
Joey Urban’s Homer Provides Difference Maker in 4-3 Victory over Troy Thursday Night
5/15/2025 10:53:00 PM | Baseball
TROY, Ala. – Joey Urban led off the eighth inning with a solo home run to break a tie score and lift Southern Miss to a 4-3 Sun Belt Conference victory over Troy Thursday night at Riddle-Pace Field.
The Golden Eagles (39-13 overall, 22-6 Sun Belt) won for the 13th-straight game and clinched at least the No. 2 seed in next week's league tournament which runs Tuesday-Sunday, May 20-25, at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala.
With the game tied at 3-3, Urban took a Colby Frieda 0-2 pitch deep over the right-center field wall to extend the Golden Eagles streak of hitting at least one home run to 20-straight games and 36 over the last 39.
After falling behind early on a Sean Darnell second inning run-scoring single, Southern Miss countered with three runs of their own in the fourth.
Urban started the rally by reaching on a throwing error by Trojan third baseman Jimmy Janicki with one out. Ben Higdon, who collected two hits, record his first one – a single – to put runners at the corners. Drey Barrett then tied the score with a sacrifice fly. After a pair of walks to Tucker Stockman and Ozzie Pratt, Jake Cook extended the advantage to 3-1 on a two-run single to center.
The Trojans (37-17, 18-10) cut the deficit to one on a Janicki RBI single off Golden Eagle starter JB Middlton, who went six innings and allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts. He did not figure in the decision as Colby Allen gave up a run in the seventh after entering the game to start the inning.
Steven Meier tied the game with a double to center, but Allen kept the Trojans off the board the remainder of the contest. The Trojans tried to rally in the ninth by registering back-to-back singles to start the ninth. Allen then got a popout on a bunt for the first out of the last frame and then enticed two groundouts to get the victory and improve to 6-4.
Allen threw the final three innings and gave up a run on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Frieda got touched with the loss as he allowed a run on four hits over three innings with two strikeouts and no walks to fall to 3-1.
Game two of the series is set to take place Friday at 6 p.m.
The Golden Eagles (39-13 overall, 22-6 Sun Belt) won for the 13th-straight game and clinched at least the No. 2 seed in next week's league tournament which runs Tuesday-Sunday, May 20-25, at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala.
With the game tied at 3-3, Urban took a Colby Frieda 0-2 pitch deep over the right-center field wall to extend the Golden Eagles streak of hitting at least one home run to 20-straight games and 36 over the last 39.
After falling behind early on a Sean Darnell second inning run-scoring single, Southern Miss countered with three runs of their own in the fourth.
Urban started the rally by reaching on a throwing error by Trojan third baseman Jimmy Janicki with one out. Ben Higdon, who collected two hits, record his first one – a single – to put runners at the corners. Drey Barrett then tied the score with a sacrifice fly. After a pair of walks to Tucker Stockman and Ozzie Pratt, Jake Cook extended the advantage to 3-1 on a two-run single to center.
The Trojans (37-17, 18-10) cut the deficit to one on a Janicki RBI single off Golden Eagle starter JB Middlton, who went six innings and allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts. He did not figure in the decision as Colby Allen gave up a run in the seventh after entering the game to start the inning.
Steven Meier tied the game with a double to center, but Allen kept the Trojans off the board the remainder of the contest. The Trojans tried to rally in the ninth by registering back-to-back singles to start the ninth. Allen then got a popout on a bunt for the first out of the last frame and then enticed two groundouts to get the victory and improve to 6-4.
Allen threw the final three innings and gave up a run on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Frieda got touched with the loss as he allowed a run on four hits over three innings with two strikeouts and no walks to fall to 3-1.
Game two of the series is set to take place Friday at 6 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Middleton, JB (9-1)
L: Andrew Herrmann (3-4)
Batting:
RBI: Caleb Stelly 1 ; Owen Galt 2
SH: Owen Galt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Conor Higgs 1 ; Lee Amedee 1 ; Caleb Stelly 1
SB: Maddox Mandino 2 ; Caleb Stelly 1
CS: Owen Galt 1
HBP: Conor Higgs 1

Batting:
2B: Urban, Joey 1
HR: Urban, Joey 1 ; Pratt, Ozzie 1
RBI: Monistere, Nick 2 ; Russo, Matthew 1 ; Paetow, Carson 1 ; Higdon, Ben 1 ; Urban, Joey 2 ; Stockman, Tucker 2 ; Pratt, Ozzie 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Cook, Jake 1 ; Monistere, Nick 1 ; Paetow, Carson 1 ; Higdon, Ben 2 ; Urban, Joey 3 ; Stockman, Tucker 1 ; Pratt, Ozzie 2
HBP: Monistere, Nick 1 ; Russo, Matthew 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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