How Southern Miss baseball found its spark and became one of the hottest teams in the country
The Southern Miss baseball team reserves Mondays for rest and recovery. March 14 was the exception.
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Southern Miss baseball reserves Mondays for rest and recovery.
It’s the one day every week, from February through May, when the Golden Eagles aren’t playing, practicing or traveling. March 14 was the exception. On that particular afternoon, Southern Miss was gathered around pitching coach Christian Ostrander at Pete Taylor Park. It was less than 24 hours removed from a stiff reality check – a three-game sweep at the hands of Dallas Baptist – and high time for a gut-check.
“I think it was just Coach Oz,” shortstop Dustin Dickerson, who leads the team with a .349 batting average, recalled. “He was going over the practice plan, then he kinda got a little fired up.”
Southern Miss was 10-6 at the time – unranked, but undeterred. Ostrander’s impassioned monologue was just the spark to conjure up a little magic. It’s the moment the players point toward as the catalyst the Golden Eagles needed to reach some lofty, unprecedented heights.
