Southern Miss was eliminated from its home NCAA regional after a 15-11, 10-inning loss to Virginia on Saturday, the teams’ statistics show. The defeat left the Golden Eagles 44-17 on the season after they lost both games at the Hattiesburg regional.
Virginia scored four runs in the top of the 10th inning and Southern Miss went down in order in the bottom half to seal the win, according to the box score. Southern Miss had tied the game with a three-run bottom of the eighth inning and a scoreless ninth sent the game to extra innings.
Virginia was led by center fielder A.J. Gracia, who had five hits and five RBIs, according to the box score. Kyle Johnson had three hits, two RBIs and a home run, and Joe Tiroly had a hit, four RBIs and a home run. Left-hander Max Stammel (3-4) earned the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings and three strikeouts, and Virginia’s pitching staff recorded 15 strikeouts in the game.
For Southern Miss, Davis Gillespie had two hits, four RBIs and a home run. Joey Urban had three hits, and Tucker Stockman hit a three-run homer and later a two-run double, according to the box score. Right-hander Thomas Crabtree (2-3) took the loss after allowing one run on three hits in 2 1/3 innings, while lefty Grayden Harris gave up nine earned runs on 10 hits in three innings.
Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said he was proud of the team’s season and praised his seniors after the loss. “It was a heavyweight fight, and we came up short,” Ostrander said. According to the NCAA regional schedule, Virginia will face the winner of the Little Rock–Jacksonville State game in Sunday’s elimination game at 3 p.m. at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
