Baseball Entertains Arkansas State This Weekend in Sun Belt Series

Dates        Time (CT)        Probable Rotation
Fri., 28      6 p.m.              LH Hunter Draper, Jr. (0-2, 6.28 ERA) vs. RH Tanner Hall, Jr. (7-3, 2.95 ERA)
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Sat., 29      2 p.m.             RH Kyler Carmack, RFr. (4-1, 2.49 ERA) vs. RH Billy Oldham, Jr. (3-2, 6.00 ERA)
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Sun., 30     1 p.m.             TBA vs. TBA
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss continues an eight-game homestand this weekend when they face Arkansas State in a three-game Sun Belt Conference baseball series. Game times are 6 p.m., Friday, 2 p.m., Saturday and 1 p.m., Sunday, at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.

All three games can be seen on ESPN+ as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network.

The Golden Eagles (25-15 overall, 11-7 Sun Belt) enter the weekend in second place in league play, trailing only Coastal Carolina by two games in the standings. Arkansas State (15-22, 5-11) sits in 12th place in the league standings, as they vie for one of 10 spots in the league tournament, which runs May 23-28, at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala
Scott Berry's club has won three-straight games, including a 6-5 victory over Louisiana Tech Wednesday night at home, which started a string of 11 of its final 14 regular season games at home. The Golden Eagles recently closed out a string of 12-of-16 on the road the previous evening in an 11-10 victory over Tulane in New Orleans. The Golden Eagles went 10-6 during that stretch, including 6-6 on the road.

The two one-run midweek victories now give the Golden Eagles 17 games in 2023 that have been decided by two runs or less and they are 11-6 in those contests. The team is 8-4 in one-run games and 3-2 in two-run games. Since the start of the 2010 season under Berry, the Golden Eagles are 184-122 in games decided by two runs or less, including 114-76 in one-run games.

Matthew Etzel increased his current team-best hitting streak to 10 games after doubling against Louisiana Tech Wednesday evening. It was one of a season-high tying six doubles for Southern Miss Reece Ewing lead the way with three hits and a pair of RBI in the Wednesday night win, including a solo home run, which was his fourth of the year.

That home run by Ewing gives the Golden Eagles nine long balls over the last three games and 18 over the last nine games as the squad has hit 49 round-trippers this season. They are on pace to finish the regular season with 65. Should the Golden Eagles get to that number it would be only the 18th time they have reached that total in their history in a season. Southern Miss has hit 82 (2022) and 83 (2021) in each of the last two seasons.

Arkansas State enters the weekend having won the last three contests, including a 25-4 triumph over ULM last Saturday. They defeated Henderson State in their only midweek matchup 10-0.

The two teams play for the first time since a three-game series in Hattiesburg during the 2008 campaign. The Golden Eagles lead the overall series 6-0, dating back to 2005, with all six games having been played in Hattiesburg.

Following the Arkansas State series, the Golden Eagles play host to Tulane next Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

Baseball Entertains Arkansas State This Weekend in Sun Belt Series

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Players Mentioned

Matthew Etzel

Reece Ewing

Tanner Hall

Billy Oldham