Southern Miss baseball rallies in 9th inning to repeat as Sun Belt Tournament champions
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Southern Miss baseball is 2-for-2 in the Sun Belt tournament championships since joining the conference in 2022.
The No. 2 seed Golden Eagles (41-18) dispatched No. 5 Georgia Southern 14-11 with five runs in the top of the ninth inning to win the tournament championship game on Sunday at Riverwalk Stadium. Southern Miss had 18 hits in the game to overcome Georgia Southern's six home runs.
Georgia Southern (33-26) led 11-9 entering the final frame. Dalton McIntyre batted in the first run with a single, and Ozzie Pratt also singled to score two runs for the lead. Matthew Russo broke it open with his single for two insurance runs.
Southern Miss won a seventh conference tournament title in program history and the second time it's ever repeated as champions. First-year coach Christian Ostrander is due a $16,500 bonus for the tournament championship, according to his contract.
Southern Miss doesn't skim on personnel
It was fair to wonder if Southern Miss might preserve some players for the NCAA tournament. Perhaps heavily utilized pitchers weren't available, or the injured Carson Paetow wasn't going to play. The Golden Eagles didn't take the conservative route.
Niko Mazza, who started Thursday, threw one scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Billy Oldham allowed three runs off a pair of homers in the seventh inning after he tossed a stupendous 105 pitches on Wednesday.
Colby Allen pitched for the third time in four games and shutout Georgia Southern for the final two innings. He did not allow a run in the entire tournament.
Paetow, the starting right fielder who hadn't played all tournament long because of a wrist injury, pinch ran for Braden Luke in the seventh inning and scored a run. He stayed in the game at right field, but Billy Butler pinch hit for him in the eighth.
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Southern Miss bullpen allows first earned runs of conference tournament
The Golden Eagles made it through the first three games with the bullpen allowing only one run and it was unearned. It was a continuation of a promising trend with the bullpen posting a 1.13 ERA in the last 10 games before Sunday.
Best broke the streak when Sam Blancato hit a two-run home run in the third inning that gave Georgia Southern a 6-3 lead.
JB Middleton also gave up two runs in the fifth inning that put Georgia Southern back ahead 8-6. Oldham, pitching out of the bullpen for the first time this season, was rattled for three runs and the loss.
Mazza and Allen were the only Southern Miss pitchers to not allow a run.
Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss beat reporter for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at ssklar@hattiesb.gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Southern Miss beats Georgia Southern 14-11 to win Sun Belt tournament
