HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Columbia made a statement Friday night, taking down host and top-seeded Southern Miss 11-4 in the opening round of the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional at Pete Taylor Park. The Lions have now won 10 straight and improved to 30-17 on the year, marking their third 30-win season in program history.
Columbia advances to face No. 3 Miami, which held off No. 2 Alabama 5-3 earlier in the day, on Saturday, May 31, at 9 p.m. ET. The winner will move on to the Regional Final on Sunday.
The Lions came out swinging, piling up 16 hits and scoring in six different innings. Senior Hunter Snyder led the charge with a 4-for-5 night, while catcher Owen Estabrook added three hits and a two-run homer that helped Columbia pull away late.
Anton Lazits drove in three runs and tied Columbia's all-time home run record with a blast in the ninth for his 31st career dinger. He is tied with teammate Sam Miller for the career mark. Griffin Palfrey's RBI double in the fourth was the 50th of his career, which passed Matt Buckmiller '02CC.
Columbia's bullpen came up big, too. Alex Sotiropoulos (5-3) tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings in relief to earn the win, while starter Jagger Edwards held Southern Miss to just one earned run over 3 1/3.
Southern Miss, which entered the regional 44-15 and looked like a favorite to advance, couldn't find its rhythm. The Golden Eagles managed just five hits and struggled to capitalize on the few opportunities they had. Starter Matthew Adams (6-3) took the loss, giving up four runs before being pulled in the fourth.
Joey Urban had two doubles and scored twice for Southern Miss.
In the top of the first, Snyder led off with a single up the middle, and after advancing to third on a hit and a flyout, he came home on a sacrifice fly to left field by Lazits, putting Columbia ahead 1-0.
Two innings later, Snyder sparked the offense again with a leadoff double. Sam Miller reached on a fielder's choice and Lazits grounded out to third to bring Snyder home again to double the advantage.
Southern Miss (44-15) used some small-ball to get on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Tucker Stockman opened the frame with a double to right, moved to third on a groundout by Ozzie Pratt and scored on a groundout to second by Jake Cook, cutting Columbia's lead to 2-1.
The Lions got some breathing room with a four-run fourth inning. Jack Kail started things off with a double to right, and after two quick outs, Estabrook drew a walk to keep the inning alive. Snyder followed with a sharp single to left to score Kail, and Miller ripped a two-run double to center. Palfrey capped the rally with his milestone double, pushing the Lions' lead to 6-1.
In the bottom of the frame, the Golden Eagles made a push without a hit to pull within 6-3. After a leadoff walk and another free pass, a wild pitch allowed both runners to move up. Moments later, Matthew Russo scored on another wild pitch, making it 6-2. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded following an error and a walk, Pratt drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in another run to trim the deficit to three.
Estabrook's blast in the eighth stretched a three-run lead to five and the Lions used a big defensive play to escape a jam in the bottom of the inning.
Urban doubled down the third base line with two outs, and a dropped fly ball allowed him to come around and score, trimming Columbia's lead to 8-4. With a runner in scoring position, Drey Barrett hit a grounder that looked destined to find room up the middle for a base-hit, but Kail made a diving stop behind the bag and threw out the runner to keep Columbia in control.
Lazits added his solo shot in the ninth, and Miller drove in two with a double during a four-run fourth inning that capped the scoring. Tomas Lopez worked a scoreless ninth in his second inning of relief to seal the deal.
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