Tucker Stockman walked up to the plate with two outs and two runners on base against Ole Miss pitcher Landon Koenig. Stockman took a 96 mph fastball to the backside for a base hit, scoring the winning run and lifting No. 7 Southern Miss over Ole Miss 2-1 on Tuesday night at Pete Taylor Park.
“I love the moment, it’s amazing,” Stockman said. “But walking up to the plate, I was hoping I was going to get the opportunity, and I was just asking God to let me glorify him. Whatever happened, whether I got the opportunity or not, I was just asking that he let me glorify him. It’s truly amazing what happens and what I’ve been able to do for Christ.”
The walk off win was the 36th walk off since the start of the 2017 season. Stockman’s walk off single was the third walk off this season after Matthew Russo’s against UC Santa Barbara and Drey Barrett’s against Purdue.
“Tucker stayed in the moment,” Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander said. “He stayed in the middle of the field and delivered. I’m just so proud for these guys to experience that great atmosphere tonight.”
A crowd of 5,775 watched Stockman’s walk off base hit, the fifth largest crowd in school history.
It was a pitcher’s duel from the start.
Southern Miss starter Thomas Crabtree and Ole Miss starter Taylor Rabe made quick work of the first three innings.
Rabe sat down all eight Southern Miss batters he faced in a row and didn’t allow a baserunner. He earned just one strikeout but got the Golden Eagle batters to fall into a lot of soft contact outs. Crabtree for Southern Miss gave up a double to the second batter he faced, then subsequently sat down the final eight batters he saw.
“He [Crabtree] has really found his identity,” Ostrander said about Crabtree. “His fastball sits at 92-94 and that splitter is really playing up for him. I think all fall we were kind of searching for that, to find out who are you? I think he’s really found that, and that’s huge.”
To have a viable starting option like Crabtree is ginormous for the staff with the arsenal of a bullpen they have behind him. Crabtree said the adjustments that Ostrander and pitching coach Gunner Leger helped him make over the winter break really helped him turn the corner.
“They let me come in the fall and just throw how I was throwing [at Tennessee],” Crabtree said. “At the end of fall, they switched some things up. They switched my delivery and added two new pitches. Got rid of the curveball, added the slider and splitter and then worked on that all winter break. When I got back, it finally clicked.”
Camden Sunstrom got the call after Crabtree’s outing and gave up a leadoff homer to Tristan Bissetta in the top of the fifth inning to give Ole Miss the lead. The hit was Ole Miss’ second hit of the game, but after the homer Sunstrom settled in and struck out two in three innings of work.
Ole Miss (15-4) pitchers were running through Southern Miss’ lineup as well until Owen Kelly gave up a leadoff homer to Kyle Morrison in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at one.
The home run, Morrison’s sixth, traveled 372 feet and was 102 miles per hour off the bat.
After both solo homers, the game continued as a pitching duel. Ole Miss finally got some traffic on the bases in the top of the ninth inning.
Dom Decker was hit by a pitch with one out and Judd Utermark walked to put two Rebels on with one out. Southern Miss went to closer Camden Clark and Will Furniss missed a go ahead home run by a few feet on a 2-1 pitch from Clark.
After the scare, Clark struck out Collin Reuter to end the frame.
“Earlier in the game that ball might have got out of here,” Ostrander said. “But he [Clark] gets that fly out and then sets it up to get that big punch out. He beat him with a fastball by landing some off speed early. It was a good moment for him. As a closer, you don’t always come in for a save situation. He had to come in and get us out of a predicament and did a great job.”
Davis Gillespie led off the bottom of the ninth with a single before Ty Long popped up a bunt. Ben Higdon flied out deep to right field before Kyle Morrison walked on a full count. Then Stockman came up and walked the game off.
“I think something that will get lost is that walk by Kyle Morrison,” Ostrander said. “He watched a few good pitches and then paved the way for Tucker.”
Southern Miss pitching held Ole Miss to just three hits and one walk. That was the Rebels’ lowest hit total (3) of the season and their lowest run total (1).
USM total pitching tonight: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K.
The Golden Eagles through the first 17 games sit at 15-2 with one of the hardest schedules in program history. They have had to find different ways to win dramatic games and just keep winning.
“We put a tough challenge ahead of them,” Ostrander said. “In these first 17 games, we’ve had to earn it. They are building confidence as they write their story. Every game is a chapter. I think they are just really building their story so they have something to draw from. Now as we move into conference play they have been battle tested.”
Southern Miss (15-2) will open conference play this weekend in Jonesboro, taking on Arkansas State, which has started off hot.
“Have a lot of respect for them,” Ostrander said. “Coach Silva will have them ready. When you’re going on the road, we’re going to have to go play good baseball. So excited to see that. It’s a new season, and what we’ve done doesn’t mean anything. Our goal is to win the league and that starts this weekend.”
