Parker Stinson gave the Indiana State Sycamores a loud start in Sunday’s series finale against Southern Miss with a grand slam in the top of the first inning. The swing came after an RBI single by Dominic Listi to give the Sycamores a 5-0 lead with no outs in the top of the first.
This start proved too much for Southern Miss to come back from, eventually losing the game 12-5, denying them the sweep for the third straight week.
“It disappointing today,” Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander said. “I felt like we had a chance to do something really special. We put ourselves in a position to get a sweep today and just didn’t get it done. They came out and set the tone.”
Will Armistead got the start for Southern Miss on the mound, and after giving up the grand slam, he settled in quite nicely. Throwing up two scoreless frames before allowing another two runs to come across in the top of the fourth inning for the Sycamores, extending their lead to 7-0.
Armistead (0-1) was given the loss, his first on the season. His final line from the game was 3.0 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 4 K, 62 TP’s.
“He just never got in rhythm,” Ostrander said. “It was kind of an ambush inning. When their back are against the wall like it was, and they get some runners on, and their guy gets a big hit. So, he never really got any rhythm.”
Even with the scoreless frames, Southern Miss could get nothing on offense. Even with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second, the Golden Eagles struggled to plate their first run of the game.
It finally came in the bottom of the fourth inning when Billy Butler blasted a 431-foot home run to center field. The deep fly was his first on the season.
“It was definitely a feeling I have been waiting for,” Butler said. “It felt really good to celebrate with the guys and to try and get something going for us. I’ve been trying to do a little too much the past day or two.”
Butler struggled from the plate throughout the past several games, as did the USM offense in certain situational moments. Butler attributed it to his issues with “trying to do too much,” which he defined as swinging for home runs.
“For me sometimes they [his swings] get a little too big,” Butler said. “When I saw that I mean that I’m trying to hit a home run, when I should be. And a lot of it is just adrenaline ad count wise.”
Ostrander agreed with his sentiment and said that the issue is something he is preaching to his kids every day.
“I think it’s definitely something that guys have to control and slow it down and not try and do too much,” Ostrander said. “We need to take a single, you know. You don’t have to think big all the time. That’s maturity and that’s kind of slowing it down and playing the game the right way.”
Even though Ostrander does not necessarily want USM batters to swing for the fences, Nick Monistere did and gave Southern Miss their second home run of the day in the bottom of the sixth. The bomb pulled the Sycamore lead back to 8-4 after USM was able to plate some more runs in the bottom of the fourth.
“I thought Nicky looked good,” Ostrander said. “He swung the bat and had some good hits obviously. We need him to get going and hopefully this was a step in the right direction.”
Southern Miss’s put a final push at the lead in the bottom of the eighth when Dalton McIntyre pushed an RBI single into left field to make the score 8-5.
However, Indiana State ended the game by putting up a four spot in the top of the ninth to open up the game and deny Southern Miss the sweep.
“In the ninth inning when we gave up that four, you can’t do that and have a chance to win,” Ostrander said. “There are things we have got to learn from and get better next time.”
Southern Miss falls to 8-4 and will take on Mississippi State (8-4) at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi on Tuesday night (weather permitting).
