*Photo courtesy of USM Athletics
A rain-out on Wednesday may have been a blessing in disguise for Southern Miss as their ace, Nick Sandlin, was able to start game one of the C-USA tournament against UAB, and he pitched a gem to help USM advance.
In the process of moving his record to 9-0 on the year, Sandlin threw a complete game shutout and struck out 12 batters and allowed just four hits. While Sandlin handled his end of the bargain, the USM offense was able to do their part as well. It wasn’t an offense explosion, but they were able to score a run in the 2nd inning on a Matthew Guidry sac-fly, and another with a Hunter Slater RBI single in the 7th.
After the game, head coach Scott Berry was happy to get the win but knew UAB gave them all they could handle.
“UAB, they really battled us,” Berry said. “They gave us fits. Their pitchers did an outstanding job pitching out of innings and really minimizing.”
With the strikeout totals from Thursday’s game, Sandlin brought his season total to 135, which is 4thall-time for a single season in USM history. Berry praised his star pitcher, who was awarded the Ferriss Award earlier this week.
“He understands what his job is, and that’s to keep the opposition from scoring. We’re just grateful that he was able to take the mound and that we were able to scratch a couple of runs for him,” Berry said. “The storyline was Nick Sandlin and his ability to take the mound and dominate.”
Southern Miss will now take on UTSA today at 12:30 p.m.
