Southern Miss baseball storms from behind in 8th inning to beat Troy in Sun Belt Tournament

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Dalton McIntyre is well-known at Southern Miss for his bread-and-butter infield singles. There was not one better-timed than the single he swatted on Thursday.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning, he hit a soft ground ball between Troy's pitcher and catcher. McIntyre beat out the throw to first while Matthew Russo scored, lifting No. 2 seed Southern Miss to a 6-5 comeback win against No. 3 Troy at Riverwalk Stadium in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

Troy (37-21) held a 5-3 lead entering the bottom of the eighth inning until Russo hit a double to tie the game at 5-5. Gabe Broadus drew a walk to load the bases and turn the order to McIntyre.

"It's unfortunate that it was a single," Troy coach Skylar Meade said. "It went like nine feet. I love that kid. He's an awesome player, I think one of the best center fielders in this league. Not only does he play, but he really goes and gets it."

Southern Miss (39-18) will have Friday off and play the winner of Troy versus Appalachian State on Saturday (9 a.m., ESPN+).

Niko Mazza only gives Southern Miss 3 innings

Niko Mazza started at pitcher for Southern Miss but was unable to mirror Billy Oldham’s stupendous start on Wednesday. The 5-foot-11 junior was pulled after three innings, tying his second shortest start of the season.

Mazza’s best inning was the second where he gave up one single but three groundouts. The first and third innings are where he struggled. The Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the first inning via a leadoff single that was knocked in by Brooks Bryan. Then, Troy added three runs to take the lead in the third inning with a Will Butcher two-run home run followed by a bases-loaded walk.

Mazza’s final line was four earned runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts on 79 pitches.

Chandler Best followed Mazza with one unearned run in 2.2 innings. JB Middleton and Josh Och blanked Troy in the final 3.1 innings.

"I'm extremely proud of the growth of some of these guys," Southern Miss coach Christian Ostrander said. "They covered some big innings, six innings out of the bullpen, so that was key for us to win this game."

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

Southern Miss offense breaks through in eighth inning

Southern Miss' offense was shut down for five straight innings after it scored three runs in the second. Trojans' starter Garrett Gainous tightened the vice the deeper he went into his start, throwing 5.2 innings with seven strikeouts.

Southern Miss didn't draw a walk until the eighth inning, also the same time when Russo hit his game-tying double.

Slade Wilks led the inning with a walk and Nick Monistere followed him with another walk. Then Russo batted them home before McIntyre's go-ahead infield single.

Russo batted 2-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and two runs while McIntyre went 3-for-5 with three singles.

"We got into that eighth inning and coach (Ladd) Rhodes called us up and was like, 'Hey, you got six outs to get two runs. Let's just calm down, relax and play our game,'" Russo said. "And that's what we did."

Carson Paetow doesn't play again

Southern Miss played without Carson Paetow, its starting right fielder, for the second game in a row. He went through warmups and didn’t have a wrap on his wrist like he did on Wednesday though.

The Golden Eagles shuffled their lineup even more on Thursday, bringing in Seth Smith at second base. Wilks moved back to designated hitter, while Monistere manned right field.

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: Southern Miss baseball rallies in 8th inning to beat Troy