Southern Miss. Walks it Off, Sweeps Texas St. to Improve Rank to #18!

Ty Long crosses home plate on a wild pitch to walk it off for Southern Mississippi. (Photo courtesy of Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com)

The Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (28-12, 11-7 Sun Belt) took down the Texas State Bobcats (25-15, 9-9 Sun Belt) in walk-off fashion on Sunday to complete the three game sweep. With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the tenth inning, Southern Miss. Sophomore Ty Long seized his moment as a pinch runner and sprinted home from third base on a wild pitch, crossing in time to secure a pivotal Sun Belt win for the Golden Eagles. This was Southern Mississippi’s first walk-off in extra innings since 3/30/2025, when they defeated South Alabama 8-7 in 12 innings via a walk-off sac fly. This series sweep propels Southern Miss. from #22 to #18 in the D1Baseball.com Top 25 Rankings released on Monday, while Texas State drops to .500 in Sun Belt play.

This one began to look comfortable for Southern Miss. early on, as the Golden Eagles had built up a 3-0 lead by the fourth inning. Golden Eagles 2B Kyle Morrison and LF Davis Gillespie drove in one apiece with a double and single, respectively, in the first inning. Senior CF Joey Urban tacked on one more with an RBI single in the fourth. Texas State would not lay down here however; in the fifth, 3B Chase Mora ripped a 2 RBI double into the gap to cut the Bobcats’ deficit to one. Bobcats SS Dawson Park recorded his first hit of the day with an RBI single two innings later to tie the game.

Southern Mississippi 1B Matthew Russo’s bat would ensure that this tie would not last, mashing a no-doubt home run to right field in the eighth inning and giving the lead back to the Golden Eagles at 4-3. But it would be Dawson Park again who came through for Texas State, bringing Justin Vossos home on a game-tying RBI double in the top of the ninth inning. Texas State showed a ton of grit and resilience in continually fighting back throughout this contest, not to mention a rock solid bullpen outing from Graduate Student Kyle Froehlich. Froehlich lasted five innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out 8. The efforts of the Bobcats would fall just short however, due to the roller coaster tenth inning.

The top of the tenth was quiet, as Golden Eagles reliever Thomas Crabtree shut down the Bobcats with a 1-2-3 inning and two consecutive strikeouts to retire the side. It was in the bottom of the tenth where this game really delivered its thrills. Golden Eagels 3B Drey Barrett drew a five pitch walk to start the frame, before head coach Christian Ostrander substituted Ty Long for Barrett to run. After a flyout and a Tucker Stockman single, Southern Miss. faced runners on first and third with just one out. The second pitch of Lawson Odom’s at bat missed the mark, so Ty Long made his. Game, set, match, and you can mark it as a Golden Eagles sweep.

Southern Mississippi will host Tulane in a one-game midweek matchup before hitting the road to take on South Alabama over the weekend. If they could sweep the week or at least take three of four, the Golden Eagles could really continue to climb in the rankings. Texas State on the other hand will look to regroup in a midweek contest when they host Incarnate Word on Tuesday.

Final Score: #22 →#18 Southern Mississippi 5, Texas State 4 (10 inn.)

WP: Thomas Crabtree (1-2)

LP: Alizaeh Gutierrez (2-1)

TheRundownPod Player of the Game: Southern Mississippi 1B Matthew Russo (2-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 R)