Southern Miss had everything it needed in the first inning, bases loaded, no outs and a chance to seize control.
It walked away with one run, and never recovered and Appalachian State made sure it paid for it.
After stranding the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning, the Golden Eagles managed just one hit over the next five innings, falling 6-2 to App State as the Mountaineers used a pair of three-run innings to take control late.
Southern Miss (20-7) has now dropped five of its last 10 games after opening the season 15-2, and the trend of the offensive struggles continued with one of the worst performances of the season.
“We’ve got to be much more competitive at the plate,” Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander said. “Very, very disappointed. That’s obvious to everybody who watched that. Just unacceptable. That’s not who we are, that’s not what this program’s standards are.”
The tone of the game was set immediately. App State starter Gage Peterson came into the game with a sub-1.50 ERA, and Southern Miss seemed to have gotten to him early.
Joey Urban, Kyle Morrison and Davis Gillespie all started with leadoff walks to load the bases with no outs. Matthew Russo blooped a single into left field to score one run, and Peterson’s pitch count neared 40.
But Southern Miss blew the opportunity. Ben Higdon and Tucker Stockman both struck out, and Seth Smith grounded out to first to end the frame, scoring just one run.
“That was very upsetting to see,” Ostrander said. “You got to find a way. To do what we want to do and get to where we want to get to, we got to be better in that area.”
Southern Miss had just two hits across the next five frames.
While Southern Miss couldn’t get anything going at the plate, starter Camden Sunstrom delivered a performance to keep Southern Miss ahead. A career-high 5.0 IP with eight strikeouts kept the Mountaineer offense at bay.
“Sonny did everything that I could ask for,” Ostrander said. “I thought he looked really, really good.”
But the area that Southern Miss has been so lethal at didn’t deliver when it needed it to: the bullpen. Kros Sivley came in and allowed App State three runs on three hits to give it the lead in the sixth. Then, JW Armistead allowed two, while Teague Broadhead gave up one in the seventh to extend the lead to 6-1.
“Our bullpen has been good. It wasn’t today,” Ostrander said. “On a day that we had to be greedy and keep the game really close, we didn’t get it done in the bullpen.”
Southern Miss threatened in the bottom of the seventh, getting the first two batters on base with no outs. It even got an RBI single from Gillespie to bring the score to 6-2, but App State pitcher Reyn Watson retired the next three hitters in order to end the threat and strand two more. All in all, 11 left on base for the Golden Eagles.
Southern Miss finished with 11 strikeouts, went 4-for-19 with runners on base, 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and just 1-for-10 with two outs — numbers that are puzzlingly poor for a veteran lineup.
This is a major slump for Southern Miss from a batting perspective, and the offense has looked lost at the plate. Ostrander said he just wants to see the hitters get back to being competitive.
“Just get back to the primitive element of competing,” Ostrander said. “Not worrying about what the metrics are or the spin rates. Just go up there and compete. We’ve got to be a little grittier and dig in deeper.”
Ostrander was visibly animated in his postgame address to the team, delivering what he described as a “pretty stern” message as the Golden Eagles look to halt this slump.
“I’ll keep [what was said] between us,” Ostrander said. “But it was a challenge. You’ve got to see how they respond.
“We’ve got to be much more competitive. The players have to take ownership of it.”
Southern Miss will look to bounce back and win the series Sunday, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.
