Thomas Crabtree 'Finding Identity' Within Stacked Southern Miss Pitching Staff

The junior right-handed pitcher is starting to hit his stride for the No. 7 Golden Eagles.

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HATTIESBURG, Miss – When it comes to pitching, No. 7 Southern Miss has no shortage of high-end talent, as the entire pitching staff boasts a collective 2.58 ERA through 17 games, good for eighth in the nation.

One of the more interesting names heading into this season was 6-4 junior RHP Thomas Crabtree, who is starting to make a name for himself on a stacked Golden Eagles pitching roster. Crabtree is a Collierville, Tenn. native who started his collegiate career at Pearl River Community College as a freshman before spending his sophomore year with the Tennessee Volunteers. Over the summer, he decided to transfer to Southern Miss.

Thomas Crabtree and Matthew Russo celebrate after a Crabtree strikeout to end the frame. Crabtree finished with a team-high five strikeouts. / Dalton Trigg

Through 11.1 innings in four appearances, he's racked up 17 strikeouts with only eight runs given up (four earned) with a 3.18 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. After a strong starting performance in the Golden Eagles' walk-off win over Ole Miss on Tuesday night, head coach Christian Ostrander shed light on Crabtree finding his stride.

"Another good one," Ostrander told the media after Crabtree's one-hit shutout of the Rebels in three innings of work on Tuesday. "He's really found his identity. His fastball... 92, 93, 94. The split is really playing up for him. I think all fall we were really kind of searching for that, finding out 'who are you, how are you going to attack hitters?' I really think he's found that, and that's huge. That's huge for this staff to have another really viable starting option. So, (I'm) very proud of him."

Crabtree was impressive in his first start of the season against Nicholls last week, registering eight strikeouts in 4.1 innings, but the Golden Eagles ultimately lost that game, 3-2. He was happy to see the script get flipped in his second start, especially against an in-state rival like Ole Miss.

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"(It) meant a lot to get a different result, but that’s just the game of baseball, and stuff like that happens to everyone," Crabtree told Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI. "The in-state rivalry is fun to be a part of for sure, and it means so much to this team, because no one should overlook us (just because) there’s two SEC teams in the state. The community builds into it as well, and I love being a part of this special place."

As this season progresses, Crabtree should continue to grow more comfortable and confident with his role on this team. It's not easy to carve out consistent time on the mound when you're on a team that has as much high-end pitching depth as the Golden Eagles do, but Crabtree has worked hard to earn these opportunities and figures to be a big part of what Southern Miss is trying to accomplish this season, which is to get back to Omaha for the first time since 2009.