HATTIESBURG, Miss. — A late surge from Southern Miss gave the top-seeded Golden Eagles an 8–1 win to halt Columbia's run at the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional on Sunday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park.
The Lions (30-19) held their own for much of the game, keeping things close behind a strong start from Joe Sheets (3-4), who gave up just one earned run over 5.1 innings. However, Southern Miss scored in the final four innings to advance to the Regional Final against Miami.
"I think today's game was a really good baseball game," head coach Brett Boretti said. "Joe Sheets pitched really well. It was a tight game most of the way. I thought we had some good opportunities offensively, and we got off the field in a couple spots defensively. It was a great effort by the guys today, especially Joe giving us a quality start, Will Harrigan doing a great job out the bullpen and Alex Sotiropoulos coming in on one day rest. As far as the team this year, today is always a tough day. We had a really strong season, a great season. I couldn't be more proud of the group. It's really hard when you have 11 seniors who have done quite a bit for your program. It's the last game we will be able to have with them here. They have taken the program to a new level and we are thankful to them for that."
The Golden Eagles (46-15) saw the first four batters of the game reach and Nick Monistere drove in the opening run of the game in the bottom of the first. Columbia nearly answered in the bottom of the frame, but Sam Miller was robbed of a homer after a leaping grab by leftfielder Ben Higdon.
The Lions did break through to tie the game at 1–1 in the second inning thanks to an RBI single by Skye Selinsky to score Cole Fellows.
Sheets settled in after some early control issues, but ran into trouble in the sixth after a pair of singles put runners on the corners. Southern Miss took advantage of a throwing error to plate the go-ahead run before Will Harrigan came on to record the final two outs of the frame to limit the damage.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases again in the seventh and tacked on an insurance run to make it 3-1 on an RBI groundout and blew the game open after Higdon belted a three-run blast in the eight to put the game out of reach.
Grayden Harris (5-3) earned the win for the Golden Eagles, holding Columbia to one run on four hits across 6.1 innings, while Landen Payne recorded the save with 2.2 shutout innings in relief.
Despite the final score, Columbia had opportunities throughout, with Miller and Anton Lazits each collecting extra-base hits.
Jack Kail also notched a hit and finished the season with a 13-game hitting streak.
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