HATTIESBURG, Miss. – History was made Friday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park.
Fourth-seeded Little Rock scored four runs in the ninth inning and stunned top-seeded Southern Miss 7-4 in the opening game of the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional, earning the program's first-ever victory in the opening round of an NCAA Regional. The Trojans improved to 37-26 overall and added another milestone to what has become one of the most successful seasons in school history.
Little Rock advances to the winner's bracket and will face the winner of Friday night's game between No. 2 seed Virginia and No. 3 seed Jacksonville State on Saturday at 8 p.m. The Trojans are now two wins away from a regional championship and continued a postseason run that has already included a second straight Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title and the program's first back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances.
Facing a Southern Miss team that entered the tournament 44-16 and playing in front of a crowd of 5,331 on its home field, the Trojans once again showed the toughness and resilience that carried them through an improbable conference tournament championship run last week.
"Some folks around the country, the big word that describes us in the regional was dangerous," Little Rock head coach Chris Curry said. "I said, no, we're not dangerous, we're lethal. We just get after it. There is no stage too big."
Little Rock collected 14 hits and erased a late deficit before breaking the game open in the ninth inning.
The Trojans struck first in the third when Jerdy Lopez doubled and eventually scored on a two-out RBI single by Nolan Freund to take a 1-0 lead. Southern Miss answered immediately as Kyle Morrison launched a solo home run in the bottom of the inning to even the score at 1-1.
The Golden Eagles moved in front in the fifth when Joey Urban connected on a two-run homer to center field, giving the regional hosts a 3-1 advantage.
Little Rock chipped away in the sixth inning. Blake Simpson led off with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Ty Rhoades to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The Trojans pulled even in the eighth when Simpson singled, Nico Baumbach doubled and Angel Cano drove home the tying run with a groundout. But Southern Miss answered in the bottom half of the inning on a solo homer from Davis Gillespie, taking a 4-3 lead into the ninth.
Despite falling behind multiple times, Little Rock never lost confidence.
"We trust our team. We trust everybody on the team because we have a good team," Lopez said. "When we're down, we never give up, and that's what we did today."
Little Rock's response was immediate.
Cooper Chaplain opened the ninth with a single before Kade Smith doubled to put runners at second and third. A wild pitch allowed Chaplain to score the tying run, and moments later Freund lined an RBI single through the middle to give the Trojans a 5-4 lead.
With the momentum squarely on Little Rock's side, Simpson delivered the decisive blow.
The senior outfielder launched a two-run homer to left field, extending the lead to 7-4 and quieting the Hattiesburg crowd. Simpson finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two RBI, a double and the game-clinching home run.
"I was just trying to see something up and let it fly," Simpson said. "I know they've been attacking me with off-speed pitches the past couple of weeks, so I was trying to see something up and hit the barrel."
Freund added three hits and two RBI, while Lopez collected three hits and Smith finished with two hits and a run scored. Baumbach, who notched his 200th career hit, also recorded a pair of hits as five Trojans registered multi-hit performances.
The Trojans' offensive approach remained consistent throughout the game despite facing one of the nation's top pitching staffs.
"We were just taking it one at-bat at a time," Simpson said. "Our coaching staff is big on quality at-bats, so we were focused on that and not trying to look ahead or do too much."
On the mound, Brannon Westmoreland gave Little Rock another strong postseason start, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out five over five innings. Gage Haley was outstanding in relief, tossing two scoreless innings without allowing a hit, and Tag Andrews earned the victory after working the final two innings and striking out two.
Curry credited his pitching staff and the composure his team displayed throughout the afternoon.
"That's our culture. We fight, we don't give up," Curry said. "If you've watched us play the last month, we're very calm when the other team makes a push. Every single time we got the next hitter. It was a very calm, low-heart-rate feel in our dugout and on the field."
The Trojans finished with 14 hits, nine strikeouts on the mound and played error-free baseball in one of the biggest wins in program history. The game ended fittingly with a double play turned by Chaplain, Lopez and Cano, setting off a celebration as Little Rock secured its first opening-round NCAA Regional victory and another unforgettable chapter in a historic season.
"We just stay relaxed and get it done," Lopez said. "We've been through a lot of tough times, so when we're in a moment like that, we're used to it."
