University of Southern Mississippi Athletics

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Baseball Falls to Samford 4-2 in 10 Innings in NCAA Auburn Regional Opener Friday
6/2/2023 6:42:00 PM | Baseball
AUBURN, Ala. – Samford scored three runs in the top of the 10th to spoil an outstanding pitching performance by Southern Miss All-American Tanner Hall in defeating the Golden Eagles 4-2 Friday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Auburn Regional at Plainsman Park.
The Golden Eagles (41-18) dropped their first NCAA opening regional game since 2021 as it was just the team's fourth loss since April 22.
With the score tied at 1-1 in the 10th, Justin Storm entered the game for Hall and immediately gave up a solo home run to Josh Rodriguez which allowed the Bulldogs (37-23) to take the lead. After a following double, Storm left the game and Garrett Staton – who had four of Samford's 11 hits – collected a run-scoring double of his own. A sacrifice fly by Stephen Klein completed the scoring.
Hall threw a career-high 123 pitches over the first nine innings, limiting the Bulldogs to a run on eight hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. The only blemish against Hall was when the Bulldogs strung together three hits in the third with the last one a run-scoring double by Staton. Hall finished the with 16 ground outs, including three double plays, and no flyouts.
"Tough game today, it was a pitcher's battle," said Southern Miss baseball coach Scott Berry. "Both starters really hooked up well with a big stop by the reliever. I'm very proud of these two gentlemen for how they competed. Overall, I want to congratulate Samford on a win and being able to grind that thing out. Both teams were looking for a way to win it and Samford came up a little better than we did."
Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year Jacob Cravey limited Southern Miss to a run on five hits over six innings with five walks and five strikeouts. The Golden Eagles got their only run off Cravey on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Dickerson. The Golden Eagle shortstop had two of the team's eight hits.
Ben Petschke then limited the Golden Eagles to a run on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts over the final four innings to get the victory and improve to 6-3. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases off him in the 10th with no outs. After an RBI groundout by Carson Paetow, Blake Johnson then fanned and Matthew Etzel flew out to left to end the game.
The Golden Eagles left 14 runners on in the game, including the bases loaded twice and with two runners on twice.
Storm suffered the loss and fell to 5-2.
The Golden Eagles next play the loser of the Auburn/Penn game slated for later Friday evening. Game time for Saturday's contest is 2 p.m.
The Golden Eagles (41-18) dropped their first NCAA opening regional game since 2021 as it was just the team's fourth loss since April 22.
With the score tied at 1-1 in the 10th, Justin Storm entered the game for Hall and immediately gave up a solo home run to Josh Rodriguez which allowed the Bulldogs (37-23) to take the lead. After a following double, Storm left the game and Garrett Staton – who had four of Samford's 11 hits – collected a run-scoring double of his own. A sacrifice fly by Stephen Klein completed the scoring.
Hall threw a career-high 123 pitches over the first nine innings, limiting the Bulldogs to a run on eight hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. The only blemish against Hall was when the Bulldogs strung together three hits in the third with the last one a run-scoring double by Staton. Hall finished the with 16 ground outs, including three double plays, and no flyouts.
"Tough game today, it was a pitcher's battle," said Southern Miss baseball coach Scott Berry. "Both starters really hooked up well with a big stop by the reliever. I'm very proud of these two gentlemen for how they competed. Overall, I want to congratulate Samford on a win and being able to grind that thing out. Both teams were looking for a way to win it and Samford came up a little better than we did."
Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year Jacob Cravey limited Southern Miss to a run on five hits over six innings with five walks and five strikeouts. The Golden Eagles got their only run off Cravey on a sacrifice fly by Dustin Dickerson. The Golden Eagle shortstop had two of the team's eight hits.
Ben Petschke then limited the Golden Eagles to a run on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts over the final four innings to get the victory and improve to 6-3. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases off him in the 10th with no outs. After an RBI groundout by Carson Paetow, Blake Johnson then fanned and Matthew Etzel flew out to left to end the game.
The Golden Eagles left 14 runners on in the game, including the bases loaded twice and with two runners on twice.
Storm suffered the loss and fell to 5-2.
The Golden Eagles next play the loser of the Auburn/Penn game slated for later Friday evening. Game time for Saturday's contest is 2 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ben Petschke (6-3)
L: Storm, Justin (5-2)
Batting:
2B: Garrett Staton 2 ; Andrew Bennett 1
HR: Josh Rodriguez 1
RBI: Garrett Staton 2 ; Stephen Klein 1 ; Josh Rodriguez 1
SH: Garrett Howe 1
SF: Stephen Klein 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Garrett Staton 1 ; Kaden Dreier 1 ; Josh Rodriguez 1 ; Andrew Bennett 1
CS: Garrett Staton 1
HBP: Stephen Klein 1

Batting:
2B: Etzel, Matthew 1 ; Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Paetow, Carson 1
RBI: Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Paetow, Carson 1
SF: Dickerson, Dustin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ewing, Reece 1 ; Montenegro, Rodrigo 1
SB: Dickerson, Dustin 1 ; Monistere, Nick 1 ; Faust, Brady 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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