University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Friday, May 29
Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field
Noon CT
Southern Miss
44-16
4
vs
7
(4) Little Rock
37-26
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Rock | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 0 |
| Southern Miss | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Four-Run Ninth Lifts Little Rock 7-4 Friday in NCAA Hattiesburg Regional Opener
5/29/2026 3:46:00 PM | Baseball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Blake Simpson recorded a two-run home run to cap a four-run top of the ninth to lift No. 4 seed Little Rock over No. 1 seed Southern Miss 7-4 Friday afternoon in the opening game of the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The seventh-ranked and No. 9 overall seed in the tournament Golden Eagles (44-16) lost its NCAA Tournament opener for the fourth-straight season. Little Rock (37-26) won its seventh game in a row.
The Trojans collected 14 hits with 12 coming from their top four hitters in the order. Leadoff hitter Jerdy Lopez posted three, two-hole hitter Kade Smith added two, while three-hole and cleanup batters, Nolan Freund and Simpson, added three hits each.
Down 4-2 in the ninth, Little Rock got a leadoff single from Cooper Chaplain. After a flyout to left, Smith doubled to center to put runners at second and third. A wild pitch from reliever Colby Allen tied the game before Freund's single up the middle with a drawn in infield put the Trojans up. Then, for good measure, Simpson blasted a two-run homer to right center to cap the visitor's scoring.
Allen suffered the loss as he came in relief of starter Camden Clark. The loss for Allen dropped him to 7-2 on the year. The senior right-hander allowed five runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts over the final 3 2/3 innings. Clark gave up two runs on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in his seventh start of the year.
After falling behind in the third on a Freund RBI single, the Golden Eagles tied the game in bottom half of the frame with a solo home run from Kyle Morrison, his team-leading 17th of the year.
Joey Urban then put the Golden Eagles ahead with a two-run homer, his 15th, that banged off the light pole in center field to give Southern Miss a 3-1 advantage.
Again, though, the Trojans rallied with a solo run in the sixth and eighth innings to tie the score. A sacrifice fly from Ty Rhoades cut the gap to one, before tying the game at 3-3 with an eighth-inning RBI groundout from Angel Cano.
The Golden Eagles took their final lead when Davis Gillespie homered to open the bottom of the eighth. It marked his 14th of the campaign.
Tag Andrews, the third of three Little Rock pitchers, threw the final two innings and limited Southern Miss to a run on two hits with no walks and two strikeouts to earn the win and improve to 5-2.
The Golden Eagles now play in a elimination game set for Saturday at 3 p.m., coming against the loser of the tournament's second game between No. 3 Jacksonville State and No. 2 Virginia.
The seventh-ranked and No. 9 overall seed in the tournament Golden Eagles (44-16) lost its NCAA Tournament opener for the fourth-straight season. Little Rock (37-26) won its seventh game in a row.
The Trojans collected 14 hits with 12 coming from their top four hitters in the order. Leadoff hitter Jerdy Lopez posted three, two-hole hitter Kade Smith added two, while three-hole and cleanup batters, Nolan Freund and Simpson, added three hits each.
Down 4-2 in the ninth, Little Rock got a leadoff single from Cooper Chaplain. After a flyout to left, Smith doubled to center to put runners at second and third. A wild pitch from reliever Colby Allen tied the game before Freund's single up the middle with a drawn in infield put the Trojans up. Then, for good measure, Simpson blasted a two-run homer to right center to cap the visitor's scoring.
Allen suffered the loss as he came in relief of starter Camden Clark. The loss for Allen dropped him to 7-2 on the year. The senior right-hander allowed five runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts over the final 3 2/3 innings. Clark gave up two runs on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings in his seventh start of the year.
After falling behind in the third on a Freund RBI single, the Golden Eagles tied the game in bottom half of the frame with a solo home run from Kyle Morrison, his team-leading 17th of the year.
Joey Urban then put the Golden Eagles ahead with a two-run homer, his 15th, that banged off the light pole in center field to give Southern Miss a 3-1 advantage.
Again, though, the Trojans rallied with a solo run in the sixth and eighth innings to tie the score. A sacrifice fly from Ty Rhoades cut the gap to one, before tying the game at 3-3 with an eighth-inning RBI groundout from Angel Cano.
The Golden Eagles took their final lead when Davis Gillespie homered to open the bottom of the eighth. It marked his 14th of the campaign.
Tag Andrews, the third of three Little Rock pitchers, threw the final two innings and limited Southern Miss to a run on two hits with no walks and two strikeouts to earn the win and improve to 5-2.
The Golden Eagles now play in a elimination game set for Saturday at 3 p.m., coming against the loser of the tournament's second game between No. 3 Jacksonville State and No. 2 Virginia.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Andrews, Tag (5-2)
L: Allen, Colby (7-2)
Batting:
2B: Lopez, Jerdy 2 ; Simpson, Blake 1 ; Smith, Kade 1 ; Baumbach, Nico 1
HR: Simpson, Blake 1
RBI: Simpson, Blake 2 ; Freund, Nolan 2 ; Rhoades, Ty 1 ; Cano, Angel 1
SF: Rhoades, Ty 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lopez, Jerdy 1 ; Simpson, Blake 3 ; Chaplain, Cooper 1 ; Freund, Nolan 1 ; Smith, Kade 1
HBP: Simpson, Blake 1 ; Cano, Angel 1
Batting:
2B: Russo, Matthew 1 ; Smith, Seth 1
HR: Urban, Joey 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 1 ; Morrison, Kyle 1
RBI: Urban, Joey 2 ; Gillespie, Davis 1 ; Morrison, Kyle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Urban, Joey 1 ; Gillespie, Davis 1 ; Smith, Seth 1 ; Morrison, Kyle 1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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