AUBURN, Ala. – In the top of the first inning, Christopher Sargent hit a high fly ball that first looked to be an out but carried over the left field wall and instead left the park as a 3-run homer.
Sargent's home run helped spark Southern Miss' 7-2 win over Auburn to keep the Golden Eagles' season alive.
The moment left Auburn coach Butch Thompson in disbelief.
"We're here every day, but yeah, the first one did (shock me)," Thompson said. "I think it even shocked Bobby Pierce, who was playing right field. He was kind of going back, and then he was running back. He plays that spot every day. That first one told us that a few balls would go out.
"I think you could tell when the first home run was hit in the first inning that the park was not going to hold much."
Southern Miss will wait to play the loser of the Penn-Samford game tomorrow at 2 p.m.
"Outstanding game by us," Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. "Yesterday, we saw terrific pitching and defense but missed out on the timely hitting. Today we saw a combination of everything that we needed to win against Auburn. I'm very proud of the way our guys competed with the sense of urgency and knowing our backs were against the wall."
Sargent's big swing was the first of three home runs that Southern Miss hit against Auburn's ace pitcher Tommy Vail, who entered the game having given up just three home runs all season. By the end of the game, the Golden Eagles launched four long balls.
Dustin Dickerson hit the other two home runs as he teed off two solo shots in the third and fifth innings, leading to Vail's exit. Entering the season, Dickerson had four home runs in his career but after now has eight this year.
"We missed the big hit yesterday, and I think Sargent led us off great in the first inning with the 3-run, backside home run," Dickerson said. "It gave us a lot of momentum. I put two good swings on a fastball, and it went over the fence. I give a lot of credit to Sargent for getting us going.
"I'm getting good pitches, and I'm getting good swings on it. I'm not trying to hit the ball over the fence. I've been taking the same swing I've (used) for the last couple of years now, and they are just going over the fence now. Nothing has really changed that much."
The Golden Eagles added another run after Rodrigo Montenegro drove in a run off a sac fly to secure the big lead.
Aiding Southern Miss' bats was a needed deep outing by starting pitcher Billy Oldham, who kept the Tigers scoreless through the first fiving innings of the game.
After giving up a walk and single in the first, Oldham retired 13 of the next 14 batters he faced, which was highlighted by a 4-pitch inning in the fifth. The right-hander ran into trouble after picking up two outs in the sixth as he gave up a 2-out RBI single.
"It's way easier to pitch with a lead," Oldham said. "Doing that in the first inning, we knew we had our backs against the wall, so to come out and score three puts the team not at ease, but it makes me know that I can go out and attack guys. Coach Oz always says attack and don't give freebies. With the lead, it's easy to go out and attack guys."
Oldham finished the game allowing two runs off four hits while striking out one batter and walking two before Will Armistead and allowed just an RBI single before keeping Auburn scoreless for the rest of the game. However, Danny Lynch helped Southern Miss respond with the Golden Ealges' final home run of the game in the eighth inning.
"It's going to be solid with black and gold," said Berry on what he expects the environment to be like with host team Auburn eliminated. "They were out here today. I know (the fans) were disappointed with the loss yesterday like we were. It didn't keep them from coming out today. A lot of our strength, both at home and on the road… that hasn't kept them from coming here. They will be out here strong tomorrow, and we will feed off their energy."
Follow @AndrewAbadie on Twitter for Southern Miss coverage.
