Middle Tennessee Closes Out Home Slate for Baseball This Weekend
5/6/2021
Middle Tennessee (21-21-1, 10-13-1 C-USA) at Southern Miss (29-15, 16-7 C-USA)
Games 45-48 | May 7-9, 2021 | Pete Taylor Park | Hattiesburg, Miss.
| Upcoming Games | Time (CT) | Probable Pitchers | Radio & Webstream |
| Fri., May 7 | 6 p.m. | LH Trent Seibert, RJr. (1-2, 4.57) vs. RH Hunter Stanley, Sr. (5-2, 2.74) | Southern Miss Network/C-USA.TV |
| Sat., May 8 | 2 p.m. | RH Zach Keenan, Jr. (2-4, 3.26) vs. RH Walker Powell, Sr. (7-2, 2.98) | Southern Miss Network/C-USA.TV |
| Sat., May 8 | Game 2 | RH Aaron Brown, Jr. (5-4, 3.97) vs. RH Ben Ethridge, Fr. (5-1, 2.53) | Southern Miss Network/C-USA.TV |
| Sun., May 9 | 1 p.m. | LH Peyton Wigginton, Jr. (3-2, 2.77) vs. LH Drew Boyd, So. (3-2, 3.96) | Southern Miss Network/C-USA.TV |
| Live Stats - | Friday | Sat. (G1) | Sat. (G2) | Sunday | Game Notes |
Moving Up in the Rankings: The Golden Eagles climbed their way up the polls this week, earning a No. 20 spot by D1Baseball.com and are at No. 19 by USA Today, moving up three places in each ranking. The program moved into the Baseball America poll at No. 22 and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll at No. 25 for the first time in 2021.
Last Time Out: Southeastern Louisiana used a three-run third inning and limited Southern Miss to three hits as the visiting Lions captured a 5-3 victory Wednesday at Pete Taylor Park. SLU grouped together three hits to open the third frame off of reliever Matt Adams. After Adams rallied to fan two batters, the Lions plated their first run on a wild pitch, before Jacob Burke delivered a two-run single. The Lions increased their lead in the fifth as Tyler Finke opened the frame with a double to left and later scored on a wild pitch. The Golden Eagles closed the gap in the bottom of the fifth on a three-run Gabe Montenegro home run, cutting the gap to 4-3. It was Montenegro’s third home run of the year. Gaby Cruz added an insurance run in the ninth with a solo home run to left, his second of the season, to give SLU the two-run cushion.
Home Season Concludes: The final scheduled home C-USA series for the Golden Eagles takes place this weekend against Middle Tennessee to conclude a five-game homestand. Saturday will serve as the 2021 Senior Day for the program. Southern Miss then ends its regular-season schedule, May 14-16, at Florida Atlantic with four more contests. The league postseason tournament takes place in Ruston, La., May 26-30. The Golden Eagles are 18-8 at home this season.
The Blue Raiders: Middle Tennessee enters the weekend with a 21-21-1 overall record and 10-13-1 in league play. The Blue Raiders currently would be the No. 8 seed in the C-USA Tournament later this month, but will look to solidify its berth in the tournament this weekend by capturing some games. MT is under the direction of Jim Toman, who is in his 3rd season in Murfreesboro as the head coach. He has posted a 46-68-1 record at the school and is in his 12th season overall as a head coach with a 375-273-2 mark.
| Series (1990-2019) | |
| All-Time | 26-7 |
| In Hattiesburg | 16-2 |
| In Birmingham | 10-5 |
| Neutral | 0-0 |
| Since Joining C-USA (2014) | 17-1 |
| C-USA Series records | 6-0-0 |
| Streak | Won 17 |
| Last 10 | 10-0 |
Last Time Versus the Blue Raiders: Southern Miss swept the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro, outscoring the home squad 24-9 in the three-game set to increase their current win streak in the series to 17 games. Walker Powell threw a complete game in the opener with 10 strikeouts and no walks while five different Golden Eagles registered two hits each, including Will McGillis, who added a pair of RBI in the 7-1 triumph. Cody Carroll threw seven strong relief innings in the middle contest as the Golden Eagles erased a three-run deficit, pulling away in the contest with a six-run seventh to win 11-3. Southern Miss rallied from three runs down in the final game and captured a 6-5 decision in the final contest Reese Smith Jr. Field.
Twinbill Tally: Southern Miss has played in eight doubleheaders this season and have won three and split five, posting a record of 11-5 when two games are played on the same day.
Winning at Home: Since utilizing Pete Taylor Park as its home facility in 1984, the Golden Eagles are 830-347-2 (.705) at their venue, having won at least 20 or more home games in 30 of the 37 campaigns played at the park. The program has won 18 times at The Pete in 2021. During the 1985 and 1986 campaigns, Southern Miss played a handful of home games at Smokey Harrington Park, which is currently the home of Hattiesburg High School.
In Conference USA Play: Southern Miss has opened its 25th season of Conference USA in 2021 - last year’s schedule was canceled due to COVID-19 - and the Golden Eagles have posted a 424-245 (.634) and are 142-77-4 in league series over that time. The Golden Eagles have won 20 league games seven times, including in each of the last four years played heading into the 2021 campaign.
National Statistics: Here is a look at the Golden Eagles among the nation’s leaders both as a team and as individuals. Here is a look at the team’s Top 20 leaders for all categories (through May 5 games):
Team
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio: 1st (4.25)
Walks per 9 Inns.: 4th (2.33)
WHIP: 7th (1.17)
Shutouts: 11th (5)
ERA: 17th (3.57)
Individual
Saves: Garrett Ramsey, 6th (9)
On-Base Percentage: Charlie Fischer, 8th (.526)
Doubles: Gabe Montenegro, 9th (16)
Victories: Walker Powell, 12th (7)
Complete Games: Walker Powell, 14th (3)
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio: Ben Ethridge, 19th (7.67)
Back to the NCAAs in 2019: Southern Miss appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight year and the 16th time overall, playing in the Baton Rouge Regional to complete its 2019 season. The Golden Eagles made their first-ever appearance in the postseason in 1990, with a trip to Baton Rouge, and at one point, reached regional play nine-straight seasons, from 2003-11.
Golden Eagles Take C-USA Title: Southern Miss captured the last Conference USA tournament title in 2019 and have won three of the last four events - making the championship game in all four seasons. The Golden Eagles also captured the 2018 C-USA regular season and tournament titles, marking the second time Southern Miss had won both C-USA championships in the same season with the other time coming in 2003. Four of the school’s five C-USA regular season titles have come under current head coach Scott Berry, while he has also led Southern Miss to four of their five tournament titles.
