Baseball Opens NCAA Knoxville Regional Play with Indiana Friday

Date                      Time (CT)
Fri., 31                  12 p.m.    LH Ty Bothwell, GS (6-3, 4.90 ERA) vs. RH Billy Oldham, Sr. (7-2, 3.97 ERA)
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 2 seed Southern Miss opens play in its 20th NCAA Tournament Friday when they take on No. 3 Indiana as part of the four-team NCAA Knoxville Regional field, beginning at 12 noon CT at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on the Tennessee campus.

No. 1 seed Tennessee (50-11) plays No. 4 Northern Kentucky (35-22) in the other opening round game at 6 p.m. CT. Southern Miss can be seen on ESPN+ as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network with audio also available through SouthernMiss.com.

The Golden Eagles (41-18), winners of 14 of their last 15 games, appear in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth-straight year, after first reaching the NCAA postseason for the first time 1990. At one point, Southern Miss reached regional play nine-straight seasons, from 2003-11. The team also has hosted three previous times, playing at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field in 2003, 2017 and 2022. Southern Miss also has hosted two super regionals, including Tennessee at The Pete last season.

This will be the first trip for the Golden Eagles to a regional in Knoxville and only the second time the program will have played at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, after dropping a three-game series to the Volunteers in 1991.

Indiana (32-24-1) comes into Knoxville having reached the Big Ten Tournament semifinals after capturing third in the league during the regular season.

This will be the fifth-ever meeting between the two schools as the Golden Eagles lead the overall series 4-0. Southern Miss swept a three-game set back in Hattiesburg during the 1990 season and the two clubs also met in the Wiregrass Classic in 2007 at Dothan, Ala., with the Golden Eagles winning 15-4.

The Golden Eagles are 34-41 (.453) in NCAA Tournament play after winning the 2023 Auburn Regional, winning four of five games, including a 11-7 win over Penn in the final game. The program has now won three regionals, one super regional and have appeared in the CWS once, all three coming during the 2009 campaign.

This will be the 11th time Southern Miss has held a No. 2 seed in this event, also holding a No. 1 seed twice, a No. 3 seed five times, once as a No. 4 (1991) and once as a No. 5 (1990). The Golden Eagles are 15-19 overall as a No. 2 seed. Southern Miss hosted as a No. 2 seed in 2003 at Pete Taylor Park.

The double-elimination regional continues Saturday with a 11 a.m. CT loser's bracket contest with the winner's bracket game taking place at 6 p.m. CT.

Baseball Opens NCAA Knoxville Regional Play with Indiana Friday

Players Mentioned

Billy Oldham

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