There was no question for Southern Miss assistant coach Travis Creel to bestow Carson Paetow the 'dude ball.'
The honor came after Paetow blasted a three-run homer that sailed over the centerfield wall that not only secured Southern Miss' 7-5 Sunday victory over Marshall but also the Golden Eagles' first series sweep of the season.
The Dude Ball is Southern Miss' version of honoring a player with the game ball.
"Coach Creel started this thing, and it was originally with his business cards," Paetow said. "It's for someone who comes up big and who is the 'the dude of the game' and yeah, I got the dude ball."
It was a welcome site for Paetow as the home was right fielder's first hit of the weekend.
"I've been struggling here lately, especially these last couple of weekends, and it's no secret I just have," Paetow said. "For me to come up big with two outs is huge. It fires me up, and I know it fires the guys up. Hits give you confidence. Good at-bats give you confidence, but home runs are cool. For me to be able to do that, especially when I'm struggling, gives me some extra confidence, and hopefully, it'll get me back in my groove."
Having an equally critical day was Billy Butler, who was 2-for-4 while diving in a pair of RBI, he was also in agreement that Paetow was the most deserving of the dude ball.
"We have our little meeting, and Coach Creel goes around and talks about who did what offensively," Butler said. "He throws a ball up, and it has a baseball with just 'dude' on the seams. It's a lot of fun for us."
"That was the nail in the coffin today," Butler said of Paetow's home run. "For us all year, he's had some struggles, but then he just answers the bell in the next game or the next at-bat. You can see our maturity as an offense coming together a little bit."
Southern Miss (14-6, 3-0) took a 2-0 lead in the third inning after Nick Monistere and Butler delivered RBI singles.
However, Marshall plated a run in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game 2-2. Southern Miss starting pitcher Will Armistead's last five innings as he allowed one run off three hits, struck out three batters and walked one.
Butler put the Golden Eagles back ahead with another RBI single in the seventh inning.
"Right there I knew I was going to get a lot of sliders and I had kind of lost the magic of coming a couple of pretty good weekends," Butler said. "Yesterday and today, I didn't feel good at the plate, but I was just trying to put something in play and hit something hard. I got a job done, thankfully. Our offense is starting to get a little naughty now."
On the next at-bat, Paetow belted a three-run homer that registered as leaving the bat at 104 mph and traveled 416 feet to push the score to 6-2.
"I think that pitcher was feeding a lot of breaking balls," Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said. "I think he worked a 3-2 count and tried to get a fastball by him. He was ready for it and on time. He drove it out to center field. That was a huge moment and one we desperately needed. That was a good at-bat by Carson."
Dalton McIntyre added to the lead in the eighth inning after driving in a run with a sac fly.
Marshall (6-13, 0-3) managed to stay alive in the ninth as the Thundering Herd scored three runs before JB Middleton recorded the game's final out.
"I feel like we have grown, and I feel like that is obvious," Ostrander said. "I think there are some things that we can definitely improve upon. It doesn't matter what year it is or what team it is. You always feel that way. I feel like there has been growth, and we have to keep building on that momentum. Every win or loss, for that matter, is an opportunity to learn and grow. I think these guys are doing that."
Southern Miss will travel to Trustmark Park in Pearl to take on in-state rival Ole Miss. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
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