2023 NCAA Tournament Hattiesburg Super Regional Preview

Image credit: Tanner Hall (Photo by Bobby McDuffie/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Schedule

Saturday, 3 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
Sunday, TBD
Monday, TBD (If necessary)

Southern Miss

Postseason history: Third super regional (second straight). Seeking second trip to the College World Series and first since 2009.

Postseason route: No. 2 seed in Auburn Regional. Went 4-1, defeating Pennsylvania in regional final.

Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Golden Eagles)

“Not only is there the whole story with coach Berry, but they always have veteran-led teams. Dustin Dickerson and Daniel Lynch exemplify that and Tanner Hall on the mound. They’ve got some of those elderly guys with at-bats under their belts. That’s what drives them. Coach Berry gets those guys to do that part of it.

“We had a pretty good plan in place against Hall. We sold out to the changeup. We knew it was coming, we were sitting on it and he still carved us up. He’s got the ability to repeat, get groundball outs and if you foul balls off and get down in the count, he’ll strike you out. He doesn’t blow it by you but he gets strikeouts because it’s relentless strikes. The changeup is different.

“If you try to waste a pitch against a Lynch or Matthew Etzel then they’re going to walk. If you walk them, they beat you. Christopher Sargent is going to swing-and-miss but if you think you’re going to spin a breaking ball to him and you hang it, he demolishes it. How many years of that starting lineup have they had? Tennessee had to revamp this year, but other than Etzel they’ve all been there for Southern Miss. Reece Ewing and Tate Parker even, they’ve been there. Nick Monistere is just a frosh but he’s learning from older guys like Dickerson. That’s what they’ve always had, one guy teaching the next guy. They’re very professional in everything they do. They know who they are and comfortable in their own skin.

“They’re very sound up the middle. The catching spot, I think they overachieved back there. They don’t wow you. Sargent makes them good on defense. Lynch and Dickerson, you’re back to the maturity. The pitchers throw ground balls and they know what to do with them. Defensively in the OF, Etzel, he’s good, not going to wow you.

“Billy Oldham, he’s got some toughness to him. He’s very interesting, he smothers you with strikes. None of their pitchers other than Justin Storm wow you with stuff. Niko Mazza can pitch to the top or bottom of the zone, he can plus and minus you with that. Will Armistead has a little arm-side run, he gets ground balls. He’s got the slider going one way, the two-seamer the other. Storm was up to 95 against us, he’s got electric stuff. He gets unbelievable tilt from that body. Kros Sivley has the funky arm slot, it’s something different. When you’re going to play an SEC team, they’re used to seeing 95. Southern Miss is just different. They have some arm-side run and play for a groundball out. To me, that’s the difference with them.

“(Berry’s impending retirement at the end of the season is) extra motivation for players. From his perspective, it’s not about him, it’s about the guys. They came up short last year. They know what the crowd is going to be. Even losing like they did last year; those fans are relentless. It’s a blue-collar approach. (The fans) don’t give two (expletive) about Tennessee. They think they’re the New York Yankees of college baseball. It’s a weird perspective from those fans. It’s hot, there’s no shade. They’re going to keep coming at you. They love their baseball.”

Projected Lineup

C: Rodrigo Montenegro
1B: Christopher Sargent
2B: Nick Monistere
3B: Danny Lynch
SS: Dustin Dickerson
LF: Tate Parker
CF: Matthew Etzel
RF: Carson Paetow
DH: Slade Wilks

SP: Tanner Hall
SP: Billy Oldham
SP: Matthew Adams
RP: Will Armistead
RP: Justin Storm

Tennessee

Coach: Tony Vitello

Postseason history: Fifth super regional (third straight). Seeking sixth trip to the College World Series and first since 2021.

Postseason route: No. 2 seed in Clemson Regional. Went 3-0, defeating Charlotte in regional final.

Scouting report (anonymous coach breaks down the Volunteers)

“The margin for error against them is razor thin. They don’t miss mistakes. They make all the plays and then some. They’re just a really talented, well-coached, well-rounded ballclub. They’re a really tough team to beat in a three-game series.

“The talent on the roster is ridiculous. Every one of their arms is ridiculous. Those are special arms. They’ve got real stuff. I really like every arm they run at you. Just the talent those guys have stands out.

“There’s plenty of offense there as well. They’ve been streaky. But the talent is there and once the team chemistry got going, they got hot.

“They’re all power. It’s power stuff. Everyone is 95-99 with wipeout stuff. When you have power stuff, it’s tough to hit because it’s tough to be on two pitches when one’s 98 and the other is an exploding slider. Premium stuff.

“Their whole pitching staff attacks a similar area of the strike zone. They’re going to come at you hard and keep it away from you. You have to sell out to going at them that way. You have to be on time for the fastball. You’ll get your fastball but when you get it, you can’t miss it. You have to make sure you get above the fastball. Drew Beam is going to mix it more, but you can stay in an area of the strike zone to attack them.”

Projected Lineup

C: Cal Stark
1B: Blake Burke
2B: Christian Moore
3B: Zane Denton
SS: Maui Ahuna
LF: Jared Dickey
CF: Hunter Ensley
RF: Christian Scott
DH: Griffin Merritt