Louisiana Tech’s Luke Cooley was the spoiler to a potential series sweep for Southern Miss.
After the Golden Eagles defeated the Bulldogs 8-4 to start Saturday’s doubleheader, the left-handed pitcher caused headaches for Southern Miss’ lineup. Cooley’s start on the mound helped Louisiana Tech avoid a weekend sweep as the Bulldogs came away with a 5-2 win to close the series.
“You have to learn from the losses as much as you learn from the wins,” Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said. “Their left-handed pitcher did a fabulous job. He really kept us off balance and set the tone. They jumped out to a lead, and he did his job.
“(Louisiana Tech) earned that one for sure. We are frustrated with losing. We hate to lose, but this is about writing your story, and there’s a chapter now where we know what it feels like to lose, and we have to remember that and learn from and be better for it.”
In just 5.2 innings, Cooley held Southern Miss (7-1) to one run off four hits and struck out seven batters. By the end of the second game, the Golden Eagle lineup was 0-for-11 with runners on base.
“At the end of the day, I think we kind of beat ourselves by not hitting that starter,” said right fielder Carson Paetow, who was 0-for-3 with an RBI in the second game. “They are a good team. You have to give respect where it's due.
“For us lefties, (Cooley) was giving us a slider that was down in the dirt and hard to pick up. It was a good pitch. We also did a bad job of carrying out our approach. That’s on us.”
Cooley’s effort somewhat put a damper on a career day for the Golden Eagles’ Game 1 starting pitcher Kros Sivley, who struck out nine batters.
“In Game 1, I thought Kros did a really good job of mixing, kind of like their lefty did against us in Game 2,” Ostrander said. “I thought that was really efficient. He did a good job.”
Paetow accounted for two home runs in the first game against Louisiana Tech (5-2) and matched a career-high of five RBI. However, in the second game against the Bulldogs USM was 0-for-11 with runners on base.
“It was our approach,” Paetow said. “I don’t think we could ever get comfortable. That’s not what we do. I think in that particular game the pitcher beat us. We let him get us on some of them, but he definitely owned some of those outs for sure.”
Yet Southern Miss’ Game 3 starting pitcher Matthew Adams struggled after lasting just two innings. Adams surrendered three runs off five hits and put the Golden Eagles in an early 3-0 hole.
“His off-speed wasn’t as crisp,” Ostrander said. “When he had to go in with that fastball, they had some good swings on it. He had a really good outing last week. He wasn’t as crisp today, and I know he is frustrated about that, but he’ll bounce back.”
The Golden Eagles did cut the deficit after Paetow was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Nick Monistere then hit a solo home run in the eighth to narrow the score to 4-2, but the Bulldogs added an insurance run in the ninth with a two-out RBI single.
Southern Miss will go on the road for the first time this season on Tuesday as they travel to Oxford and face instate rival Ole Miss. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
“We are going on the road, and that’s an element in itself,” Ostrander said. “It shouldn’t matter, but I look forward to watching our guys and creating their identity as a team. We are going on the road Tuesday evening to Oxford and then get on the bus to go to Fort Worth to TCU this weekend. Those are great programs. It’s going to be a dogfight. We are going to have to play good baseball. We look forward to the challenge, and we look forward seeing how we grow after this road trip.”
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