Tennessee vs Southern Miss: 2023 Hattiesburg Super Regional preview, prediction
Southern Miss
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles (45-18) took the longest road possible to get through the Auburn Regional (hosted by No. 13 national seed Auburn). Southern Miss dropped the opening game of the regional to 3-seed Samford 4-2 in 10 innings. Southern Miss then rallied off four straight wins from there to win the regional. The run started with an impressive 7-2 win over the host Auburn. USM then eliminated Samford by a score of 9-4 in a rematch. Southern Miss then knocked off 4-seed Penn 11-2 in the first Regional Final game to force the If Necessary game on Monday. Southern Miss won that game 11-7 to clinch their ticket to Supers.
USM was also ranked in the preseason top 25 (No. 18). Southern Miss went 22-8 this year in Sun Belt play, finishing second behind Coastal Carolina. Southern Miss is 26-5 at home so far this season.
USM’s lineup is led by the trio of Dustin Dickerson, Matthew Etzel, and Slade Wilks. Dickerson is hitting .328 with 10 HR, 20 2B, 50 RBI, and 55 runs scored. Etzel is also hitting above .300 (.317) and leads the team in steals with 23. He also has 17 2B, 51 RBI, and 54 Runs. Wilks is the team’s best power hitter with 20 HR and a .612 SLG%. He’s hitting .291 on the year, with 58 RBI and 49 runs. Rodrigo Montenegro (.404), Nick Monistere (.328), and Tate Parker (.324) are all also hitting over .300, but have not been everyday starters throughout the season (although they all started throughout regionals). Danny Lynch and Christopher Sargent both also have 13 homers on the season. USM is hitting .286 as a team on the year.
Southern Miss’ rotation is headlined by one of the best pitchers in the country in Tanner Hall. Hall has a 12-3 record on the year with a 2.08 ERA (ninth nationally). He’s also tied-for-tenth in the country with 119 strikeouts (119:32 K/BB). Hall is also one of the few pitchers in the country that has gone over the 100 innings mark (108) so far this season. He has also thrown two complete games.
Southern Miss will also have a decision to make in their rotation behind Hall with Matthew Adams (3-2 record, 4.95 ERA, 69:22 K/BB, 60 IP), Niko Mazza (5-1 record, 4.13 ERA, 84:42 K/BB ratio, 69 2/3 IP), and Billy Oldham (8-3 record, 4.33 ERA, 84:23 K/BB, 72 2/3 IP) all in the mix to start. Whoever out of those three who does not start will likely be at the ready to be used in long relief if needed.
USM’s notable relievers are; Will Armistead (2-0, 1.69 ERA, 43:15 K/BB, 42 2/3 IP), Justin Storm (6-2, 2.61 ERA, 69:15 K/BB, 41 1/3 IP), and Kros Sivley (4-1, 4.02 ERA, 54:10 K/BB, 53 2/3 IP). Southern Miss has a 4.50 team ERA on the year.
