BILOXI — The No. 17 Southern Mississippi baseball team used superb pitching Sunday to re-claim the Conference USA tournament title.
Mason Strickland started the day with a complete game before Adam Jackson and Keller Bradford combined on a seven-hitter to lead top-seeded Southern Miss to a 12-3 victory against third-seeded Florida Atlantic in the championship game of the C-USA tournament at MGM Park.
“I’m just so proud of everybody because it’s so hard to do what we just did,” USM coach Scott Berry said, “to win the regular-season conference title and then try to hold off seven other teams to win this automatic bid. The attitude was all about the mental.”
The wins helped Southern Miss (43-16) earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Strickland, a junior right-hander, earned Most Valuable Player honors after throwing a three-hitter in a 6-0 victory against fourth-seeded Charlotte to help Southern Miss reach the tournament’s championship game for the third-consecutive season.
Jackson, a junior left-hander, and Bradford, a senior right-hander, led the Golden Knights to their second postseason title in three years.
The wins helped Southern Miss win the C-USA regular-season title and tournament crown in the same season for the second time (2003).
Southern Miss’ five starting pitchers in the tournament — Nick Sandlin, Stevie Powers, Walker Powell, Strickland and Jackson, posted a combined 1.05 earned run average.
In the final, Jackson had thrown 2 1/3 scoreless innings when he was removed with an injury.
Bradford (3-1) didn’t allow a run until he gave up a two-out, three-run home run to Gunnar Lambert in the seventh to cut the deficit to 5-3. Southern Miss had taken the lead on two-run home runs by Matt Wallner and Bryant Bowen and a single by Wallner.
Following Lambert’s shot, USM added two runs in the seventh on Gabe Montenegro’s solo home run and a run-scoring single by Daniel Keating. The Golden Eagles added four more runs in the eighth on RBI hits by Wallner, Hunter Slater, and Matthew Guidry and a two-run double by Keating.
“You get that momentum going, that’s what we do,” said Wallner, who had a career-high four hits in the championship game, driving in four runs and scoring twice. “That’s how we roll, and hopefully, we can use that momentum going into the regional.”
Strickland (2-1) allowed just four baserunners and only one into scoring position. He walked one, struck out four, and set the pace in a ballgame that took just 1 hour, 58 minutes.
“Mason Strickland, man, what a momentum-killer he was (Sunday) to them,” Berry said.
Slater’s ground-rule double in the third gave Southern Miss a 2-0 lead.
Wallner and Keating hit solo home runs in the sixth for a 4-0 lead.
In the seventh, Montenegro walked and scored on Guidry’s opposite-field double. Luke Reynolds’ single brought home Guidry with the final run.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.