18 Feb 2025

Southern Miss blanks No. 18 Mississippi State 3-0

by | posted in: Mississippi News | 0

In front of a boisterous, sold-out Pete Taylor Park crowd, Southern Miss (5-0, 0-0) held No. 18 Mississippi State (3-1, 0-0) silent in a 3-0 shutout win. 

Just eight total hits were etched into the score sheet in the 131st meeting between the pair, with all three runs for the Golden Eagles coming in the initial two frames. After that, there were few offensive opportunities to speak of for either side. 

The scoring started for the home club with two outs in the bottom of the first. True freshman Charlie Foster, in his first start as a Bulldog, walked the first two batters he saw. The free passes came back to bite the youngster after a two-out passed ball allowed Ozzie Pratt to scurry home and give Southern Miss an early 1-0 advantage. 

In the second, Butler transfer Joey Urban deposited a Charlie Foster fastball off the scoreboard in left field for the Golden Eagles’ first base hit. In the end, it was the only earned run of the contest.  

After Butler’s bomb, designated hitter Ben Higdon reached base on an error by the second baseman, Sawyer Reeves. Moments later, Foster overthrew Hunter Hines on an attempted pick off move, allowing Higdon to score all the way from first to set the score at 3-0. 

For Southern Miss, Urban was the coal in the engine on a night where the bats were otherwise quiet, notching three of the Golden Eagles’ four base hits on a perfect 3-for-3 evening. Higdon crossed home plate for the other two scores of the game. 

Colby Allen made his fourth career start on the mound for Christian Ostrander’s club and was exactly what the home side was hoping for. The junior righthander, who played his prep ball at Starkville Academy, threw four innings of hitless, scoreless baseball while punching out five Bulldogs to earn his first win of 2025.  

Cal Culpepper and Josh Och scattered four Mississippi State hits in four combined innings of relief work, making way for Landen Payne to strike out the side as he slammed the door shut in the final frame. 

For Mississippi State, the night was largely absent of opportunity. The Bulldogs put just six baserunners on the path across the span of the game – finishing the night a meager 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position. 

Lukas Buckner was the only highlight for the Maroon and White in a long night in Hattiesburg, providing the only multi-hit performance in a 2-for-2 effort after replacing Reeves at second base.  

The Bulldogs’ backs were pinned against the wall early due to an inability to create pressure on Allen and a mistake-prone defensive showing. While Southern Miss needed just the single run in the shutout, Mississippi State opened the door for the black and gold cushion after committing four errors after erring just once in the opening series against Manhattan. 

The silver lining for Bulldog skipper Chris Lemonis was a stingy bullpen effort from four relief arms: Tyler Davis (3 IP, 2 H, 0 R), Evan Siary (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R), Robert Fortenberry (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R), and Chase Hungate (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R). The quartet gave Mississippi State a chance, but the Southern Miss bullpen was just as good to hold the visitors scoreless. 

The two will meet again in two weeks’ time on March 4 in Starkville, but there’s plenty of baseball to be played until then. 

Mississippi State returns home to Dudy Noble Field to face Missouri State for a three-game series beginning Friday at 4 p.m., airing on SEC Network+.  

Southern Miss will stay in Hattiesburg and welcome another rival to Pete Taylor Park in a three-game set against former conference mate Louisiana Tech, with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. Friday. The series will be aired on ESPN+.