In four years in playing at Southern Miss, Danny Lynch had never experienced Pete Taylor Magic.
Pete Taylor Magic is, of course, the reference for when the Golden Eagles hit a walk-off at home in what has now occurred 22 times since the 2017 season.
Lynch finally got his taste in the Golden Eagles’ 9-7 Friday night conference-opening win over Florida Atlantic as he hit a no-doubt, two-run home run to right field in the bottom of the ninth.
“I’m just trying to be calm,” said Lynch on how he approached the at-bat. “Early in the season, we had the extra-innings against South Alabama, and we lost. I feel like we got really big and tried to hit home runs and tried to win it with one swing instead of having good at-bats.
“That’s one of the better ones I have hit. It’s awesome. It’s the Pete Taylor Park Magic for sure. It’s always fun. I’m just happy I could finally get one for us.”
It was the second straight game where Lynch delivered a home run as he finished 2-for-4 on the night.
“He’s got the ability to do that,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. “It’s kind of funny that he has two extra-base hits now in two games. It’s the only two extra-base hits all year, and both have been in home runs. It couldn’t have come at a better and bigger time.”
However, Lynch’s home run capped off a wild game between Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss that started with the Owls taking a 3-0 lead by the top of the third.
Starting pitcher Tanner Hall, who made his first Friday start of his career after beating ranked opponents Tulane and Mississippi State during the midweeks, gave up a pair of runs off three hits to open the game.
“I wouldn’t call it jitters,” Hall said. That is a good team with the way their lefties were crowding the plate, and the umpire was kind of taking away that inner half for us. It was definitely a tough night to pitch because I had less plate to work with."
Hall said he regained his confidence by his seeing USM’s lineup find success against FAU, along with some comforting words from Lynch.
“I went in the dugout, and I saw three pretty good swings in the first inning,” Hall said. “I looked at (FAU’s pitcher), and I could tell that we were on this guy based on our first three hitters. Danny came up to me and talked to me and said, ‘Hey man, it happens. It’s not a big deal. Just go and keep doing your thing.’ I went back and started rolling a little.”
Hall put up zeros in three of the next four innings he pitched. His lone mistake occurred in the third inning after he gave up a solo home run.
“The home run was a slider,” Hall said. “It was called middle, and I left it a little bit up. It wasn’t too big of a deal since I guess I deserved it for leaving that up. After that, I threw another one for a strikeout. I do feel like it was working, but I didn’t throw too many of those.”
In 5.2 innings, Hall allowed five runs off six hits but struck out 10 batters and walked one.
“He minimized and threw up three zeroes in there,” Berry said. “He didn’t have his best stuff today and (FAU) did a great job. Their hitters did a great job against him, which we hadn’t seen in the prior games that he had pitched in. Hats off to Florida Atlantic. They have a strong offense.
“I started working the other side of the box against those lefties, and I started making them have to chase.”
Southern Miss regained the lead by putting up five runs in the bottom of the third. Christopher Sargent hit an RBI sac fly that was later followed by a 3-run double by Will McGillis. Carson Paetow drove in a run after an error by FAU’s first baseman to take a 5-3 lead.
“It wasn’t the start that we wanted or expected, in all honesty,” Berry said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our guys in how they just fought and competed all the way to the end. Even in the ninth inning, when (Florida Atlantic) gets the two spot and tied that thing back up. A lesser team folds up and packs it in, but not this club.”
FAU tied the game in the sixth inning after hitting a 2-run double, while the Golden Eagle retook the lead in the seventh after Paetow hit an RBI single and another scored a run. The Owls didn’t fade away as they hit two back-to-back RBI doubles with two outs in the top on the ninth that tied the game before Lynch hit his walk-off.
Every member of the Golden Eagles’ lineup put up a hit except for Gabe Montenegro, with four different players recording multi-hit games.
“That was one of our best games of the year,” Lynch said. “Coach Berry talks about staying in the middle of the (boxing) ring. Each team was laying punches back and forth.
“Our pitches, I felt like did really well tonight. That’s just one of the best offenses in the country. It’ll be a fun weekend playing against them.”
Saturday’s first pitch against Florida Atlantic is set for 2 p.m.
