MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Less than 24 hours after experiencing a major gut punch from a Drey Barrett walk-off grand slam that gave No. 8 Southern Miss a comeback win for the ages, Troy was able to get some revenge on the Golden Eagles at DABOS Park on Saturday.
To the Trojans’ credit, they not only won a tightly-contested elimination game against South Alabama on Saturday morning, but then they turned right around and took it to Southern Miss with a 9-6 final score. The Golden Eagles fell to 42-15 on the year, while the Trojans improved to 32-28.
These two teams will meet for a third and final time on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. CT for a winner-take-all semifinal game to determine who will advance to the Sun Belt Championship Game, which will also be played on Sunday.
Momentum from Walk-Off Grand Slam Doesn’t Carry Over
Although it initially felt like the Golden Eagles had captured some major momentum with Barrett’s walk-off heroics on Friday night, those feelings quickly faded with how well Troy swung their bats on Saturday. The Trojans barrelled up 13 hits, including a back-breaking three-RBI triple in the top of the seventh inning to give them an 8-2 lead before entering a two-hour weather delay.
On the flip side, the Golden Eagles’ offense struggled to put the ball in play until the bottom of the ninth came around. USM plated just two runs on six hits and struck out 11 times before then. Again, though, to Troy’s credit, a big reason for USM’s offensive struggles was Zach Crotchfelt’s pitching, who allowed just one run and five hits over five innings while striking out eight.
After a big ninth-inning comeback attempt, the Golden Eagles finished the game with six runs on 10 hits.
Cardiac Eags Made Another Big Run
If the Golden Eagles had only been down four runs again in the ninth on Saturday, they would’ve been able to make yet another comeback. However, USM found itself down by seven runs, so the four runs it plated in the ninth only served to make the final score look more respectable.
With that being said, though, perhaps these last two games will be a wake-up call for the Golden Eagles’ bats heading into Sunday’s elimination game. This Southern Miss ballclub has the talent to perform better throughout the entire game, not just when it gets to the ninth inning. We’ll see if the Golden Eagles can outlast the Trojans in Sunday morning’s “war of attrition” semifinals Game 3.
Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more USM baseball coverage from Montgomery.
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