Trailing by two runs in the top of the ninth inning, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles looked like they might have run out of gas during Tuesday night’s matchup against Tulane in New Orleans.
But then, with one out, Dustin Dickerson hit a soft blooper that just cleared the Green Wave infield. Slade Wilks proceeded to launch a two-run shot over the right field fence, tying the game at 10 before Christopher Sargent came up to the plate and hit another home run to give the Golden Eagles an 11-10 lead.
Ninth-inning homer trot No 2 pic.twitter.com/laUXQi54qW
— Southern Miss Baseball (@SouthernMissBSB) April 26, 2023
LHP Justin Storm came in to mow three straight outs and secure the victory, which was the Golden Eagles’ third win over the Green Wave in their last four contests.
Tuesday night’s game was a back-and-forth affair with Tulane scoring two quick runs in the first inning. USM’s offensive unit came to life in the top of the third with an eight-run blister courtesy of home runs from Nick Monistere and Matthew Etzel.
Tulane (12-29, 5-7 AAC) kept chipping away, with four straight innings with home runs until the bottom of the eighth where Tony Banks sent a Babe-Ruth-style bomb over the left field wall for the two-run lead that was eventually lost in the game’s final inning.
Isaiah Rhodes, the fourth of five pitchers for Southern Miss, earned the victory and improved to 2-2 on the year, while Justin Storm collected his fifth save of the season. The Golden Eagles had all nine batters with at least one hit and run scored.
Next up for Southern Miss (24-15, 11-7 Sun Belt) will be a Wednesday night matchup against Louisiana Tech (20-21, 9-9 C-USA) in Hattiesburg.
