Mardi Gras Mettle: How Southern Miss Won First Road Game of the Season

The Golden Eagles used a late-game surge to down Southeastern Louisiana on the road.

Davis Gillespie gave Southern Miss a 1-0 lead over Southeastern Louisiana in the top of the seventh inning with a solo home run. / @SouthernMissBSB

Following an emotional, hard-fought, comeback series win over UC Santa Barbara at Pete Taylor Park over the weekend, Southern Miss made the trip down to Hammond, Louisiana, to take on Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night. Although SELA had Fat Tuesday vibes on its side, it was the Golden Eagles who showed Mardi Gras mettle by grinding out a gritty, 3-1 win on the road. Southern Miss improved to 3-1 on the season, while SELA fell to 0-4.

Gillespie Gets The Party Started

@SouthernMissBSB

For six innings, this one was mostly a pitching duel, with a handful of pitchers on both sides getting action. Sixteen total pitchers made an appearance in this one–eight from each team. Golden Eagles starter Camden Sunstrom registered five strikeouts in three scoreless innings before head coach Christian Ostrander started shaking things up.

However, in the top of the seventh, junior left fielder Davis Gillespie gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead with a solo bomb to left center field that traveled 394 feet. Gillespie went 2-4 at the plate.

After Gillespie's homer, Southern Miss had an opportunity to expand its lead in the top of the seventh, as the bases were loaded with just one out and senior first baseman Matthew Russo at the plate. Russo got a good swing on the ball, but an unfortunate bounce led to a double play for SELA, stranding all three Golden Eagles.

Urban, Russo Clutch Down The Stretch

In the bottom of the eighth, Southern Miss junior RHP Josh Och came on in relief of senior LHP Kros Sively, who had two strikeouts in one inning pitched, but had given up a lead-off triple. SELA took advantage of the triple by tying the game at 1-1 off a sacrifice fly.

Southern Miss responded in a big way, though, taking a 3-1 lead in the top of the ninth thanks to a couple of big knocks from Russo and senior designated hitter Joey Urban. Urban was 2-2 at the plate with three walks on the night.

In the bottom of the ninth, sophomore RHP Camden Clark came in and sat the SELA batters down in order to end the game. Clark, who impressed in his closing role over the weekend against UCSB, only needed seven pitches to put SELA on ice. Och (2-0) received the win.

Next Up, Round Rock Classic

@dalton_trigg on X

Riding a three-game win streak, Southern Miss will now travel to Round Rock, Texas, to compete in the Round Rock Classic this weekend. The in-season tournament figures to be highly competitive, as the Golden Eagles will face Purdue (3-1) on Friday, No. 7 Oregon State (2-1) on Saturday, and Baylor (4-0) on Sunday.

It definitely won't be easy for the Golden Eagles, but high-level early-season challenges like these can only help build mettle that could prove beneficial once the postseason rolls around. Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI will be at Dell Diamond to cover the Golden Eagles during the Round Rock Classic, so stay tuned!

feed