MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A day after upsetting No. 22 Troy in the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament, Old Dominion found No. 12 Southern Miss a much tougher nut to crack.
The Golden Eagles got stellar pitching from Matthew Adams and hit three home runs to roll past the Monarchs, 10-0 in seven innings on Thursday evening in Riverwalk Stadium.
The loss sends ODU (22-30) into an elimination game against Troy on Friday at 4 p.m. ET. The winner advances to play again on Saturday in the semifinals against Southern Miss. The loser goes home.
The Monarchs knocked off Troy, 4-2, in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. This will be the fifth time the teams have met, with each having won two games.
Troy broke a five-game losing streak earlier on Thursday by defeating Texas State, 4-2 to advance to Friday’s round.
ODU appeared to be a good matchup against Southern Miss (43-13) as starting pitcher Blake Morgan limited the Golden Eagles to six hits and one run in seven innings in a 4-1 Monarch victory in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
But that was early in the season and Southern Miss is one of the hottest teams in the country. The Golden Eagles won their 17th game in a row. They have not lost since a 12-2 defeat at Georgia State on April 18.
Southern Miss had 14 hits, including 10 against Morgan. Meanwhile, Adams struck out seven and limited ODU to just four hits.
"I can't imagine playing a more complete game than Southern Miss did today," said Chris Finwood, ODU's head coach. "Adams just filled up the strike zone.
"Every time Blake made a mistake, they made him pay. They were on the barrel and got a bunch of big hits.
"It was just their day. They've got a heck of a ballclub and they're playing really well. We kind of ran into a buzz saw."
The Golden Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Jake Cook walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a ground out, then scored on another ground out.
Southern Miss made it 4-0 in the second when, with two outs, Cook drove a line drive, three-run home run well over the right field fence.
Then, in the fifth inning, designated hitter Joey Urban made it 5-0 when he lofted a hanging curve ball over the left field fence.
Then, with two outs, catcher Tucker Stockman reached base on an error and shortstop Ozzie Pratt followed with a towering home run to left field that made it 7-0.
The Golden Eagles ended the game, under the 10-run rule, in the bottom of the seventh when Matthew Russo singled in two runs and Carson Paetow singled in another.
Finwood said he would not name a starting pitcher for the Troy game until Friday.
"I told our guys there are a lot of teams in the country whose seasons are over and we get to play another game," he said. "As long as you look at it that way, and embrace it, and just wash this off as you take a shower, we'll be OK.
"We've been beaten badly before and come back and played pretty well the next day. We're playing another good ball club.
"Some guys who haven't pitched a ton are going to have to step up tomorrow and as long as we keep playing. That's the way it is for both teams at this point in the tournament."
