Heroes Step Up as Southern Miss Sweeps Texas State to Claim 2nd Place in Sun Belt

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Given that this weekend was the final time that No. 22 Southern Miss and Texas State would face off in a series as Sun Belt rivals, with the Bobcats moving to the Pac-12 next year, it was only fitting that we got some late-game drama in extra innings at Pete Taylor Park on Sunday to truly savor the moment.

After leading for the first six innings, the last three innings, plus a 10th, were a back-and-forth affair, as Texas State refused to go away easily. However, in the bottom of the 10th inning with just one out, and sophomore pitch runner Ty Long just 90 feet away from winning the game, Southern Miss walked off Texas State thanks to a wild pitch from the Bobcats' pitcher.

With the win, Southern Miss secured its first Sun Belt series sweep of the year and improved to 28-12 overall and 11-7 in Sun Belt play, good for sole possession of second place in the conference. Texas State fell to 25-15 overall and 9-9 in Sun Belt play.

Clark Shows Off Starting Potential

USM Camden Clark — Camden Clark recorded eight strikeouts in nearly five full innings of work during his first start for Southern Miss on Sunday. | Clark Webster

After being one of the best closers in the nation for the first two-thirds of this season, sophomore RHP Camden Clark was put into the new role of being a Golden Eagles starter on Sunday. In 4.2 innings of work, Clark was impressive, as he registered a career-best eight strikeouts and four shutout innings with just five hits and two runs given up (in the fifth inning).

"Obviously, the first thing that comes to my head is what do I need to do to maintain stamina, because when you close, you're just coming in to throw as hard as you can for 10-15 pitches," Clark tells Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI. "But honestly, the approach is still the same, just attack the hitters whether I’m covering one inning or seven."

Although Clark's day ended due to stamina reasons, that was to be expected, given that he was transitioning from being a closer to a starter. Still, it was impressive to see Clark put together nearly five full innings of work in his first start, and as he continues to grow in the new role, so will his ability to go deeper into games. This weekend gave us a glimpse of how potent Southern Miss' postseason starting-pitching rotation could be with Grayden Harris, Camden Sunstrom and Clark leading the way.

"Stamina is something that comes with time, so I believe I will build stamina for the rest of the season," Clark said. "But right now, I'm just worried about doing what I've done all year, and that's to go after hitters from the first pitch to the last."

Overall, the Golden Eagles' pitching staff was outstanding all weekend. Texas State came into Pete Taylor Park leading the Sun Belt in home runs by a wide margin, but the Southern Miss pitching staff held that high-powered Bobcats offense in check, giving up just one home run all weekend.

'Bull' Comes Through in Another Clutch Moment

The Golden Eagles led for the entire game until Texas State finally came all the way back from a three-run deficit to tie it at 3-3 in the top of the seventh inning. Momentum was not on Southern Miss' side, as it hadn't scored a run since the bottom of the fourth. However, as he has often done throughout his entire career, senior first baseman Matthew Russo found himself in another bit, late-game spot and delivered once again.

Russo gave the Golden Eagles a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning by launching a lead-off home run to The Roost in right field. It was his seventh homer of the year. After starting the year off slower than he would've liked, "Bull" is starting to build momentum. He's now batting .286 on the year and is third on the team with 31 RBI.

"In those moments, my mentality is to simplify the game as much as I can and find a way on base for my teammates to drive me in," Russo tells Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI. "It was a very important weekend for us against a very talented team. Looking to ride this momentum one game at a time and play for one another."

Eags Turn Up Aggressiveness with Base Running

One thing that stood out this weekend was the Golden Eagles' commitment to being more aggressive when having runners on base–not just with attempting to steal, but just digging for extra bases off of hits in general. Sometimes that aggressiveness worked out, and sometimes it didn't, but for a ballclub with one of the deepest pitching staffs in the nation, anything that could potentially lead to some extra runs and less pressure on that elite staff is welcome. For example, in the bottom of the first inning of Sunday's game, senior outfielder Joey Urban hustled and scored all the way from first base off a double from senior second baseman Kyle Morrison to give the Golden Eagles the early lead.

Although there are several Golden Eagles who can leave the yard, we've seen the team make strides lately when it comes to generating runs in different ways when needed. That kind of offensive versatility will be needed if the Golden Eagles are going to get hot and make a deep postseason run.

Southern Miss will now shift its attention to Tuesday night, where it will take on Tulane at The Pete. After that, the Golden Eagles will travel to Mobile next weekend to take on Morrison's former team, South Alabama. Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more baseball coverage throughout this coming week.

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