Head Baseball Coach Scott Berry has moved into No. 1 all-time in Southern Miss history by passing Hall of Fame coach Will Denson. Berry has reached 469 wins in just his thirteenth season at Southern Miss.
Denson has reached 468 wins in his tenure between the years of 1984and 1997. Denson has been recognized as the one who helped establish Southern Miss as a national power, bringing the Golden Eagles to their first-ever NCAA regional.
Berry has continued his legacy. After Denson left with 468 wins, Corky Palmer came as a coach and won 458 games over his 12 seasons at the university.
Scott Berry is at 469 in his thirteenth season and arguably has coached the best team in Southern Miss history this season.
Throughout the past 13 seasons, Berry has captured four Conference USA titles, four regular-season crowns and seven NCAA tournament appearances.
Berry has led the Golden Eagles to five straight 40-win seasons and appeared in the NCAA tournament five straight times.
“I’m a small piece of that puzzle. There’s a big puzzle out there of everything that’s gone into that. You know, Coach Palmer is like a brother to me. I mean, in all honesty there are a lot of people who have played really big roles in my life, but from the baseball side there’s bigger than him…that relationship is really, really special. I am really appreciative of what has happened here, but I owe so much of that to him.” “Berry said after passing Corky Palmer for second all time.
This season Berry has been the head coach of arguably one of the best baseball teams in the country. They are definitely candidates for the best team in Southern Miss history.
“It really means everything,” Berry said after the game on the school’s postgame radio show. “I have been a part of some special wins at this school and have been fortunate to be the head coach here in I guess in my 13th year. I followed some really great people with Pete Taylor, Hill Denson and Corky Palmer. All of those guys laid the groundwork. Of all those wins, 469, the most important win honestly was the one today and it wasn’t because of breaking a record, but it was because this team needed that win. We had to have that win and I couldn’t be any more proud of our guys to go out there and grind that thing out and feel the sense of urgency that we had to have that win.”
The No. 4 Golden Eagles have reached their highest ranking in school history. The pitching staff is No. 2 in the nation in both teams’ ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
They lead Conference USA by a wide margin and start one of the best Sunday starters in the country in Hurston Waldrep.
The batting for the Eagles started shakily but has found its ground through Dustin Dickerson, Slade Wilks and Carson Paetow.
Berry has achieved this milestone by defeating the UAB Blazers on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Eagles have a 34-10 (17-4) record through three-fourths of the season.
In what has been a historic season for Southern Miss and yet another milestone achievement achieved here, whatever happens in the rest of the season, there is no doubt that Denson, Palmer, and Berry’s trio has fueled Southern Miss baseball to the top of the baseball world.
