Regional scouting: Southern Miss
The Auburn Tigers have learned their seeding, as well as their opponents, ahead of this weekend’s NCAA Regionals.
The No. 13 seed Auburn Tigers will host its second-straight NCAA Regional for the first time in school history and are matched up with the Clemson Regional, hosted by No. 4 Clemson.
Both regionals will feature great talent all the way around, so let’s begin preparing for this week’s action by getting to know the No. 2 seed of the Auburn Regional, Southern Miss, a little better.
The Golden Eagles are coming off of a Sun Belt Conference championship in just its first season in the conference. Southern Miss has won 40-or-more games in seven-straight eligible seasons and would love nothing more than to upset Auburn and go to their second-straight Super Regional.
Last season, Southern Miss hosted the Hattiesburg Regional where they took care of LSU to advance to the Oxford Super Regional. While in Oxford, the Golden Eagles ran out of gas by dropping two games to Ole Miss and being outscored, 15-0. The Rebels would go on to win the College World Series.
The Golden Eagles have plenty of talent, and they are hungry for the chance to build on what has been an impressive stretch led by head coach Scott Berry.
Here’s a look at what Southern Miss brings to the Auburn Regional.
Overall record: 41-17
The Golden Eagles have been one of college baseball’s most consistent programs over the last ten seasons, as they have put together seven-straight seasons of 40-or-more wins. The move to the Sun Belt Conference from Conference USA did not slow down Southern Miss, as they were able to win the conference title with a 22-8 record. Southern Miss is one of four teams from the Sun Belt Conference that will be competing in the NCAA Tournament.
RPI ranking: No. 21
Southern Miss enters the Auburn Regional in the top 25 of the RPI, which will sure provide a challege to the hosts. The Golden Eagles have jumped seven spots in the RPI over the last seven days, with their Sun Belt Conference tournament win over Louisiana helping their case.
Record away from home: 15-12
Southern Miss will carry a 15-12 away from home record with them into the Auburn Regional, which may be of aid to Auburn. In true away games, Southern Miss is 11-10, and they hold a 4-2 advantage on neutral fields. The Golden Eagles went 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference tournament, and lost a game to Mississippi State at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi.
Record vs. tier one teams: 4-3
Southern Miss’ record against tier one teams is impressive. As a tier one team themselves, the Golden Eagles have won games over Coastal Carolina (1) and Dallas Baptist (3), and have dropped games to Coastal Carolina (2) and Alabama (1).
Record vs. tier three teams: 6-2
Southern Miss has a favorable record against teams ranked between No. 51 and No. 75, which goes well with their first draw of the Auburn Regional. Southern Miss will face Samford on Friday at 1 p.m. CT, who checks in at No. 62 in the RPI ahead of the Auburn Regional.
Pitcher to watch: Tanner Hall
The ace of the Southern Miss staff is Tanner Hall, a 6-1 junior from Zachary, Louisiana. Hall enters the regional with a 12-3 record and an ERA of 2.23. In 97.0 innings of work, Hall has struck out 109 batters, which is tied for 17th in the country. Batters are also hitting just .194 off of him.
Batter to watch: Slade Wilks
The Auburn Regional will feature three batters that have hit at least 20 home runs. One of those is Southern Miss outfielder, Slade Wilks. Wilks brings 20 home runs with him to Auburn, and is leading the team in average (.301), RBI (56), and slugging percentage (.664).
