How Billy Oldham, Niko Mazza became Southern Miss baseball’s most important pitchers

HATTIESBURG — Billy Oldham and Niko Mazza both know what doesn’t necessarily need to be said about Southern Miss baseball’s pitching staff.

It’s why coach Christian Ostrander calls them their “alphas.” And why Oldham and Mazza have both thrown over 100 pitches in each of their last two starts. The pitching staff relies on the two of them, and they could determine how long this Southern Miss season goes.

“It’s more of a realization thing,” Mazza said. “It’s not something that we’ve really talked about. Coach Oz is never going to put that added pressure on us, but we know. We know that we’re kind of thin.”

It wasn’t as pressing one month ago before Southern Miss was run-ruled, 18-8 and 19-8, in consecutive games at Georgia State. Mazza allowed 10 earned runs and Oldham gave up nine, brutally exposing them for the first time and raising the question of whether they could be an elite 1-2 punch in the starting rotation.

Three weeks later, they’ve wiped away any of that doubt.

Niko Mazza and Billy Oldham made a change, but not in way you'd think

Southern Miss conceded 46 runs during the three-game series against Georgia State but rallied to win Sunday's finale. There was no telling at the time if it was a one-off or if it would leak into future outings.

“We were just as confused as everyone else,” Oldham said.

Changes were made. Mazza threw out of the bullpen the following Tuesday against Nicholls. He was brilliant, tossing two scoreless innings to set up a walk-off home run by Matthew Russo.

The weekend rotation was adjusted, too. Oldham now starts on Fridays and Mazza opens on Saturdays. The ULM series was the first time all season Mazza and Oldham didn’t pitch in their usual Friday and Saturday slots.

From a mechanical standpoint, nothing was changed.

“It was just keep going at it,” Mazza said, “keep the same mindset and keep attacking hitters.”

Pitchers are superstitious though, so something needed to change. Mazza and Oldham are roommates on road trips, presenting a simple solution.

“Originally when he was Friday, I was doing whatever he wanted Thursday night,” Oldham said. “I'd let him set the alarm Friday morning and now we kind of switched. We didn't go to breakfast because he didn't want to go to breakfast, but now I'll get up at like 10 and go to the breakfast.”

Oldham and Mazza have responded well

Since the Georgia State series, Oldham and Mazza have been on a roll.

Oldham has allowed seven total earned runs in his last three starts, going seven innings deep in all of them. He threw 104 pitches at Louisiana on April 26 and 106 pitches last Friday against Coastal Carolina.

Mazza has been even better, giving up just two earned runs in the last 22 innings for a 0.82 ERA. His 110 pitches at Louisiana on April 27 were a career high until he topped it with 113 pitches last Saturday.

Oldham is first in the conference in strikeouts at 80. Mazza is in second place at 76.

“They know that they’ve got to put the pitching staff on their back,” Ostrander said. “They’re the alphas of the staff that needs to go out there and do what they did last weekend and do what they did this weekend.”

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The Golden Eagles (31-17, 15-9 Sun Belt Conference) had already been searching for pitching depth. Season-ending injuries to reliever McCarty English and Sunday starter Will Armistead made it worse.

Ostrander no longer lists a Sunday starter before the series, and why it’s so important that Oldham and Mazza go deep into games.

“We’re going to do everything we can to win Friday,” Ostrander said last week, “then whatever’s left do everything we can to win Saturday and whatever's left after that we’ll have to figure out that puzzle and attack it on Sunday. It’s just kind of the state of it right now. I know we can do it, but we will need some guys to step up and help us.”

Cole Boswell threw an encouraging 3.2 scoreless innings as the Sunday starter against Coastal Carolina.

“We’re at a point where who cares about the past,” Ostrander said. “Let’s just focus on wanting to help this team win. You’re going to get the opportunity so be ready and embrace it. I look forward to that. A star can be born.”

Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss beat reporter for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at ssklar@hattiesb.gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Why Billy Oldham, Niko Mazza have become so important for Southern Miss