HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Ole Miss exploded for seven runs on five hits in the sixth inning to propel the Rebels to a 10-0 Hattiesburg Super Regional game one victory over No. 11 national seed Southern Miss Saturday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field.
The Golden Eagles (47-18) saw a three-game winning streak snapped as they dropped their first-ever home super regional contest. The Rebels (36-22) won their fourth-straight game to start NCAA play.
“Ole Miss played a much better game than we did, all the way around,” said Southern Miss coach Scott Berry. “We just didn’t do enough in any phase of the game today to compete with a good team like they are, especially with the roll they’ve been on. We knew trying to navigate through their hitters was going to be just like LSU.”
Despite striking out an NCAA school record 12 batters over five-plus innings, Golden Eagle starter Hurston Waldrep gave up a pair of runs in the third on an RBI Tim Elko single and a sacrifice fly by Kemp Alderman, while also surrendering a RBI double just inside the first-base bag to Garrett Wood over the next inning.
The Rebels then exploded for seven runs the next frame as Justin Bench start things by being hit by a pitch to knock in a run with the bases loaded. Jacob Gonzalez then singled in a run before Tim Elko and Graham both collected two-run doubles. Hayden Dunhurst completed the scoring with an RBI single to right.
Waldrep, who only pitched to the first two hitters of the sixth, suffered the loss and fell to 6-2 on the year after giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits and four walks with his 12 strikeouts.
Game two of the best of three series takes place Sunday, at 3 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU and can also be heard on the Southern Miss Sports Network.
(Courtesy Southern Miss Sports Information)
