HATTIESBURG, Miss. — No. 10 Southern Mississippi scored two runs on wild pitches in the seventh inning to upset No. 4 Mississippi State 7-6 Tuesday night at Pete Taylor Park. The Golden Eagles improved to 11-1, winning their 11th consecutive game, while the Bulldogs dropped to 11-2 and lost for the second straight time at the park.
Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Southern Miss’s Matthew Russo singled to start the inning. Drey Barrett then lined a double to right, moving Russo to third. MSU reliever Maddox Miller struck out Kyle Morrison, but a wild pitch allowed Russo to score, tying the game. Barrett scored the go-ahead run on another wild pitch by Miller during the following at-bat.
Josh Och pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn the win for Southern Miss, improving to 3-0. Camden Clark recorded his fourth save, working around a two-out walk in the ninth. Mississippi State’s Maddox Miller took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits over 2/3 of an inning.
Southern Miss jumped ahead early, scoring three runs in the first inning. Ben Higdon doubled on the first pitch, and after a groundout and strikeout, Davis Gillespie walked. Drey Barrett then hit a 1-1 pitch over the left-center wall for his second home run of the year, giving the Golden Eagles an early lead. They added another run in the second and Seth Smith’s first career home run in the fourth increased the lead to 4-0.
Mississippi State responded with three runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by Noah Sullivan’s two-run double and Reed Stallman’s RBI single. The Bulldogs took a brief lead with three more runs in the seventh, including Stallman’s two-run single. However, Southern Miss rallied with wild pitches, sealing the victory.
The game drew an attendance of 5,716 and continues Southern Miss’s five-game homestand with a matchup against Nicholls scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m., according to the university.
