Southern Miss uses early explosion to force deciding game at Regional

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The University of Miami baseball team (33-25, 15-14 ACC) fell to the top-seeded Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (47-15, 24-6 Sun Belt) by a final score of 17-6 Sunday night at Peter Taylor Park. Miami trailed 10-0 by the second inning.

The two teams will play again at 9 p.m. Monday to determine who advances in the postseason.

“It’s a must-win for everybody, man, so it will be all hands on deck,” coach J.D. Arteaga said after the loss. “There’s really no script for a one-game playoff. So we’ll decide who’s going to start and as long as he’s getting outs, he stays out there.

“Like I told the guys, the closer you get to your goals the harder it gets. It’s not going to get any easier (Monday). We’ll be ready to go.”

Southern Miss. erupted for nine runs in the opening frame, building a lead that proved too much for third-seeded Miami to overcome.

“Just proud of the guys,” Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander said. “All hands on deck – I haven’t really got the chance to really get to that point yet of figuring out what we’re going to do or what it’s going to take, but I feel like it’s going to take an army. That’s a good offense. Miami’s got a great team. You know, when you jump to that kind of lead, it’s just baseball or whatever. Tomorrow’s going to be a fight and a lot on the line for each of us. So whatever we decide to do, I got a feeling you’ll see several arms.”

Camden Sunstrom (3-0) earned the win in relief for Southern Miss., tossing 4 2/3 innings and allowing just one unearned run on four hits with two walks and one strikeout. Freshman right-hander Tate DeRias (2-3) took the loss for Miami, surrendering nine earned runs on seven hits in just two-thirds of an inning.

Southern Miss. erupted for nine runs on nine hits in the opening frame, seizing quick control of the game. The Golden Eagles strung together five RBI singles before designated hitter Joey Urban capped off the eruption with a towering home run to center field. Eight of the nine runs came with two outs, giving the regional hosts a commanding 9-0 lead after one.

“It got away from us,” Arteaga said. “It’s tough to come back from a nine-spot.”

Matthew Russo added to the Golden Eagles’ lead with a solo home run, but Miami’s Tanner Smith answered in the bottom of the second with a solo shot of his own, trimming the deficit to 10-2.

What started as a scoring barrage in the first two frames quickly turned into a defensive battle until the fifth inning, when the Hurricanes showed signs of life.

Renzo Gonzalez was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and Tanner Smith followed with a single to right, moving Gonzalez into scoring position. After a pitching change, freshman Fabio Peralta flied out to center, advancing both runners.

Freshman Michael Torres started the scoring with an RBI single to right, scoring Gonzalez, and Jake Ogden would then deliver a two-run double down the first base line, plating Torres and Smith. Max Galvin followed with an infield single, pushing Ogden to third.

After another pitching change from Southern Miss., Daniel Cuvet drew a walk to load the bases. Dorian Gonzalez Jr. drove in a run with a groundout to third to score Ogden and make it 10-5.

But the Golden Eagles kept the pressure on, and in the top of the seventh, Joey Urban notched his second home run of the contest to give Southern Miss. a 12-5 advantage.

Southern Miss. tacked on two runs in the seventh, one in the eighth, and four in the ninth, as Miami shifted focus toward preserving its pitching staff for Monday’s regional finale.

“We just have a staff that can put it together and I feel we showed part of that (Sunday) and we’re going to bring it out tomorrow,” C Tanner Smith said.

Cuvet added that the team’s mindset entering the winner-take-all game is that “What we’ve been able to do all year is bounce back in any situation we’ve been in. The family we have in that locker room between the guys – we all want this for each other. That’ll help us.”