As fog encompassed Pete Taylor Park late on Friday night, Slade Wilks knew that if he could hit a ball high enough, the outfielders might not see it land.
On a 3-1 count, Wilks unloaded on a ball that went deep into right field, but Indiana State's right fielder seemingly looked to come down with a routine fly ball.
The senior's instincts were correct as the ball fell directly behind the outfielder on the far edge of the warning track. Wilks sprinted through the bases and came up with a two-run inside-the-park home run that helped seal Southern Miss' series opening 5-1 victory over the Sycamores.
"I knew when I hit it that I just missed it," Slade Wilks said. "I knew it wasn't going over. When I was walking up, I knew that there is no way that if I hit it in the air that they could see out there. I was rounding second, and I saw (Travis) Creel waiving me, and I said here we go. I'm still trying to find breath."
It was Southern Miss' first inside-the-park home run since 2010.
But prior to the wild seventh inning, the game was primarily a pitching duel between aces Niko Mazza and Indiana State's Jacob Pruitt.
The two squads traded a run in the first inning. On the game's second at-bat, Mazza surrendered a solo home run that hit the scoreboard, but he responded with a flyout and strikeout to end the inning.
"He just got it," Mazza said. "I threw a pitch that I thought was pretty good. I can't fold after giving up one hit. He put a good swing on it. I think that's where I have grown a lot and have kind of matured from last year to this year."
Pruitt didn't get off to a much better start as he gave up a pair of singles to start the game and then allowed a one-out walk to Billy Bulter to load the bases. One at-bat later, Matthew Russo drew an RBI walk to even the score, but Pruitt answered with a strikeout.
"We knew he was going to get his punch outs, but the difference for me in that first inning especially is that we made him throw something like 28 pitches or so," Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said. "That's how you beat dudes. You have to chop them down. If you have real quick innings then the pitch count stays down. I thought Niko matched it and kept it close. When we got to the pen, we were able to blow it open."
Between the fourth and sixth innings, Mazza retired nine of the batters 10 batters he faced, with his one blemish being fixed aided by a double play. Between the third and sixth innings, Pruitt was equally effective as he retired nine of 10 batters he faced. However, Pruitt's pitch count went over 95 pitches, and the right-hander left the game due to an apparent shoulder injury.
Entering the game, Pruitt allowed three walks all season but finished the game with five walks and 11 strikeouts and surrendered one run off three hits.
"He had his A+ game tonight," said Wilks to describe facing Pruitt. "He was throwing three pitches basically where he wanted them. We have to do a little better, but we got to him when it mattered.
"Both starting pitchers had their stuff going. There guy was really good. One good thing we were able to do was get his pitch count up early, and that inevitably got him out of the game. They brought in their reliever, and we had some better swings and a better approach off him."
Mazza matched his career-long of seven innings as he struck out eight batters and allowed one run off three hits. The right-hander also allowed his first walk of the season in the seventh inning.
"That guy is a stud," Mazza said. "I hope he is alright. I saw him come off the mound. He's a good pitcher. Having that level of competition definitely raises your game."
Southern Miss capitalized on getting into Indiana State's bullpen as a pair of walks to open the seventh inning led to Dalton McIntyre breaking the game open with a two-run single followed by Wilks' homer to push the score to 5-1.
"I thought we played a clean game defensively," Ostrander said. "I was extremely proud of the effort all the way around from the pitching side, defensive side and offensive side. We just really grinded that one out to get a win against a good club."
First pitch for Saturday's game is set for 2 p.m.
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