Baseball Sets Back Out on the Road at LA Tech Tuesday

Probable Starters:
Date             Time (CT)     Probable Pitchers
Tue., 18         6 p.m.          RH Will Armistead, So. (1-0, 2.03 ERA) vs. RH Reed Smith, Jr. (1-3, 9.21 ERA)
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss baseball team returns to the road for the first of a five-game road swing when they travel to Ruston, for a Tuesday night non-conference matchup with Louisiana Tech. Game time is set for 6 p.m., from J.C. Love Field/Pat Patterson Park.

The game can be streamed via C-USA.TV as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network.

The road swing continues a stretch of 12 of 16 games away from Pete Taylor Park. The Golden Eagles swept league foe James Madison at home over the weekend giving them an 8-3 record during this current stretch, which also includes a 4-3 road mark. After the game at Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss travels to Conway, S.C., this weekend to face Coastal Carolina in a huge Sun Belt weekend, before traveling to New Orleans next Tuesday to face Tulane. After the Green Wave affair, Southern Miss plays 11 of its final 14 regular season games at home.

The Golden Eagles (22-12) play a Louisiana Tech squad that holds a 19-18 overall record and are 9-6 in Conference USA, which puts them in fourth place. The two teams were both members of C-USA together from 2014-2022. The Golden Eagles posted a 20-12 record against the Bulldogs while both teams were members of C-USA and Southern Miss is 21-13 over LA Tech in the Scott Berry era since 2010. The two teams played 11 games during the 2021 campaign, the season following the COVID shutdown, including seven of those contests in Ruston.

Heading into the Bulldog contest, and off a solid weekend, junior designated hitter Slade Wilks has 14 home runs to lead the team, with nine coming in the last 14 games. His home run total includes two, a three-run shot and a grand slam, from Sunday in which he also tied a school game record with eight RBI as the Golden Eagles completed their first Sun Belt Conference sweep over JMU in a 15-2 victory.

Southern Miss scored a season-high 15 runs in the JMU finale and Wilks' grand slam was the first one for the Golden Eagles since Blake Johnson hit one at Middle Tennessee on May 20, 2022. Three different USM players scored four runs in the final contest, marking the first time that has happened since April 27, 2013, when Travis Creel, Isaac Rodriguez, and Mason Robbins each did it in a 21-6 victory over UAB at Pete Taylor Park in the first game of a doubleheader.

Dustin Dickerson continues to swing a hot bat for the Golden Eagles as well, having hit safely in his last 14 games. That ties Dickerson with the longest hitting streak of his career as he has hit .383 over that time (23-for-60) with seven doubles, a home run, 16 runs, 14 RBI, a .433 on-base percentage and a .550 slugging percentage.

The Golden Eagles are expected to throw sophomore right-hander Will Armistead against the Bulldogs. Armistead is 1-0, with a 2.03 earned run average. In his last outing, Armistead threw three innings last Saturday to get the victory over James Madison. He gave up a run on three hits over the final three innings with two strikeouts.

Baseball Sets Back Out on the Road at LA Tech Tuesday

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Players Mentioned

Will Armistead

Dustin Dickerson

Blake Johnson

Slade Wilks

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics