HATTIESBURG, Miss — Tennessee baseball could not quite capitalize on the weather delay in game one of the Hattiesburg Super Regional on Sunday afternoon in a loss against Southern Miss at Pete Taylor Park.
The Vols outscored the Golden Eagles 3-1 on Sunday, but could not erase the deficit in a 5-3 loss to Southern Miss in a game that spanned 22 hours due to inclement weather on Saturday.
Southern Miss was locked in when the game began on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Eagles opened scoring in the top of the first with a Tate Parker two-RBI triple.
USM did more damage in the third inning when Dustin Dickerson clobbered a home run to left center to put the Golden Eagles up 3-0, then Nick Monistere followed suit in the fourth with a solo shot to give Southern Miss a 4-0 edge.
Golden Eagles game one starting pitcher Billy Oldham was in the middle of a gem before the weather cut his performance short on Saturday. Oldham went 4.1 innings with five strikeouts and two hits allowed. His one earned run came without him on the mound when the game resumed on Sunday.
USM pitcher Will Armistead took the mound in the fifth inning when the game continued on Sunday and immediately struggled out the gate. He loaded the bases and let a run come through when he hit Hunter Ensley with a pitch before he was pulled in favor of Justin Storm.
Jared Dickey drove in two more runs with a double in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 4-3 game, but USM got one back in the sixth with an RBI groundout for a 5-3 advantage.
Storm was strong to close out the game and earn the win with three strikeouts, two hits allowed and no earned runs over 4.1 innings of work.
Tennessee's pitching effort began with Andrew Lindsey on Saturday. Lindsey struggled with two home runs allowed in the loss with four earned runs and six hits in four innings.
Camden Sewell pitched in the brief span that the game resumed on Saturday and went one inning with one hit allowed and three strikeouts. When the game resumed on Sunday, Seth Halvorsen pitched all four innings, letting one run through while striking out three.
USM is one win away from advancing to the College World Series, and game two of the Hattiesburg Super Regional will begin on Sunday afternoon at about 3 p.m.
