KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The start of the Knoxville Regional couldn't have gone much worse for Southern Miss.
The Golden Eagles' starting pitcher, Billy Oldham, had no answers for Indiana's potent lineup. Southern Miss struggled to overcome an 8-0 deficit, which led to Indiana defeating the Golden Eagles 10-4 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday.
"It was a tough loss there," Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said. "I tip my had to Indiana. They came out swinging the bats really aggressively. We never could really get control of that box. They made it tough on our starter, Billy.
"I thought (Indiana's) pitcher was really good. We didn't have much of an answer there. It is what it is. When you get down to a dangerous offensive team like that, then you have to scratch and claw to get back."
OLDHAM STRUGGLES
Indiana (33-24-1) ran Oldham off the mound by the fourth inning after the Golden Eagles' starting pitcher surrendered seven runs off 10 hits.
"With Billy, it's all about gaining control of the batter's box and establishing one thing," Ostrander said. He had a hard time doing it. Their approach had a lot to do with that. Again, I tip my hat to that."
The Hoosiers plated runs in four of the first five innings, which was highlighted by Indiana's cleanup hitter Brock Tibbetts hammering a two-run home run in the first inning and then later a two-run double in the fourth.
Tibbetts went 3-for-5 and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
"It was similar to what we saw this past weekend against Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament," said Tibbetts on how Indiana approached Oldham. "The biggest thing was being able to take the changeup and make him establish the changeup. Once we showed the ability to do that it really opened up the rest of the offense. Sticking to that throughout the course of the game helped us to get to their starter and put runs up early."
TOO LITTLE TOO LATE
Southern Miss' lineup could not put together any momentum against Indiana's left-hander Ty Bothwell after being held to five hits through six innings.
However, in the sixth inning, Nick Monistere hit a two-run homer that narrowed the score to 8-2. Despite having the bases loaded, USM could only add one more run due to an infield error.
"For the most part, we did a decent job of getting runners on base," said Slade Wilks, who extended his hitting streak to 33 games." We were just kind of lacking the big hits. We left runners on, and we were a few big hits away from getting back into that ball game. I think that was kind of the difference."
On the mound, reliever Kros Sivley held Indiana to just one run between the fourth and eighth innings, but with two outs in the top of the ninth, the left-hander gave up a two-run homer. Southern Miss (41-19) tacked on an extra run in the bottom of the ninth after Davis Gillespie hit an RBI double with two outs. It was the only time in the game that USM delivered a hit with runners in scoring position.
It's now the second straight year that Southern Miss opens the NCAA Regionals.
"It's a fight for every single pitch," said Wilks when asked on how to draw from last year's experience in the loser's bracket. "You can't take one pitch off when your backs are against the wall like we are now. It's a war. It's that plain and simple."
PAETOW INJURY
Carson Paetow had battled a wrist injury since the start of the Sun Belt tournament. Despite making a pinch-running appearance in the conference championship, the Golden Eagles' right fielder was not dressed out.
During the postgame press conference, Ostrander confirmed that he would be unavailable for the entire regional, and is not on the active roster.
Southern Miss will play either Tennessee or Northern Kentucky tomorrow at 11 a.m. CDT.
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