Slade Wilks’ on-deck routine has remained mostly the same since his sophomore year.
Southern Miss’ designated hitter takes a moment to prepare his mind. He then adds the bat weight before taking two swings as hard as possible to loosen up before focusing on the pitcher to try to get his timing down.
It’s not a secret routine by any means.
But Wilks admits that he has performed typical superstitious routines in his four years at Southern Miss, such as having to listen to the same song before each game. But this year, the senior swears this is the least superstitious season he has ever been with the Golden Eagles.
On Friday, Wilks continued to go against baseball’s status quo of honoring superstitions as he not only drove in four runs to propel Southern Miss to a 6-3 win over Texas State but also extended his hitting streak to 27 straight games.
However, the irony to the claim Wilks’ lack of superstition is that his streak didn’t begin until he changed his walk-up song in the third game of the Troy series.
Wilks’ had gone 0-for-3 in the Game 2 loss to the Trojans, with his batting average dropping to .265, leading to him making the decision to go back to last season’s walk-up song Hillbilly Deluxe by Brooks & Dunn.
Since the song switch 27 games ago, Wilks has hit .390, raised his season’s batting average by 65 points, put up nine doubles, nine home runs and driven in 36 runs in that span.
“It’s a good song, isn’t it?” Wilks laughed. “I know at that point in the year, I wasn’t doing too well, so I decided to change it up, and I guess we’re here.”
The lyrics, ‘Big Time in a Small Town,’ seem to perfectly characterize Wilks, whose hometown of Columbia is just 30 minutes away from Hattiesburg.
“I wanted to do it for the longest time,” said Wilks, explaining why he initially chose the song. “I just could never convince myself to do. I’m a big believer that when a song hits you, you know that’s the walk-up song. That’s it for this year. That song had been speaking to me, and when I finally did it. I knew.”
It’s the longest-hitting streak at Southern Miss in nearly 15 years. Wilks is one game away from tying Kevin Young, who hit safely for 28 games in 1990 for No. 3 all-time in program history.
“It’s crazy and a heck of a feat,” Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said. “That’s hard to do at this level. He’s been very steady. We are seeing that, and rightfully so. He’s a great hitter and great competitor. He’s mature and old. He’s been through everything. It’s not surprising to us that know him.”
The Golden Eagles (36-18 overall, 19-10 Sun Belt) are 19-7 since Wilks’ streak began in the final game of the Troy series. Not to mention, Wilks has hit safely in every one of Southern Miss’ road games this season.
Wilks’ first hit on Friday’s game against Texas State (27-28, 13-16) was a backside two-run home run in the top of the first inning that gave Southern Miss an early lead.
“I feel like this year, he has had the best approach he has ever had,” said Matthew Russo, who later hit a solo home run that gave USM a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning. “He’s hitting pitches that he needs to hit, and it’s the best I’ve ever seen him work on the backside.”
Unless asked by the media, there’s not much talk of Wilks’ streak, but that’s not because of superstition; rather, it’s just something expected of the team’s dependable designated hitter.
“It’s just Slade,” Russo said. “He is one of the best hitters that I have ever been a teammate of, and if not the best. He’s having a great year and really leading us. As soon as you see Slade get a hit, it’s like a spark.
“He’s just a big ole country dude. He can hit with nothing on or two pairs of batting gloves on. He doesn’t care. He’s going to hit; that’s all he does, just hit.”
After Russo’s homer in the eighth inning, Wilks followed with a two-run double to close out the Golden Eagles’ victory.
“I could have seen myself as a younger guy thinking about (the streak),” Wilks said. “Honestly, I’m not really thinking about it. I’m just trying to help this team win ball games.”
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