By Robert Wilson
No Division I baseball team in the country has more consecutive 40-win seasons than Southern Miss.
And with No. 7 ranked Southern Miss’ 2-1 victory over in-state rival Ole Miss Tuesday night before 5,775 at Southern Miss’ Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field in Hattiesburg, this Golden Eagles team is off to the best start in school history.
Southern Miss, which has won 40 or more games in each of the last nine seasons, won for the 15th time in 17 games, one more win than the 1995 and 2004 teams.
Southern Miss junior catcher Tucker Stockman hit a single to centerfield to score freshman pinch runner William Tonsmeire from second base with two outs and on a 2-2 count in the bottom of the ninth for the winning run in front of the fifth-largest crowd in school history.
Junior left fielder Davis Gillespie led off the inning with a single to left field on the first pitch. Ole Miss got two outs before senior second baseman and South Alabama transfer Kyle Morrison walked after starting off with an 0-2 count to set up Stockman’s heroics. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Stockman had two of the six Southern Miss hits and came into the game with a .225 batting average for the season.
With one out in the top of the ninth inning, Ole Miss junior second baseman and Murray State transfer Dom Decker was hit by pitch – the Rebels’ first baseman since the fifth inning – and senior third baseman Judd Utermark walked, but Southern Miss sophomore right-hander and Pearl River Community College transfer Camden Clark came in and got a fly out and strikeout to end the scoring threat. Clark was the winning pitcher and improved to 3-0.
Both starting pitchers – Southern Miss’ Thomas Crabtree and Ole Miss’ Taylor Rabe – were excellent, allowing only one hit and no runs between them. Crabtree allowed only one hit in three innings and Rabe retired all eight of his batters and went 2 2/3 innings.
Ole Miss senior right fielder and Clemson transfer Tristan Bassetta (his eighth this season) and Morrison (his team-high sixth this season) each hit solo home runs for the only runs of the game until the ninth inning.
“I was so proud for our guys and our fans,” said Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander in an interview with Jason Baker on the Southern Miss’ postgame radio show. “What an atmosphere. They showed out again. Two great ball clubs, in my opinion, going at it. As advertised, they are really good. They are scary with their offense. They have elite arms, but our guys matched it tonight. I thought our guys threw the ball fantastic starting with Crabtree, then (Camden) Sunstrom, then Bruce (Littleton) in there, (Josh) Och and Cam. I’m just proud for these boys. They deserve it. They work so hard.”
Crabtree, a junior right-hander and Tennessee transfer, got the Golden Eagles off to a great start.
“Crabtree did a great job,” Ostrander said. “By design, we were going to use several arms. He’s a competitor. He wanted to stay out there. But it was the right move to make. He did his job. He covered three innings and that was huge. Proud of him. He has found an identity as a pitcher. It took us a little time to figure that out. He’s really throwing the ball well now.”
And Clark finished it off.
“It is not always a perfect save opportunity,” Ostrander said. “There are times when a closer has to come and get you out of a jam and that’s exactly what he did there. They had a little momentum. One out and first and second. He gets a fly out and gets a big strikeout.”
“The fans are here for us and they made such a difference,” Gillispie said. “Just doing my part and pass it on to the next guy.”
“A big moment comes up and I love it, but I’ve got to give all the glory to God,” Stockton said. “You want to think, ‘I can do this.’ In reality, I’m not doing anything. I’m trying to let God take over the situation. It would have been easy for Davis to try to hit a home run, but he just does his part and passes along the torch. That’s what this team is all about and that’s what this program has been for years and years. We didn’t start it. It has been passed down every year. Dave and I were redshirted our freshman year, but all the old guys showed us the way. I can’t thank this place enough.”
It was only the third loss for Ole Miss in 18 games. The Rebels had won five straight games since a loss to then No. 9 Coastal Carolina. Ole Miss’ only other loss was tomBaylor in the 10 innings in the Bruce Bolt College Classic in Houston.
The two teams play again April 14 at Trustmark Park in Pearl.
Southern Miss starts Sun Belt Conference play this weekend when it visits Arkansas State for a three-game series with the first game Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN plus.
Ole Miss starts Southeastern Conference play this weekend when it visits No. 2 and undefeated Texas for a three-game series with the first game Friday at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network plus.
