Southern Miss surges toward hosting position — again • D1Baseball
As usual, Southern Miss is peaking down the stretch, riding a 14-game winning streak into host contention. USM's position-player group has become very formidable.
d1baseball.com
Part 1 - https://southernmiss.forums.rivals....surges-toward-hosting-position-—-again.53250/
We often talk about the importance of being strong up the middle, and Southern Miss certainly fits the bill there, with Monistere and senior shortstop Pratt leading the way. Pratt is a defensive whiz who is also one of the biggest personalities on the team — Ostrander called him “a different bird” and “an awesome character.” He also had three hits Friday out of the 9-hole, raising his average to .316. You won’t find many middle infield duos better than this one, when you factor in the defense as well as the offensive value.
“It’s really fun [playing alongside Pratt],” Monistere said. “Ozzie’s the best teammate, a lot of energy, we’ve cut up in the middle, and turning double plays with him is a lot of fun. We take pride in it.”
Continuing the up-the-middle prowess, center fielder Jake Cook has been a revelation as a sophomore, after spending last year working exclusively as a pitcher. He’s a speed merchant who covers abundant ground in center, and he’s a disruptor at the top of the order, giving USM a neat combination as it turns the lineup over from Pratt to Cook, two guys who can both run (even though the Eagles don’t steal a lot of bases). And 8-hole hitter Tucker Stockman — who completes the up-the-middle quartet behind the plate — is hitting .329 on the year and hit his fifth homer in Thursday’s win, adding to the length of this dangerous lineup.
“I think we do a really good job getting on base. Even our guys that don’t necessarily blow it out of the yard and hit doubles and whatnot, they find a way to get on base,” Paetow said. “Like Jake Cook, our leadoff, he came out of nowhere. He was a pitcher last year, he didn’t face live pitching in two years, and next thing you know he’s hitting chopper ground balls and he’s getting on first base almost every at-bat. So that definitely puts pressure on the defense, because then you’ve got to play him in, and the next thing you know he might hit a 104 mile an hour line drive at you, so you’ve kinda got to figure out what to do there. But then at the same time in the 2-hole you’ve got Nick Monistere, who can blow you out of the yard whenever he wants to. And following that we’ve just got power hitters after power hitters, and then guys at the end of our order here lately, who aren’t necessarily power guys, here lately they’ve been blowing the yard. I’d say the diversity of our lineup and what they’re capable of doing is dangerous, because any time they can play a different type of style than they usually do.”
Heading into the season, it was fair to wonder just how offensive this USM club would be, given the losses of the top three hitters from last year’s team, which was considerably less powerful than the 2025 Eagles have proven to be. And while Southern Miss is still just 106th in the nation in scoring, this offense is peaking at the right time — what else is new? — and it feels like a major problem for opposing pitchers heading into the postseason.
“We knew this offense, after the fall, would have a chance to have some slug to it,” Ostrander said. “Plus Jake Cook, what he’s doing, adds some dynamics to it. So once Jake got in the leadoff and Ozzie in 9, that’s a pretty good spot for those guys. And then in the middle, you’ve got so many guys that can slug, and hit some doubles and jacks. They’ve done it all year. They’re not perfect, there’s times they get shut down, but it’s been an explosive offense. A tough one to get through.”
Last edited:
