It was déjà vu Wednesday night for Southern Miss with starting pitcher Tanner Hall having another big night on the mound, the lineup stayed hot and the Golden Eagles came away with another top-25 win. Falling victim to USM's winning formula was No. 18 Tulane as the Golden Eagles came away with a 7-2 win at Pete Taylor Park.
"He was on again today," Southern Miss Scott Berry said. "He is such a competitor. I think our team knows when he is going to go out there. Tonight he had that sinker going and that changeup. He produced a lot of weak contact. Outside of an error, we played really sound defense behind him."
Hall, who was fresh off a 13-strikeout game against No. 9 Mississippi State, carried over the momentum against Tulane. Hall threw eight innings, struck out eight batters, gave up four hits, allowed no earned runs, or walked any batters. In the 92 pitches Hall threw, 77 went for strikes.
"You can't let your success blind you from everything that you do wrong," Hall said. "I still need to focus on if I miss a pitch or if I left a pitch up. I need to see that and adjust to it. At some point, that'll cost you in the game.
"I definitely feel comfortable with how we are hitting right now. I'm sure everybody is pretty comfortable and confident. I think that plays a big part in it."
The right-hander opened the game by retiring Tulane's lineup in order in the first three innings, which he did five times on the night. By the fifth inning, Hall had thrown 45 pitches, with 41 being strikes.
"It's my style of pitching," Hall said. "I like attacking the zone and getting ahead early. If you get that first strike early, then that puts a little bit of doubt in their mind, and it's confidence for your team and for you. You can mix in different pitches after that with no worry about it.
"Getting early strikes on them and make them struggle in the box."
Southern Miss jumped out an early 3-0 lead in the second inning after Tulane committed a pair of errors. Rodrigo Montenegro drove in a run after a fielding error, reached first, and scored Slade Wilks. Dustin Dickerson then hit an RBI single, while another run scored on a throwing error to third base.
Dickerson, who recently came out of hitting a slump, went 3-for-3 with two RBI and a double and put together his third straight 3-hit game.
"I went on a little slump, but I came out, got my work in, and trusted the plan," Dickerson said. "I got moved down to the nine-hole, but I still trusted the plan, but I've been seeing it well. I figured I needed to start producing.
"I think we are one of the best teams in the country when we are doing all three assets of the game well. Right now, we are doing that, and the results are showing."
Berry believes that some of the success could be due to Dickerson being moved from the two-hole to the nine-hole.
"Dustin Dickerson today had a great day at the plate," Berry said. "His defense was outstanding. He made the routine play, and he made the great play. To have that up in the middle is really special.
"I felt like early on that he covered (the two-hole) well the first weekend. But after that, I felt like he started pressing himself there. Ewing was really swinging the bats, so I wanted to move him down the order and maybe take a little pressure off of Dustin. Since moving him to the nine-hole, he has responded."
Tulane's first run of the game came in the fourth inning from after Danny Lynch overthrew first base and allowed a run to score with two outs.
However, Reece Ewing extended Southern Miss' lead to 5-1 with a 2-run homer in the fifth inning. Dickerson then added another run with an RBI single in the sixth inning. In the seventh inning, Christopher Sargent tacked one more run with a solo homer.
In the ninth inning, Tulane scored its only other run after relief pitcher Chandler Best gave up a run from a fielder's choice.
"(The team is) playing really good right now," Berry said. "We just need to stay out of their way and let them do their thing. They certainly have got it figured out. We have pitched well all year. Offensively, it was good to see us put up seven runs on the board today and take some pressure off our pitching staff. These guys are getting better and getting more confident."
This weekend, Southern Miss returns to the road as the Golden Eagles travel to Dallas Baptist for its weekend series. Friday's first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
