A day after Southern Miss’ pitching staff surrendered 14 walks in a Sunday loss to Louisiana Tech, the Golden Eagles held a team meeting.
“I challenged them pretty hard,” Ostrander said. “That was uncharacteristic. I believe that was an outlier. Sometimes, like hitting is contagious, it was almost like guys got in there and were afraid to put the ball over the plate. It was a growing moment.”
Two days later, the Golden Eagles answered their coach’s challenge by defeating No. 14 Alabama 9-7 on Tuesday night.
ALLEN’S CAREER-HIGH
Southern Miss’ starting pitcher Cole Boswell was the only Golden Eagle to give up a walk, but USM’s lineup took off pressure by quickly taking a 4-0 lead by the second inning.
Davis Gillespie hit a ball over the Alabama centerfielder’s head to give the redshirt freshman a three-run double. In the second, Slade Wilks added to the Golden Eagles’ lead by driving in a run with a sac fly.
Colby Allen recorded a career-high of six strikeouts and was one of five relievers who did not give up a walk.
“We had a long talk as a staff,” Allen said. “The coaches talked, and some of us players also talked. The big thing was that we were trying to be fine at the moment. We weren’t throwing enough strikes. They were coming in on big pressure moments and trying to make the out on one pitch instead of throwing it up and trusting their stuff.”
The sophomore’s only blemish was a leadoff solo home run in the third inning, which narrowed the to score 4-1. Allen then gave up a single, but answered by inducing a double play followed by a strikeout.
In the fourth inning, Allen worked around having runners at first and second with one out by coming up with a strikeout and a ground to end the threat. The right-hander pitched around having a runner at second with two outs after giving up a single and then throwing a wild pitch as he responded with another strikeout.
In 3.1 innings, Allen allowed just one run off five hits and did not walk a batter.
Chase Adams and McCarty English followed Allen’s performance by holding Alabama to two runs off four hits.
“I was very pleased with the pitching all across the board,” Ostrander said. “I thought Colby Allen was a difference maker in this with coming in and covering three (innings) and keep the game right there.”
LINEUP STAYS HOT
The Golden Eagles bats posted 11 hits against an Alabama pitching staff that entered the game with a 3.31 team ERA. Southern Miss (11-6) has now posted double-digit hits in six of the last seven games.
“We challenged our hitting coaches,” Ostrander said. “Our hitting coaches of Coach Creel, Rhodes and Brewer have done a great job of instilling the mentality of using the whole field and backside. I thought we did that again tonight. The strikeouts were down and we put a lot of balls in play.”
In the fifth inning, Slade Wilks hit a solo home run to dead center that registered 110 mph off the bat and traveled 432 feet.
After Alabama (15-2) hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, Dalton McIntyre helped Southern Miss respond in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single. A failed pickoff attempt then allowed Tucker Stockman to score on the error and extend the Golden Eagles’ lead to 7-2.
“As a team, we have bought into an approach,” McIntyre said. “We are starting to compete a lot more. You see, there is a lot less big swing-and-miss type of stuff. There is a lot of moving the ball. I think we have been doing a great job with runners in scoring position."
Both Wilks and McIntyre, who was 3-for-5, extended their hitting streaks to nine games.
“We always had the talent,” McIntyre said. “All year we have had the talent to beat a team like this. We have just been piecing it together. We have a lot of young guys, myself included that have been trying to figure it out. There has been growing pains and it’s probably not the end of the growing pains. As the year goes on, we’ll only get better and better.”
Carson Paetow capped off the offensive production in the seventh inning with a two-run home run.
HEART THROBBING NINTH
The Crimson Tide didn’t fade as they plated five runs in the ninth inning and had the game-tying run at home with one out.
A fielding error by Gillespie started that rally, which led to five straight hits, including a three-run triple and a two-run home run off JB Middleton.
“We gave something there with that leadoff error,” Ostrander said. “That whole inning could have been changed if we make that play. It’s part of the game. They got momentum.
“They hit JB. He probably left a pitch or two where he shouldn’t have there.”
The Golden Eagles then turned to Kros Silvey, who promptly recorded two quick outs and preserved the victory.
“Big win for us tonight against a really good opponent,” Ostrander said. “Those guys were as advertised. We knew were going to have to play a good game.”
Southern Miss hosts Marshall for its conference-opening weekend series. Friday’s first pitch is set for 6 p.m.
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