The Southern Miss Golden Eagles dropped a midweek contest to in-state rival Ole Miss, falling 15-8 Tuesday night at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field. The Rebels scored in six different innings as all nine starters crossed the plate at least once.
The Golden Eagles (7-2) suffered their second consecutive loss, with eight pitchers issuing 11 walks and five hit batters. Ole Miss (7-1) capitalized early, scoring three runs in the first inning, aided by four Southern Miss walks and a fielding error.
Southern Miss starter McCarty English (0-1) took the loss after walking the first two batters he faced. A fielding error loaded the bases before a two-run single from Mark Utermark. English exited after another walk, with the Rebels scoring their third run on a bases-loaded walk by reliever Matthew Adams.
The Golden Eagles cut into the lead with a solo home run by Nick Monistere in the second inning and added another run in the third when Ozzie Pratt and Davis Gillespie hit back-to-back singles, the latter driving in Jake Cook.
Ole Miss responded with three more runs in the third, highlighted by Austin Fawley’s two-run home run. Southern Miss trimmed the lead to 6-5 in the fourth with a solo home run from Matthew Russo and a two-run single from Dustin Dickerson.
The Rebels pulled away in the later innings, scoring two runs on a bases-loaded walk and hit-by-pitch in the fourth. Additional runs came from a two-run double by Mitchell Sanford in the fifth, a solo home run by Owen Paino in the sixth, and a two-run homer by Ryan Moerman in the eighth.
Southern Miss added solo home runs from Hunter Stockman in the sixth and Gillespie in the eighth but could not overcome the deficit. Ole Miss reliever Brayden Jones (1-0) earned the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
The Golden Eagles travel to Fort Worth for a three-game series against TCU starting Friday at 6 p.m.
