UC Santa Barbara Shows Respect to Southern Miss Home Crowd Ahead of Opening Weekend

No. 20 Southern Miss opens up the season this weekend against UC Santa Barbara, and Pete Taylor Park is expected to be loud.

Fans watch the action during a 2025 NCAA Hattiesburg Regional game between the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Columbia Lions at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on May 30, 2025. / Matt Bush/Special to USA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It is officially college baseball week in Hattiesburg, as No. 20 Southern Miss prepares for what should be a highly competitive opening weekend series against UC Santa Barbara. After a long offseason, Golden Eagle fans are eager to get back to Pete Taylor Park, and the atmosphere is expected to be as loud and rowdy as ever.

The potential crowd noise at The Pete is significant enough that UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts is piping in crowd noise into his team's practices ahead of this weekend's series, which shows some major respect to the Southern Miss faithful.

Southern Miss Golden Eagles infielder Matthew Russo (19) reacts after a play against the Miami Hurricanes during the final game of the 2025 NCAA Hattiesburg Regional game at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on June 2, 2025. / Matt Bush/Special to the Hattiesburg American / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“It’s going to be a challenge, for sure,” Checketts told Noozhawk. “We’ve been pumping in crowd noise and sirens through our P.A. system when we do a lot of our team defense stuff because it’s going to be a different environment than we typically have here. ... We've been trying to get guys mentally prepared for that."

UCSB's pitching staff will have to be especially mentally tough, as the away team's bullpen sits right in front of the ever-rowdy 16 oz. Lounge in right field, where fans bring their lawn chairs and pile in shoulder-to-shoulder to take in the action. It's all in good fun, of course, but visiting teams' pitchers can plan on getting an earful from Golden Eagle fans if a pitching change is imminent or if their warm-up pitches aren't perfect.

Southern Miss knows this opening series will be no walk in the park, as UCSB is a talented, veteran ballclub with its own tradition of excellence. The Gauchos have seven NCAA tournament appearances since 2013, including a College World Series appearance in 2016 and Santa Barbara-hosted regional in 2024.

Southern Miss Golden Eagles head coach Christian Ostrander watches the action against the Columbia Lions during a 2025 NCAA Hattiesburg Regional game at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on May 30, 2025. / Matt Bush/Special to USA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"We know we got a great opponent coming in," USM head coach Christian Ostrander told Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI. "It's gonna be a really, really good series. I believe that. They got a lot of experience back, kinda like we do. They got some really good arms back, kinda like we do. I think it's gonna be a fun matchup to get (the season) cranked up. And then, truthfully, every game... every game's a dog fight, it feels like. So we look forward to opening it up here (at The Pete)."

Coach Ostrander, who enters his third year at the helm for Southern Miss, has an impressive 90-36 record through two seasons. The 40-win seasons and conference championships are great, but the Golden Eagles are hoping to break through this season and make it to Omaha for just the second time in school history (2009). The first step in that journey starts Friday at 4 p.m. at The Pete in front of a well-respected Black and Gold fan base.

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