Southern Miss gearing up for Tennessee Volunteers

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - The Southern Miss Golden Eagles are making their final preparations for their Super Regional matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Golden Eagles held their last practice on Friday, before game one of the best-of-three series.

The Eagles are hosting a Super Regional for the second straight year, giving head coach, Scott Berry, one last series at Pete Taylor Park.

Coach Berry said he’s not focused on that, but he and his team are focused on everything in front of them, and that is the Tennessee Volunteers.

“Well, I mean, we’re going to have to put the ball in play, and we’re going to have to get the big hits when it’s needed. You know, certainly, they’re probably not going to come around a lot because of Tennessee’s pitching staff. I mean, they’re really good, but at the end of the day, we’re gonna have to really compete. We’re gonna have to get in there and simplify the game, and do the things, and we’re gonna adjust to it (the game) when we need to put runs on the board. We’re gonna have to have some guys that are very competitive against Tennessee,” Berry said.

Meanwhile, the players are also excited they get to host a Super Regional.

“It means everything to us, especially in my first year. I’ve never gotten to experience anything like this. I’m thankful to be on a team that has some older guys that got to experience this last year - and thankful that we get to bring it back and experience that for another time. I feel like they’re more prepared this time. I’m more prepared, getting to learn from them, and talk to them every day about the experience they had,” Golden Eagles’ Second Baseman, Nick Monistere, said.

“It’s awesome. You know, I can’t be more happy for the fans. I mean, day in, and day out, they’ve been out here with us. I mean, it just means everything for us to host again,” Golden Eagles’ First Baseman, Christopher Sargent, said.

Ahead of game one, Coach Scott Berry and his staff have not decided if Starting Pitcher, Tanner Hall will get the bump for game one, or if they will push his start to game two, after Hall saw a lot of usage during the Regional Tournament.

First pitch for game one on Saturday is at 2 pm.

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