Southern Miss baseball blows out App State to earn place in Sun Belt Tournament title game
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — By the time Southern Miss baseball finished batting in the bottom of the first inning against Appalachian State Saturday night, it was clear that order had been restored.
The second-seeded Golden Eagles established a commanding early lead in what became an 11-1 run-rule win over the No. 6 Mountaineers, booking a place in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title game against Louisiana on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPN+) and avenging a humdrum effort in a loss to App State earlier Saturday morning.
Three batters in, Southern Miss (40-17) demonstrated that it intended to bring an energy that hadn't been evident earlier in the day. Dustin Dickerson went first-to-third on a well-struck single to left field, firing up his teammates as he arrived safely. Christopher Sargent then drove him in with a two-run double off the wall, pounding his chest ferociously at second base.
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From there, the Golden Eagles were off.
They led 3-0 after two innings and 7-1 after three, backing up a sparkling start from Will Armistead, who pitched more than four innings for the first time this season in an elimination game.
"When we determined to start him today, I really felt good," USM coach Scott Berry said. "He just gets himself into a zone where he just blocks everything out. His stuff is really good, and he's been able to pound the zone and mix those pitches, so real proud of what he was able to do."
Doubles delight
Having managed only two extra-base hits in their defeat to the Mountaineers (30-25) Saturday morning, the Golden Eagles were much more potent at the plate Saturday night.
The lazy fly ball outs turned into well-struck line drives, and Southern Miss finished the day with six doubles, including three by Danny Lynch, Nick Monistere and Matthew Etzel in USM's four-run third inning. All three eventually came around to score.
Slade Wilks also went deep in the seventh to top off a game that will certainly help USM's collective slugging percentage. Lynch ended the game in the seventh with a sacrifice fly.
Armistead comes up big
This late juncture in a postseason tournament can turn even the best pitching staff into an elaborate jigsaw puzzle, with coaches forced to mix and match under the weight of all the innings bunched together so closely.
Armistead gave Berry's Golden Eagles the ultra-rare luxury of a complete game. He pitched all seven innings, allowing just one run and four hits while striking out three.
It marked his best outing with the Golden Eagles by far, having arrived from Itawamba Community College ahead of the season. Armistead injured his arm early in 2022, meaning this is the deepest he's gone in a game in nearly two full seasons.
"When you're on the mound and the adrenaline's going, you don't feel a lot of things, but I probably will tomorrow," Armistead said with a laugh.
His effort will leave the Southern Miss bullpen in a good spot, with all of its key pieces likely available for the title game Sunday.
David Eckert covers sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Southern Miss baseball tops App State, will play for Sun Belt title
