The Southern Miss baseball team took on in-state rival Ole Miss for its first away game and second loss of the season. Since 1913, the Ole Miss Rebels have defeated Southern Miss 83 times with the Golden Eagles winning the remaining 55 matchups.
“Playing these guys is always a fun time,” sophomore Drew Boyd said of the Rebels. “We try not to make it any bigger than it is. We are just playing a baseball game, and we have to treat it the same as any other day.”
Boyd got the midweek start on the mound throwing for four innings with three strikeouts. Boyd allowed four hits, two runs and two errors.
“He pitched very, very well. This is only his second outing, so for him to come in during this moment at this venue and to be able to pitch like he did, I couldn’t be more proud of him,” head coach Scott Berry said.
Matthew Adams replaced Boyd in the fifth inning pitching for three innings with six strikeouts, one hit, two runs and two errors. Isaiah Rhodes threw of the final inning; however, Adams earned the loss for the game.
The first two innings were scoreless with each team having only one hit. In the bottom of the third Ole Miss scored two runs with a double from Peyton Chantagnier bringing in Cade Sammons followed by a single from Tyler Keenan which allowed Chantagnier to cross home.
With Matthew Guidry on first and Gabe Montenegro on second in the top of the fifth, first baseman Will McGillis hit a single to the left allowing Guidry to advance to third and Montenegro to home.
In the following inning, bases were loaded for Fisher Norris after Charlie Fischer singled to left and both Montenegro and Hunter LeBlanc were walked. Norris was also walked which brought home Fischer.
McGillis homered to left field in the top of the seventh to give the Golden Eagles a one run lead.
“I got to see him a lot in the inning before. The guys in front of me got to see a lot of pitches, so I got to see his breaking ball. So he just hung a breaking ball right there ,and I was able to get a good swing on it,” McGillis said.
The Rebels followed with a two run home run from Hayden Leatherwood for a final score of 4-3.
The Golden Eagles will travel to Lake Charles, Louisiana, for the Lake Area Classic from Feb. 28-March 1. There, the team will face Valpariso and McNeese State before taking on Mississippi State on March 4.
“Our philosophy is just one game at a time, and that’s what we are going to do,” Berry said. “We have a big weekend ahead of us, so we are going to really have to concentrate.”
