Southern Miss baseball prepares for Super Regional against Tennessee

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Pete Taylor Park will be at the center of the college baseball universe this weekend as the Golden Eagles are set to host their second consecutive Super Regional.

Tickets for the game sold out within a matter of minutes, which means one thing: the Pete will be electric.

“It’s going to be electric,” said Golden Eagles relief pitcher Justin Storm. “I know everybody’s seen Twitter and all that stuff. The fans are getting into it, but we try not to look at a bunch of that stuff. But it definitely is interesting. I think this place will be packed from game one all the way to potentially game three. We’re looking forward to it. I mean, we got the best fans in the country here and then it’s going to be banging for sure.”

Southern Miss will be taking on an SEC opponent in Tennessee, but for Justin Storm and the rest of the pitching staff, they are treating it like any other opponent.

“Yeah, we’re just excited to be here, excited to keep playing baseball, wherever that would be. I think for us, it really didn’t matter if we were going to be playing here or at Tennessee, we’re just excited to play. It’s just a matter of going out and attacking the opponent. It doesn’t really matter where the game’s at, and I think they probably feel the same way.”

Two of the key bats in the lineup are scorching hot as of late. Both Dustin Dickerson and Danny Lynch continue to provide key hits when USM needs them most, something that they say reflects the Golden Eagles’ culture.

“When our pitching staff gives up a run, it always feels good to go back and answer back and give us a run and not let the lead get too big for the other team,” Dickerson said. “It also gives the pitching staff some confidence, knowing that we’re going to grind every inning and put good at-bats together.”

Captain Danny Lynch gave insight into the team’s mindset when they come back to the dugout after allowing a run, “it’s let’s stay locked in, but it’s also we don’t want to allow shutdown innings from the other team. When the other team scores, if they put a three or four spot up and then they get a quick one-two-three inning from us, they’re feeling all the momentum. If we can even just scratch one run across, even if we only get four hitters to the plate, if we go double, sack fly, sack fly, that just puts a number on the board and lets them know that we’re not going lightly. We’re still in the fight.”

For head coach Scott Berry, this will be his final series coaching at Pete Taylor Park, but it’s the opportunity to go to Omaha that has all of his attention.

“You know, I’m going to try to concentrate on the baseball game. You know, I haven’t thought much about myself in this situation. I try to concentrate on us as a team and these players, and I want these guys to really experience something really, really special. And the last two weekends, they’ve been able to do that. Winning a conference tournament, coming through the losers bracket. Last weekend, a regional tournament on the road, coming through the losers bracket as well, so those are special memories for them and me too. But I want them to really embrace that.”

Game 1 begins on Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.

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