It was very much a turn of events for Southern Miss baseball as it won its series against Northwestern State on Monday with a 10-0 run-rule win.
A dominant pitching performance behind an explosive offense that was spearheaded by a pair of home runs by Reed Trimble.
Unlike yesterday, Southern Miss (2-1) took advantage of their offensive opportunities as they were 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“(In) Game 2, I didn’t like our pace (and) didn’t like our approach,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. “That’s like we said in the pregame meeting this morning. The gist of it, was let’s learn from what we didn’t do yesterday and apply it to the game today, and that’s what we did.
“There was that sense of urgency. Both teams were looking to win the series, and Northwestern State had the momentum after their win last night.”
The Golden Eagles got on the board quickly as Chris Sargent hit an RBI single. Another run scored from throwing error which gave Southern Miss an early 2-0 lead.
In the second inning, Trimble broke the game open with his first three-run home run to give the Golden Eagles a 5-0 lead.
In the third inning, Blake Johnson added a run with an RBI sac fly. Trimble then followed with another three-run home run to extend the lead to 9-0. Trimble finished the game 2-for-4 with six RBI.
“It was a good day for hitting,” Trimble said. “We all seemed to have really good at-bats. I put two good swings on it, but it wasn’t just me; the whole team put up good swings.”
On the mound, Boyd stayed efficient as he rolled past the Demons’ lineup by primarily using his slider and fastball. In five innings, Boyd struck out nine batters while just hitting one batter and giving up two hits.
“It felt great to get back out there and compete,” Boyd said. “I had fastball command. That was the route we took today, using the fastballs early, then mixing up the slider and change-up”
Relief pitcher Matt Adams closed the game and picked up where Boyd left off as he struck out three batters and walked one in two innings of work. Southern Miss’ pitching staff finished the weekend with 45 strikeouts which is tied for the second most in the country.
“That’s pretty impressive,” Berry said. “Real proud of the way our pitching staff came out and dominated on the mound. They threw strikes and didn’t allow many freebies, for the most part. Outside of the one bad inning (on Sunday), they handled themselves really well.”
Southern Miss then completed the 10-run rule in the bottom of the seventh after Northwestern State walked the first four batters of the inning. Sumrall alum Billy Garrity drew the game-ending walk to close out the day.
The Golden Eagles will travel and play South Alabama (1-2) on Tuesday night with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
Southern Miss true freshman Tanner Hall will start on the mound for the Golden Eagles.
