Friday, March 28
Pete Taylor Park
6 p.m.
Southern Miss
19-7, 6-1
8
vs
2
South Alabama
11-14, 1-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
South Alabama
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
2
2
Southern Miss
0
2
2
0
0
3
1
0
X
8
8
1
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Baseball Beats South Alabama to Open Sun Belt Series Friday Behind JB Middleton
3/28/2025 9:22:00 PM | Baseball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – JB Middleton allowed one hit over eight innings and recorded a career-best 12 strikeouts to lead No. 13 Southern Miss over South Alabama 8-2 Friday night in a Sun Belt Conference series opener at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
Middleton (5-1) limited the Jaguars to four baserunners as his eight frames thrown was a career best. Along with a second-inning single, he gave up a first-inning hit by pitch, a fifth-inning walk and a runner reached on a sixth-inning throwing error by shortstop Ozzie Pratt.
It was the first 12-strikeout performance for a Golden Eagles since Tanner Hall did it against Louisiana on May 20, 2023.
Meanwhile, the Golden Eagle offense got a pair of runs batted in from both Nick Monistere and Drey Barrett while Matthew Russo homered for the second-straight game. The homer by Russo marked the 13th-straight game Southern Miss has belted a home run.
The Golden Eagles jumped out early with two runs in the second off Jaguar starter Zach Willingham. After a groundout, Carson Paetow walked. Tucker Stockman then fanned before Barrett singled to center. Joey Urban was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Jake Cook and Ozzie Pratt drew bases-loaded walks.
Willingham lasted four-plus innings and gave up four runs on six hits with six walks and four strikeouts to suffer the loss and fall to 2-4.
Southern Miss (19-7 overall, 6-1 Sun Belt) plated two more runs in the third. Russo opened the frame with a shot high off the videoboard in left center for his eighth of the year. Urban made it 4-0 later
in the frame with an RBI single to right.
An RBI single from Monistere and a two-run single from Barrett in the seventh extended the lead to 7-0 in the sixth. Monistere completed the Golden Eagle scoring in the seventh with an RBI groundout.
South Alabama (11-14, 1-6) plated both of its runs in the ninth on a two-run blast from Kyle Morrison. It was his fifth of the season.
Southern Miss left at least one runner on each inning to strand a season-high 16 on base and the most in a game since leaving 17 on against Tulane on April 23, 2024. It also marked the first time drew double-figure walks – 12 – since getting 10 versus Indiana in the NCAA Knoxville Regional on June 2, 2024.
Game two of the series is set for 7 p.m., Saturday. The game was pushed back five hours due to expected rain in the area during the afternoon.
Middleton (5-1) limited the Jaguars to four baserunners as his eight frames thrown was a career best. Along with a second-inning single, he gave up a first-inning hit by pitch, a fifth-inning walk and a runner reached on a sixth-inning throwing error by shortstop Ozzie Pratt.
It was the first 12-strikeout performance for a Golden Eagles since Tanner Hall did it against Louisiana on May 20, 2023.
Meanwhile, the Golden Eagle offense got a pair of runs batted in from both Nick Monistere and Drey Barrett while Matthew Russo homered for the second-straight game. The homer by Russo marked the 13th-straight game Southern Miss has belted a home run.
The Golden Eagles jumped out early with two runs in the second off Jaguar starter Zach Willingham. After a groundout, Carson Paetow walked. Tucker Stockman then fanned before Barrett singled to center. Joey Urban was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Jake Cook and Ozzie Pratt drew bases-loaded walks.
Willingham lasted four-plus innings and gave up four runs on six hits with six walks and four strikeouts to suffer the loss and fall to 2-4.
Southern Miss (19-7 overall, 6-1 Sun Belt) plated two more runs in the third. Russo opened the frame with a shot high off the videoboard in left center for his eighth of the year. Urban made it 4-0 later
in the frame with an RBI single to right.
An RBI single from Monistere and a two-run single from Barrett in the seventh extended the lead to 7-0 in the sixth. Monistere completed the Golden Eagle scoring in the seventh with an RBI groundout.
South Alabama (11-14, 1-6) plated both of its runs in the ninth on a two-run blast from Kyle Morrison. It was his fifth of the season.
Southern Miss left at least one runner on each inning to strand a season-high 16 on base and the most in a game since leaving 17 on against Tulane on April 23, 2024. It also marked the first time drew double-figure walks – 12 – since getting 10 versus Indiana in the NCAA Knoxville Regional on June 2, 2024.
Game two of the series is set for 7 p.m., Saturday. The game was pushed back five hours due to expected rain in the area during the afternoon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Middleton, JB (5-1)
L: Zach Willingham (2-4)
Batting:
HR: Kyle Morrison 1
RBI: Kyle Morrison 2
Base Running:
RUNS: John Smith 1 ; Kyle Morrison 1
CS: Lucas Ismaili 1
HBP: John Smith 1
Batting:
HR: Russo, Matthew 1
RBI: Cook, Jake 1 ; Pratt, Ozzie 1 ; Russo, Matthew 1 ; Monistere, Nick 2 ; Barrett, Drey 2 ; Urban, Joey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cook, Jake 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 1 ; Russo, Matthew 1 ; Monistere, Nick 2 ; Paetow, Carson 2 ; Barrett, Drey 1
HBP: Cook, Jake 1 ; Urban, Joey 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
OF
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Episode 5: Battle for the Belt
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