Just one day after returning to the top 10 in the D1Baseball rankings, Southern Miss failed to live up to the hype. The Golden Eagles struggled to find meaningful hits on Tuesday and suffered a 5-1 upset at the hands of a Southeastern Louisiana club with revenge on its mind.
The two teams last squared off over a month ago on the Lions’ home turf. The black and gold, ranked No. 20 at the time, scored a pair of go-ahead runs in the ninth inning to notch a 3-1 victory. Unfazed by a trip to Pete Taylor Park, Southeastern Louisiana, which defeated then-ranked No. 8 Oklahoma on March 17, was up for the task of playing road spoiler again — and did just that.
Southern Miss (21-7, 5-4 Sun Belt) got behind the 8-ball when the Lions (17-12, 8-4 Southland) broke things open by tacking on four runs in the top of the fourth. The scoring surge was highlighted by Southeastern Louisiana first baseman Brody Capps roping a two-run long ball to left center. The Lions added an insurance run in the top of the sixth to claim a 5-0 lead.
The Golden Eagles failed to counter effectively, scoring just one run near the tail-end of the contest. Right fielder Ben Higdon singled to shallow left field, scoring Joey Urban in the bottom of the eighth, and that was about the only notable offensive moment of the night, maybe other than Drey Barrett’s seventh-inning double.
Southeastern Louisiana’s starting pitcher Luke Liretta (2-1) was effective in the midweek matchup. The right-handed senior struck out seven Southern Miss batters, walked just two, and gave up five hits in 6.2 scoreless innings. He was credited with the win.
Golden Eagle hurler Kros Sivley, after a tumultuous outing in relief against Troy on Saturday, was effective the first time facing the Lions’ lineup but was shelled when the order rotated back around the second time. All four of Southeastern Louisiana’s fourth-inning runs were attributed to Sivley (3-2), who was handed the loss.
Seven total pitchers, including notable weekend arms, saw action on the bump for Christian Ostrander’s club on Tuesday. The six hurlers not named Sivley had a solid night, giving up a collective five hits and just one earned run. McCarty English was on the mound when the Lions scored their fifth run.
Barrett and Kyle Morrison were the only Southern Miss players with multiple hits. Both had two. For the game, the Golden Eagles left 10 runners on base.
Next up
Southern Miss will head to Virginia for a three-game affair versus conference foe Old Dominion. The series will be played on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with Easter Sunday following.