COLUMBIA – Making their first-time debuts in the Deep South Summer Collegiate League, Southern Miss pitchers Tyler Stuart and Drew Boyd played crucial roles with Team Crim sweeping Team Parker on Thursday.
Both of the Golden Eagles earned starts on the mound with Stuart, who appeared in his first live game in over a year, earning the start for Game 1.
At the top of the first, Team Crim got on the board quickly with a four-run frame. Elijah Watts (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) delivered a two-run RBI single with two more runs scoring from wild pitches.
From there, Stuart pitched near perfection. After giving up a four-pitch walk to start his time on the mound, Stuart retired Team Parker in order in the bottom of the first and threw two strikeouts.
“That was my first game scenario in a little over a year,” Stuart said. “I redshirted, and then the whole corona thing happened. I felt good. The first hitter I walked in four pitches, but it was just a whole feel thing. I just have to build confidence again. It was a rhythm thing, and you have to build off each outing you got.”
In three innings, Stuart struck out five batters, walked two batters and allowed one hit. Stuart’s fastball was his go-to pitch and registered a consistent 88 mph. According to Stuart, having a four-run lead helped build confidence, and while his fastball was consistent wanted to see better success from his breaking ball.
“My fastball was working, but I need to start landing some breaking balls,” Stuart said. “I need to be a least 50 percent efficiency on that if not more.
“It’s always solid, especially being the away team. (When you have a four-run lead) you build off that so easy. It’s a whole team thing. If I could change anything, it would be confidence. It’s not being scared but feeling weird out there and wanting to feel more natural.”
Team Parker managed to get on the board with a late solo home run from Dalton Cummins (Pearl River CC) to cut Team Crim’s lead 4-1.
Team Crim’s relievers Matthew Delano (MGCCC) and Braxton Hanley (MGCCC) combined to hold Team Parker to just four hits and secured the first game win.
In the second game, Drew Boyd earned the start, and like Stuart delivered a stong start for Team Crim to earn a 6-0 win.
Like Stuart, Boyd had a slow start and allowed two, two-out walks and a single at the bottom of the first. Boyd got out of the inning with his first strikeout of the game. However, according to Boyd, who has had a history of arm problems, said he finally felt healthy.
“Building up this past month, I don’t want to jinx it, but my arm feels healthy again,” Boyd said. “Once I got back (on the mound), my brain was thinking, don’t overdo it. After the first inning, I finally snapped out of it and said that I was going to trust and let loose. I don’t want to get too excited because I don’t want to jinx anything, but my arm used to throb after throwing that many pitches, and it feels very healthy.”
The left-handed Oak Grove alum’s fastball topped out at 86 mph while his breaking ball dropped to as low as 73 mph. In three complete innings, Boyd struck out six of the 10 batters he faced and notably struck out five of the last six hitters he faced.
“I really was just trying to pound the zone,” Boyd said. “I feel like that’s something that needs to be my forte with filling up the zone and really just trusting my arm. It felt healthier than it felt in a very long time, so learning to trust it and go along with the rest of my body and let loose.”
In comparison, Team Parker’s starter T.J. Ryals (PRCC) allowed three runs to score off four hits and five walks. Reliever Conner Hicks (ECCC) followed by walking four batters and allowing three runs to score.
At the bottom of the third inning, Hunter McClean hit a two-run double with Michael Kozlowske following with an RBI single to take a 3-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, John Mitchell (Meridian CC) put the game away for Team Crim with a three-run home run to left field to secure the 6-0 win.
Like in Game 1, Team Crim’s relievers Lance Elsen (Co-Lin CC) and Oak Grove alum Parker Harrington (PRCC) combined to hold Team Parker to one hit.
At the plate, Nick Skaggs (PRCC) finished a combined 3-for-4 while drawing two walks for Team Crim while Mitchell finished a combined 1-for-3 with three RBI and drew two walks.
Team Parker’s pitching struggled as the team gave up a combined 14 walks despite giving up a total of just eight hits to Team Crim.
