Southern Miss struggled to advance runners to home plate in game one of the Auburn Regional, leading the Golden Eagles to a 4-2 loss against Samford.
The Bulldogs got on the board first in the top of the third inning when third baseman Garrett Staton hit an RBI to score Kadon Dreier to take a 1-0 lead. USM responded in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of a Dustin Dickerson sacrifice fly to score Rodrigo Montenegro, tying the ballgame.
The Golden Eagles’ bats would proceed to go dry for the next four innings of play.
Despite a stellar performance from ace pitcher Tanner Hall, USM’s inability to manufacture runs ultimately kept the team from outlasting the Bulldogs in extra-innings.
Hall gave the Golden Eagles nine complete innings, struck out nine batters, and only allowed one run in the game. USM pitching coach Christian Ostrander turned to left-hander Justin Storm in the top of the 10th inning. He was quickly pulled after giving up a two-run bomb hit by former Hinds Community College slugger Josh Rodriguez.
Nikko Mazza entered the game for Southern Miss and was able to escape the top of the inning after allowing one additional run, giving Samford a 4-1 lead.
In the bottom of the 10th, USM found life and a perfect opportunity to work their way back into the match. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with no outs on the board but only managed to score one run.
Next up for Southern Miss will be a matchup against Auburn in the loser’s bracket of the regional. The game will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
