How Southern Miss baseball's Davis Gillespie, defense beat Ole Miss in second meeting
PEARL — Davis Gillespie's only hit Tuesday couldn't have come at a better time.
In a tie game during the fifth inning, the left fielder sent a ball deep over the left field fence for a three-run home run to lift No. 19 Southern Miss to a 6-2 win over No. 18 Ole Miss at Trustmark Park.
"I knew I had to get something in the air, and it happened to be a good pitch," Gillespie said. "I got it up in the wind, and it did his job from there."
Two batters later, an RBI-double by Carson Paetow extended the lead to four runs for Southern Miss (14-6, 12-3 Sun Belt) to 6-2, but it wasn't over.
Ole Miss (15-5, 1-2 SEC) twice loaded the bases late in the game. In the eighth, an opportunity was squandered with a strikeout from Southern Miss reliever Colby Allen.
And with two outs in the ninth a self-turned double play from third baseman Drey Barrett ended the game.
"My heart rate was going up a little bit, I ain't gonna lie to you," Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said. "But that's baseball; you got to navigate stuff. Getting the 27th out, it's hard to do. They weren't going to go down without a fight."
What Southern Miss baseball said about rebounding from earlier Ole Miss loss
Ostrander said it feels good anytime you can beat an in-state rival — mainly when you lose the first matchup.
Ole Miss downed Southern Miss 15-8 on Feb. 25 in Oxford. Infielder Nick Monistere said that if Southern Miss wants to make it to the College World Series, it has to start beating teams like Ole Miss.
"They stomped us in Oxford a couple weeks ago, and we definitely feel good to get that one back," Monistere said. "You know, they're a really good ball club."
Southern Miss surrendered 15 runs off 12 hits in the team's first meeting, which Ostrander highlighted was a cause for concern. On Tuesday, the Golden Eagles allowed eight hits but only two runs scored.
Josh Och of Southern Miss pitched 2⅔ innings in relief, allowing no hits and striking out three. Allen, who recorded the save, threw the last 1⅓ innings with a strikeout.
"Last time, they kind of had our number on both sides of the ball," Gillespie said. "So tonight was a big statement game for us. Pitching and hitting did a good job tonight."
Michael Chavez covers high school sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Southern Miss baseball's Davis Gillespie, defense topped Ole Miss
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