Southern Miss baseball updates injury status of Dalton McIntyre, shuffles starting pitchers for ULM

HATTIESBURG — Southern Miss baseball coach Christian Ostrander provided an injury update on starting center fielder and leadoff hitter Dalton McIntyre before Thursday’s practice.

It wasn’t a positive one for the Golden Eagles (23-14, 9-6 Sun Belt Conference), with Ostrander saying McIntyre is “week-to-week” and will be out with a dislocated shoulder for the upcoming series against ULM (17-19, 5-10), which begins on Friday (6 p.m., ESPN+).

“Got an image and just looking at it, it’s not as clean as you would hope it could be or might be,” Ostrander said. “... It’s going to be and come down to what he can tolerate. If it still has enough integrity to where he can swing the way he normally swings and that when the time comes, so honestly we don’t know a lot right now on that timetable of when it will be.”

McIntyre's injury occurred in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s walk-off win against Nicholls when he slid into first base because of a pick-off attempt. He was immediately removed from the game and was on the field in a sling during the postgame celebration.

McIntyre leads Southern Miss in batting average (.404), on-base percentage (.453), OPS (.968) and stolen bases (10).

Ostrander did not reveal who will take McIntyre’s spot in center field, but Nick Monistere is the only other player who’s started there this season.

Ostrander added that second baseman Seth Smith, who’s been out since March 16 with a hand injury, will be evaluated next week to determine if there’s a possibility of him returning this season.

Southern Miss baseball adjusts starting pitching rotation for ULM series

Changes to Southern Miss’ starting pitching rotation appeared like a possibility after last weekend’s series loss at Georgia State. Then it became imminent on Tuesday when Niko Mazza, the usual Friday starter, pitched two innings out of the bullpen against Nicholls.

Ostrander said Billy Oldham will start on Friday and Mazza on Sunday. He said Saturday’s starter is “TBA.”

It’s the first time Southern Miss has changed its starting rotation since the first week of the season when Kros Sivley started the Sunday game against Marist.

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Mazza had a 1.93 ERA through his first four starts, but he has a 10.02 ERA in conference play. He hit rock bottom last Friday when he allowed 10 earned runs in two innings against Georgia State. Tuesday was Mazza’s first time pitching out of the bullpen since last season.

Oldham, meanwhile, wasn’t much better with nine earned runs allowed in 3.1 innings the next day. But he hasn’t struggled as badly as Mazza since conference play began and didn’t pitch on Tuesday, likely explaining why he’ll be the Friday starter.

The Golden Eagles listed their Sunday starter against Georgia State as “TBA” but still ended up pitching Will Armistead.

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: Dalton McIntyre's injury status for Southern Miss baseball vs ULM