Baseball Entertains Indiana State at Pete Taylor Park This Weekend

Dates                  Time (CT)
Fri, 1                    6 p.m.                  ESPN+ | Listen Only | Live Stats | Radio Affiliates
Sat., 2                  2 p.m.                  ESPN+ | Listen Only | Live Stats | Radio Affiliates
Sun., 3                1 p.m.                ESPN+ | Listen Only | Live Stats | Radio Affiliates

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss baseball team returns to action this weekend for their final non-conference home series as they meet Indiana State at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field. The series starts Friday with a 6 p.m., contest.

All three games can be viewed via the ESPN+ app, as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network and online through SouthernMiss.com.

The Golden Eagles are off to a 6-3 start, after dropping a 10-inning contest Tuesday against Nicholls at Shuckers Ballpark in Biloxi. Slade Wilks, who had a career-high four hits in the contest, homered and also singled and scored in the final frame, but Southern Miss fell short by a run in the contest.

First-year coach Christian Ostrander is tied for best nine-game start compared to the four previous Southern Miss coaches. He and Scott Berry (2010) are tied for the best start, while Pete Taylor (1959) started at 5-4, and Corky Palmer (1998) and Hill Denson (1984) each started their respective careers guiding the Golden Eagles at 4-5.

This weekend the Golden Eagles entertain an Indiana State team that finished 45-17 a season ago and reached the NCAA Super Regional round. In 2024, the Sycamores have started the season with a 7-1 record, having opened the campaign with seven-straight wins before falling at Vanderbilt during the midweek 20-4. Louisville, UCONN, USF, Florida Gulf Coast, Michigan State and Marshall, who they beat twice, are the schools bested by the Sycamores during the early portion of the schedule.

Southern Miss leads the series 2-0 as the two teams played in back-to-back seasons in a pair of in-season tournaments. The Golden Eagles won the first meeting in the opening game of the 2004 Lake Area Classic in Lake Charles, La., on March 5, 3-1. They played on the same day the next season, this time in Beaumont, Texas, at the Cardinal Classic hosted by Lamar. The Golden Eagles won that contest 2-1.

Through the first nine games, Golden Eagle pitching has produced solid numbers as the squad has fanned 106 and walked just 30 in 82 innings with a 3.62 ERA. In seven of the contests, the pitching staff accumulated at least 10 strikeouts and at least 13 five times, including a season-high 17 against Missouri State last Sunday.

Offensively, Southern Miss has been led by Carson Paetow who has a .269 batting average with a home run and seven RBI, while Matthew Russo and Ozzie Pratt are next with a .263 average, to go along with a six and five RBI, respectively.

Following the ISU series, the Golden Eagles return to the road to face Mississippi State at Trustmark Park in Pearl in a 6 p.m. game. The Golden Eagles will be the designated home team.

Baseball Entertains Indiana State at Pete Taylor Park This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Carson Paetow

Ozzie Pratt

Matthew Russo

Slade Wilks