Southern Miss was knocked out of the winner’s bracket Friday when Little Rock scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning and beat the No. 1 seed 7-4 in the Hattiesburg Regional opener. The loss sends Southern Miss straight into an elimination game against Virginia on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
That matchup matters now because the regional flipped from a path the Golden Eagles had expected to control into a must-win day-one test. Virginia, the No. 2 seed, also lost Friday night, falling 15-7 to Jacksonville State after giving up 15 runs on 17 hits and committing three errors, so both teams arrive at Pete Taylor Park with no margin left.
The ninth inning was the turn Southern Miss did not get back. Little Rock, seeded fourth in the four-team NCAA regional, broke through for four runs late and left the top seed stunned in a game that had looked manageable until the final frame. In the other bracket game, Virginia stayed in the fight on offense with 12 hits, but the defensive mistakes and the early hole were too much to overcome after Jacksonville State jumped ahead 9-0.
Virginia will turn to Kyle Johnson to start Saturday, and the game was moved up two hours from 4 p.m. ET because rain was in the forecast. Southern Miss also has one more question hanging over it: Eric Becker, who was hit by a pitch on his left arm, remains uncertain for Saturday after missing 13 games late in the regular season with a right-hand injury. He is hitting.320 with a team-high 15 doubles, and his replacement, RJ Holmes, delivered two doubles and scored three runs after entering in the fourth inning.
Southern Miss coach Chris Pollard said his team has to recover quickly, get hydrated, get rested and wake up Saturday morning with amnesia before getting off the mat. He was also blunt about Becker’s status, saying he was gutted for him. The bracket no longer offers Southern Miss the comfort of a second chance in the winners’ side; it has one game to stay alive, and Virginia has the same problem.
