Old Dominion edges Southern Miss 10-8 after late rally falls short

NORFOLK, Va. — No. 8 Southern Miss rallied with five runs in the ninth inning but fell to Old Dominion 10-8 Friday at the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex. The loss evened the Sun Belt Conference series for the Golden Eagles, who will try to win their third straight SBC series Saturday at 11 a.m.

Southern Miss (22-9, 6-5 SBC) saw two leads disappear and was tied 3-3 before ODU (14-16, 4-7 SBC) broke open the game with a six-run sixth inning. The Monarchs sent 10 batters to the plate in that inning, taking a 10-3 lead.

The Golden Eagles were down by seven going into the ninth. After an out to start the inning, they loaded the bases with a walk and hit batters. Seth Smith scored on an RBI single, and Kyle Morrison followed with a groundout that scored another run. Davis Gillespie, who reached base five times, was hit by a pitch to bring home a third run. Matthew Russo and Ben Higdon added RBI singles before the game ended with a groundout.

Old Dominion took the lead for good in the sixth, after a single, a lineout and another single loaded the bases against starting pitcher Camden Sunstrom. Colby Allen relieved and issued a walk to give the Monarchs a 4-3 lead. Efrain Morales then drove in two runs with a single, and Zach Leite hit his fifth home run of the year, a three-run shot, to cap the inning’s scoring.

Sunstrom (2-2) took the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. Joey Urban led Southern Miss with three hits, including a home run to start the game, his ninth of the season. The home run was the first to open a game for the Golden Eagles since 2023.

Will Johnson and Macaddin Dye each homered for ODU, with Johnson driving in two runs and Dye adding one. Ben Tanton earned the win for the Monarchs, improving to 3-0 after 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

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