intermittently interrupted by offsetting home runs.
Sun Belt Player of the Year Nick Monistere hit a pair of homers to give him 21 on the year and, along with Ben Higdon’s homer, gave the program its first 100-HR season. Monistere’s second long ball kicked off the eighth-inning rally.
Alabama closer and right-handed pitcher Carson Ozmer hit Matthew Russo and walked Joey Urban following Monistere’s home run. The Tide got the next two outs and faced Carson Paetow, who was in the midst of a 2-for-23 slump dating back to the end of the regular season.
With an open base, Vaughn elected to send Paetow to first in favor of a friendlier split.
“Paetow’s got serious power,” Vaughn said after the game. “Like there’s some real, real power in there. And you like the right-right matchup with (Ozmer and Stockman). You got to credit Stockman. He got to two strikes, didn’t panic ... he put a great swing on it.”
Stockman fell behind in the at bat 0-2 before taking the third pitch for a ball. The fourth pitch was a slider low in the zone and Stockman barreled it into right center field.
“It’s a bunch of emotions that I haven’t really experienced much this year,” Stockman said of how he felt in the moment. “I’ve gotten some hits, I’ve gotten some hits in big moments this year, but my stats, you can see the RBIs. I don’t have a ton of RBIs so obviously that hasn’t happened a ton. It’s just a whirlwind of emotions.”
Southern Miss ace JB Middleton allowed just two hits through his first five innings, but both were home runs. He would leave after seven innings and three home runs allowed for the first time in his career.
Hurricanes pound Columbia
Miami scored four runs in the first inning, four in the fourth and four in the seventh during a 14-1 rout of Columbia in Saturday’s winners’ bracket nightcap in the Hattiesburg Regional.
Dorian Gonzalez Jr. homered twice as part of a three-hit day and drove in a career-high eight runs.
The Hurricanes got a gutsy outing from starter Griffin Hugus, who went the distance in 123 pitches. Hugus struck out nine batters and gave the Miami pen a critical day off heading into Sunday.
Southern Miss will get a rematch with Columbia at 2 p.m., with the loser eliminated and the winner tasked with taking down Miami twice in order to steal the regional.
This story was originally published May 31, 2025 at 4:35 PM.
