Golden Eagles Soaring: USM Baseball

GOLDEN EAGLES SOARING TO SIMILAR SUCCESS

The University of Southern Mississippi is in the midst of another successful baseball season, as the Golden Eagles sit 16th in the NCAA’s D1Baseball Top 25 rankings. There are several similarities between the this year’s and last year’s squad. Head Coach Scott Berry lost four seniors last year, but still has his team in a close battle for first place in the Conference USA standings. The Golden Eagles have only five losses to go along with 17 wins as they enter the middle part of the schedule. At this point last year, Southern Miss had the same amount of losses with only two more wins.

Sophomore Matt Wallner is the Preseason C-USA Player of the Year while Detroit Tiger’s draftee Dylan Bordeaux won the award last year. Last season, the Golden Eagles hosted the

NCAA Regional Tournament for the first time in school history but wasn’t able to advance to the Super Regionals. The 2017-2018 Southern Miss baseball team has higher aspirations.

Photo courtesy of: Hattiesburg American

After two successful seasons with Jones Junior College, USM baseball newcomer Fred Franklin believes this year’s team has the qualities of a College World Series winner.

“We lost a lot of good players last year, but we gained a lot of good players this year,” Franklin said before a USM baseball practice session. “Since they did good last year, we kind of got plan on what to do and try to actually execute since they fell short. Now we got all the greatness we need to win the World Series, so we’re just working hard every day.” Franklin thinks this version of the Golden Eagles is the most dangerous on offense. Especially because of his speed.

Franklin played in 18 of the Golden Eagles’ 22 game this season. He only started in a one game the entire season, yet he is tied for first place on the team in stolen bases according to SouthernMiss.com. Photo Courtesy of: Southernmiss.com

Daniel Keating is the only other player with four stolen bases , but he has attempted one more than Franklin. Franklin is the only Southern Miss player this season to attempt four stolen bases and have a perfect stolen bases percentage. Though, the true improvement between this year’s team and last year’s team may be on the other side of the ball.While only a 22 game sample size, the Golden Eagles’ defense improved in almost every statistical category from last season. Southern Miss opponents’ batting averages dropped to .248 percent this year. Southern Miss’ opponents also have a lower slugging percentage compared to last year.

The Southern Miss defense continues to be a force in conference play this season as well. In comparison to last season, opponents’ batting averages against the Golden Eagles in conference play dropped by .020 percent this year. Even though the numbers come from a small sample size, small improvements can be seen through the statistics. Similar to last year, the Golden Eagles are tough to beat at home. The team has only lost one game (11-1) this year at Pete Taylor Park. The loss came on the second end of a double header between USM and UT Martin.

Southern Miss student Josh Johnson doesn’t notice a change in the atmosphere from last year. “It always a great environment whenever I come here, which is often,” Johnson said. “It don’t think it matters if the team is on a win streak or if they’re struggling. People just want to come out and see good a baseball game. [Southern Miss] gives you that.” Johnson said he doesn’t notice any major differences between this year’s team and last year’s record setting squad. Though, he does have his eye on two specific individuals; Junior outfielder Fred Franklin and Senior outfielder Mason Irby.

“Both are my friends from [Meridian, MS]. Mason is having a good year, but I know he can be better. I even text him from time to time to tell him to do this or do that…Fred is the fastest guy I’ve ever known. He’s only a Junior, so I know he’ll become a better hitter with more experience. Next year, he’ll probably lead the conference in stolen bases. It’s just good too see them both excite the crowd like they did back home.”

Pete Taylor Park is one of the most packed collegiate stadiums in baseball. At a certain point in last year’s postseason run, USM ranked 17th in the nation in national attendance according to SunHerald.com. A true home-field advantage could be key to the Golden Eagles’s replicating or even surpassing last year’s record-setting season.