MONTGOMERY, Ala. – It was supposed to be a rebuilding year. However, the confidence and culture built around Southern Miss’ baseball program never diminished.
As history has proven, it should not have come as a surprise when Southern Miss rallied with five runs in the top of the ninth to defeat Georgia Southern 14-11 and win its second straight Sun Belt championship on Sunday at Riverwalk Stadium.
“We expect to be here,” said sophomore Colby Allen, who was named the tournament’s MVP. “We expect to go win it. We expect to be in regionals. We expect to go win the regional and go win a super. That’s what we play for, and that’s what we practice for.”
And, of course, it was in no way anticipated that head coach Christian Ostrander would have the most successful season ever for a first-year head coach at Southern Miss.
“I’m always going to bet on myself, but it wasn’t me,” Ostrander said. “It’s these guys. It’s our staff. It’s our administration. It’s these fans. It’s the program. Our culture is so strong because it has been built by such great coaches and players before with the tradition. It’s a real thing.
“When you put these pinstripes on, it’s like putting on a superhero’s cape. You have a responsibility to represent all those before us.”
In many ways, the thrilling Sun Belt championship game shared several similarities to Southern Miss’ season.
When Southern Miss (41-18) trailed 6-3 after giving up four home runs by the third inning, it felt like a reminder of when the Golden Eagles learned that starting pitcher Will Armistead would miss the rest of the season.
It was just over a month ago that it seemed like USM would not experience its typical postseason success. At the time, the Golden Eagles held a 21-14 overall record and an 8-6 mark in conference.
Southern Miss’ pitching staff struggled to find answers, and any notion of the bullpen’s pitchers allowing four runs in the entire Sun Belt tournament seemed like a pipe dream. But it was quite the contrary as the Golden Eagles drastically turning things around.
“That was kind of the moment where it turned it to the right way,” Ostrander said. “Not for the reason of an injury by any means. But it was guys stepping up, whether it was on the mound or wherever. It’s also the time of the season where this group really took ownership.
“Our job then was to direct them a little bit more and kind of get out of their way. It’s been a pleasure to watch these guys grow. “
But as the Sunday slugfest waged, the Southern Miss bullpen gave its lineup enough time to answer, with the two sides of the team creating momentum for each other.
“I think some of the newer guys have finally bought into what we were trying to do,” Allen said.
“Some of the older guys were trying to pound it into their head, and they finally started to listen. They’ve always had the talent. I’ve been saying it all year. You just have to get that mind. Our bullpen has really stepped up and saved us in a lot of games. Our offense is putting up runs, and when you have a good bullpen, then it’s hard to beat us. That’s the ingredient of a good club.”
Much like the year, the Golden Eagles faced its fair share of adversity, but when it mattered the most, the program hit its stride and delivered in the most critical moments of the season.
Even though the Golden Eagles trailed 11-9 heading into the ninth inning, and despite most its team not having experienced championship baseball at Southern Miss before there was still only confidence inside of their dugout as the outs dwindled.
“We started out not fulfilling our expectations,” said Matthew Russo, who broke open the game with a two-run single in the ninth inning. “We walked into the dugout, and the first thing we said, all of us, is that we refuse to lose. It was very simultaneous.”
Finally Allen sealed Southern Miss’ victory for a third time in the Sun Belt tournament as the Golden Eagles’ closer has not allowed an earned run since May 5 making him crucial in helping the Golden Eagles win 15 of their last 16 games.
“This is Southern Miss," Allen said. "We don’t lose here. We fight and we scrap. Our offense did it, and y’all have seen it with the pitching. We’ve had talent in the fall and spring, we finally figured it out. It was the right time. We figured it out at the right time.”
Southern Miss earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and will learn its destination at 11 a.m. The selection show will be shown on ESPN2.
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