https://d1baseball.com/stories/strikehog-allen-hands-an-l-to-his-hometown-college/
by: MARK ETHERIDGEFeb 19, 2025
HATTIESBURG, Miss—In high school, he primarily played catcher. He didn’t have many college suitors. He was headed to junior college until a summer phone call changed the course of his life. The ‘he,’ in this story, is Southern Mississippi right-handed pitcher Colby Allen.
Colby Allen is a Louisville, Mississippi native who attended high school at Starkville Academy, around three miles from Mississippi State’s Carnegie Hall of baseball, Dudy Noble Stadium.
On Tuesday evening down the road in Hattiesburg, or Baseburg, as it’s called this time of year, Allen showed he was much more than a catcher turned pitcher. Allen got the start and pitched four innings against 18th-ranked Mississippi State – that team just a 5K run from his high school. All Allen did was hold the Bulldogs hitless through four innings. He walked the first batter of the game and no one else reached. Allen collected five strikeouts and served notice to a soldout crowd at Pete Taylor Park that the home team was ready to withstand anything the SEC power had to throw at it.
Allen and his Southern Miss teammates got the 3-0 victory that will certainly resonate with the NCAA Selection Committee and the D1baseball pollsters.
“I’m proud of the guys who competed really hard against a really good pitching staff,” said Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander. “They had to navigate through and capitalize on some mistakes. We had a big home run too. I thought our pitching staff competed really hard. Colby Allen set the tone. That’s what we needed to happen.”
If you go back three seasons, Allen was an unlikely hero for tonight’s game in Hattiesburg.
“He came to one of our showcases,” said Ostrander. “He was a catcher by trade and didn’t pitch much in high school. He got on the mound, and I liked how he moved a little bit. He stayed on my mind, and we kept following him. That summer, we had some guys go in the draft, so we said, ‘let’s do it.’ I’m thankful we did.”
Allen, despite going to high school a short distance from MSU’s campus, said the local college was not interested in him as a prepster.
“Mississippi State did not recruit me out of high school,” said Allen. “I was a catcher headed to juco, and came to a camp here at Southern Miss, and (eventually) they offered.”
Allen got to Southern Miss and needed some time to make his mark. As a freshman, Allen pitched in 12 games, making one start, but posted an 0-1 record with an 11.57 ERA. His longest stint was two innings.
But because this is an underdog story, you know what happens next. As a sophomore, Allen had a team-high 27 appearances, an impressive 10-2 record, and seven saves. He made a pair of starts and was expected to move into the rotation this season. After a solid fall, he scuffled a bit in the preseason and was not included in the rotation as Southern Miss opened its season with a four-game set against Lafayette. Despite the slight, Allen didn’t balk.
“I know I am going to pitch a whole lot of innings this year,” he said. “I don’t really put a lot of stock in starting or relieving or whatever it is. I just try to go out there and win and do what’s best for the team. I think if you put a lot a lot of stock into who’s starting and all that, that creates a bad teammate. And here at Southern Miss, we’re not bad teammates. We are a band of brothers. Whatever role I am in, or whatever role other guys are in, are trying to unite and make sure we are number one.”
Allen got the start Tuesday, and as luck or fate or God would would have it, it came against that college that wasn’t interested in him as prepster. The best pitcher on his high school team, Evan Siary, threw a scoreless inning for the Bulldogs. But it was Allen who stole the show.
“I know a few of their guys a good bit,” said Allen. “Evan Siary, that pitched tonight for Mississippi State, I caught him in high school. He was our high school ace. I know him really well.”
Sometimes, things work out as they should. For Allen, he was destined for Black and Gold rather than Maroon and White.
“This place is pretty special,” Allen said of his Southern Miss program. “Tonight showed it. I wouldn’t trade anything for coming here. I better be quiet. But y’all, I would trade nothing for coming here.”
Allen got the call to start. He pitched in relief on opening day against Lafayette with a three-inning stint. He allowed a pair of hits and a pair of runs.
Still, he got the ball to start one of the most important games of the season at home versus the Bulldogs.
“I had an idea (he would start) this weekend the way the games went,” said Allen. “Coach Oz called me Monday afternoon and told me to get my mind right. Let’s roll.
“Coach told us to go out there and set the tone. I took that a little personally. I just went out there and whatever happened, happened.”
After walking the first batter, Allen retired him on a double play, and the only other MSU batter off him to reach was on an error. Allen showed he has what it takes to move into a starting role along side JB Middleton, Chase Adams, Kros Sivley, and/or freshman Grayden Harris.
“My sinker and my slider were working, I got my slider back to where it was last year,” said Allen. “I kinda figured some things out last week and now I feel pretty good.”
“He’s gonna be 90-92 (mph) with a 93 in there,” Ostrander said of Allen. “Keeping the ball down in the zone with some good sink to it. And it’s a good, tight slider. He’s just a strike hog. You are going to have to beat him. But he can not only go arm side on the fastball, but he can stick it in on a lefty too. He keeps them honest. He knows how to pitch.”
What’s it like to face Allen?
“It’s not fun,” said USM teammate Joey Urban who went 3-for-3 with a home run in the victory. “His sinker is very effective against some righties. Coming in on you, it’s hard to get the top of the ball. You get under it a lot. It is tough seeing him.”
Allen logged four hitless and left with a no-hitter. Was it tempting to leave the dealing Allen in for a longer stint?
“Well, sure you want to squeeze one more, obviously you want to, but it’s a long haul,” said Ostrander. “You got to protect him. Plus, you need to have more than just him do it. It was good to see those other guys come in and take care of business and handle the environment and the emotions of that game”.
Following Allen, redshirt freshman Caleb Culpepper threw two scoreless frames with only one hit allowed. Josh Och worked two scoreless frames while scattering three hits to get to closer Landen Payne, who struck out the side in the ninth.
Assuming Allen moves back into the rotation and Payne remains at the end of the game, that’s a dangerous combination for USM opponents. Payne, who missed all but nine games last season after transferring from Pearl River CC, is healthy and looks like an elite bullpen piece this spring. He added a cutter to his fastball and slider to make him even more effective.
“The cutter gives him two different spins in there,” said Ostrander. “The cutter gets him off the fastball a little bit and then you add that slider in there, it’s a good mixture. Landen was a little banged up last year and he feels good and healthy and he’s a great option on the backend”.
The win was a big one for a Southern Miss program accustomed to big wins. The Golden Eagles have a tough pre-conference series versus Louisiana Tech, UNC Wilmington, and TCU before beginning a Sun Belt schedule that features some quality programs.
As fun as Tuesday’s victory was, it was one win in a season that promises the potential of bigger wins. This USM squad has the ingredients for a run at another Sun Belt crown and a potential home regional.
“There’s leadership,” said Ostrander. “We’ve felt that all fall. The storms are going to come. There’s going to be moments where you learn and work through adversity, but I feel like the pieces are there to allow them to do that because we have good leadership.”
After the feel-good moment on Tuesday evening, junior righthander Allen quickly warned us about how he viewed the season to come.
“Whether I’m good or not, I try to not to put too much into it,” said Allen. “That’s baseball, the next time out it can punch you in the mouth.”
True enough. But on a cold Tuesday in Hattiesburg, it was Allen and his teammates who did the punching.
Strikehog Allen hands an L to his hometown college
by: MARK ETHERIDGEFeb 19, 2025
HATTIESBURG, Miss—In high school, he primarily played catcher. He didn’t have many college suitors. He was headed to junior college until a summer phone call changed the course of his life. The ‘he,’ in this story, is Southern Mississippi right-handed pitcher Colby Allen.
Colby Allen is a Louisville, Mississippi native who attended high school at Starkville Academy, around three miles from Mississippi State’s Carnegie Hall of baseball, Dudy Noble Stadium.
On Tuesday evening down the road in Hattiesburg, or Baseburg, as it’s called this time of year, Allen showed he was much more than a catcher turned pitcher. Allen got the start and pitched four innings against 18th-ranked Mississippi State – that team just a 5K run from his high school. All Allen did was hold the Bulldogs hitless through four innings. He walked the first batter of the game and no one else reached. Allen collected five strikeouts and served notice to a soldout crowd at Pete Taylor Park that the home team was ready to withstand anything the SEC power had to throw at it.
Allen and his Southern Miss teammates got the 3-0 victory that will certainly resonate with the NCAA Selection Committee and the D1baseball pollsters.
“I’m proud of the guys who competed really hard against a really good pitching staff,” said Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander. “They had to navigate through and capitalize on some mistakes. We had a big home run too. I thought our pitching staff competed really hard. Colby Allen set the tone. That’s what we needed to happen.”
If you go back three seasons, Allen was an unlikely hero for tonight’s game in Hattiesburg.
“He came to one of our showcases,” said Ostrander. “He was a catcher by trade and didn’t pitch much in high school. He got on the mound, and I liked how he moved a little bit. He stayed on my mind, and we kept following him. That summer, we had some guys go in the draft, so we said, ‘let’s do it.’ I’m thankful we did.”
Allen, despite going to high school a short distance from MSU’s campus, said the local college was not interested in him as a prepster.
“Mississippi State did not recruit me out of high school,” said Allen. “I was a catcher headed to juco, and came to a camp here at Southern Miss, and (eventually) they offered.”
Allen got to Southern Miss and needed some time to make his mark. As a freshman, Allen pitched in 12 games, making one start, but posted an 0-1 record with an 11.57 ERA. His longest stint was two innings.
But because this is an underdog story, you know what happens next. As a sophomore, Allen had a team-high 27 appearances, an impressive 10-2 record, and seven saves. He made a pair of starts and was expected to move into the rotation this season. After a solid fall, he scuffled a bit in the preseason and was not included in the rotation as Southern Miss opened its season with a four-game set against Lafayette. Despite the slight, Allen didn’t balk.
“I know I am going to pitch a whole lot of innings this year,” he said. “I don’t really put a lot of stock in starting or relieving or whatever it is. I just try to go out there and win and do what’s best for the team. I think if you put a lot a lot of stock into who’s starting and all that, that creates a bad teammate. And here at Southern Miss, we’re not bad teammates. We are a band of brothers. Whatever role I am in, or whatever role other guys are in, are trying to unite and make sure we are number one.”
Allen got the start Tuesday, and as luck or fate or God would would have it, it came against that college that wasn’t interested in him as prepster. The best pitcher on his high school team, Evan Siary, threw a scoreless inning for the Bulldogs. But it was Allen who stole the show.
“I know a few of their guys a good bit,” said Allen. “Evan Siary, that pitched tonight for Mississippi State, I caught him in high school. He was our high school ace. I know him really well.”
Sometimes, things work out as they should. For Allen, he was destined for Black and Gold rather than Maroon and White.
“This place is pretty special,” Allen said of his Southern Miss program. “Tonight showed it. I wouldn’t trade anything for coming here. I better be quiet. But y’all, I would trade nothing for coming here.”
Allen got the call to start. He pitched in relief on opening day against Lafayette with a three-inning stint. He allowed a pair of hits and a pair of runs.
Still, he got the ball to start one of the most important games of the season at home versus the Bulldogs.
“I had an idea (he would start) this weekend the way the games went,” said Allen. “Coach Oz called me Monday afternoon and told me to get my mind right. Let’s roll.
“Coach told us to go out there and set the tone. I took that a little personally. I just went out there and whatever happened, happened.”
After walking the first batter, Allen retired him on a double play, and the only other MSU batter off him to reach was on an error. Allen showed he has what it takes to move into a starting role along side JB Middleton, Chase Adams, Kros Sivley, and/or freshman Grayden Harris.
“My sinker and my slider were working, I got my slider back to where it was last year,” said Allen. “I kinda figured some things out last week and now I feel pretty good.”
“He’s gonna be 90-92 (mph) with a 93 in there,” Ostrander said of Allen. “Keeping the ball down in the zone with some good sink to it. And it’s a good, tight slider. He’s just a strike hog. You are going to have to beat him. But he can not only go arm side on the fastball, but he can stick it in on a lefty too. He keeps them honest. He knows how to pitch.”
What’s it like to face Allen?
“It’s not fun,” said USM teammate Joey Urban who went 3-for-3 with a home run in the victory. “His sinker is very effective against some righties. Coming in on you, it’s hard to get the top of the ball. You get under it a lot. It is tough seeing him.”
Allen logged four hitless and left with a no-hitter. Was it tempting to leave the dealing Allen in for a longer stint?
“Well, sure you want to squeeze one more, obviously you want to, but it’s a long haul,” said Ostrander. “You got to protect him. Plus, you need to have more than just him do it. It was good to see those other guys come in and take care of business and handle the environment and the emotions of that game”.
Following Allen, redshirt freshman Caleb Culpepper threw two scoreless frames with only one hit allowed. Josh Och worked two scoreless frames while scattering three hits to get to closer Landen Payne, who struck out the side in the ninth.
Assuming Allen moves back into the rotation and Payne remains at the end of the game, that’s a dangerous combination for USM opponents. Payne, who missed all but nine games last season after transferring from Pearl River CC, is healthy and looks like an elite bullpen piece this spring. He added a cutter to his fastball and slider to make him even more effective.
“The cutter gives him two different spins in there,” said Ostrander. “The cutter gets him off the fastball a little bit and then you add that slider in there, it’s a good mixture. Landen was a little banged up last year and he feels good and healthy and he’s a great option on the backend”.
The win was a big one for a Southern Miss program accustomed to big wins. The Golden Eagles have a tough pre-conference series versus Louisiana Tech, UNC Wilmington, and TCU before beginning a Sun Belt schedule that features some quality programs.
As fun as Tuesday’s victory was, it was one win in a season that promises the potential of bigger wins. This USM squad has the ingredients for a run at another Sun Belt crown and a potential home regional.
“There’s leadership,” said Ostrander. “We’ve felt that all fall. The storms are going to come. There’s going to be moments where you learn and work through adversity, but I feel like the pieces are there to allow them to do that because we have good leadership.”
After the feel-good moment on Tuesday evening, junior righthander Allen quickly warned us about how he viewed the season to come.
“Whether I’m good or not, I try to not to put too much into it,” said Allen. “That’s baseball, the next time out it can punch you in the mouth.”
True enough. But on a cold Tuesday in Hattiesburg, it was Allen and his teammates who did the punching.
