WKU Baseball’s comeback effort fell short, losing 10-8 to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles Friday night.

Despite a good fan turnout, the Hilltoppers failed to get much cheering early on as they couldn’t get anything going until it was too late.

WKU now is 9-12 on the season and 1-3 in conference play. The club will hope to snap a four-game losing streak Saturday with a matchup with the Golden Eagles.  

“The first half of the game, the first five or six innings, we didn’t have a lot going on,” WKU head coach John Pawlowski said. “They pitched very well and had a lot of quick innings and easy ground balls for them to handle. They made all the plays, but then the second half of that game, I felt like we got some energy, some momentum, scored some runs and made it interesting.”

WKU redshirt junior Jake Kates picked up the loss, going six innings and allowing five runs on seven hits. Southern Miss sophomore Tanner Hall picked up the win going 7.2 innings, allowing five runs, four of which were earned, on nine hits with nine strikeouts. Hall was helped out a lot by a strong defensive effort by the Golden Eagles.

Junior Tristin Garcia led the way for WKU on the day with three base hits. Graduate Brian McAuliffe and senior Justin Carlin both picked up two hits for the Hilltoppers. The Golden Eagles were led by sophomore Dustin Dickerson who picked up four hits on the day. Southern Miss saw four other players record two hits on the day.

“I’m pretty pleased with my performance,” Garcia said. ”I try to do my best to help the team win. I try to hustle every time I hit the ball, and today I got on base twice by hustling.”

Kates retired the first two batters he faced in the top of the first before allowing a walk. The following batter reached on an error to put runners on the corners. Kates retired the next batter to end the top of the first. Garcia reached on an infield single but that was all the Hilltoppers managed in the first.

Junior Danny Lynch led off the top of the second with a double to put immediate pressure on Kates. Junior Will McGillis followed with an RBI single to give Southern Miss an early 1-0 lead. Kates bounced back and retired the next three to end the inning. The Hilltoppers went down in order in the bottom of the second as Hall recorded two strikeouts.

The Golden Eagles picked up another leadoff hit in the top of the third with a single by Dickerson. Kates retired the next two before allowing a two-run homer by sophomore Slade Wilks, making it 3-0. Kates retired the next batter to end the frame. Hall made quick work of the Hilltoppers in the bottom of the third, sitting them down in order.

Kates emulated Hall’s work in the top of the fourth, quickly recording a 1-2-3 inning. Hall continued his strong outing in the bottom of the fourth, retiring three Hilltoppers in under two minutes. 

Kates allowed an one-out double in the top of the fifth before giving up a two-out, two-run home run later in the inning, giving Southern Miss a 5-0 advantage. Kates forced the next batter to ground out to end the inning. McAuliffe picked up the Hilltoppers second hit of the day with a one-out double in the bottom of the fifth but to no avail.

Kates bounced back in the top of the sixth and kept the Golden Eagles off the board. Hall retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to a diving play by Wilks at third base. The Hilltoppers responded with back-to-back singles. Garcia scored in the next at bat on an errant throw on a steal attempt, making it 5-1. Hall retired the next batter to end the inning.

Redshirt sophomore Bill Duby started the top of the seventh on the mound for the Hilltoppers. Duby kept the Golden Eagles from adding on to their lead after a lead-off double. Hall struck out the first two he faced in the bottom of the seventh before allowing a single to Carlin. Hall retired the next batter to end the seventh with his pitch count standing at only 72 pitches.

Lynch led off the top of the eighth with a double. Duby retired the next batter before allowing a walk. The Hilltoppers picked up an out on a failed steal attempt before Southern Miss extended their lead to 6-1 on an RBI single by senior Gabe Montenegro.

Dickerson followed with an RBI bloop single, prompting a pitching change to freshman Luke Sinnard. The Golden Eagles scored on a wild pitch, making it 8-1. Sinnard retired the next batter to end the top of the eighth.

Junior Jackson Gray led off the bottom of the eighth with a double. Hall retired the next batter before allowing an RBI double to Garcia. With two outs in the inning, freshman Ty Batusich singled to knock in Garcia. 

The following batter doubled, prompting a pitching change to sophomore Tyler Stuart. Stuart allowed a two-run RBI double to McAuliffe. Carlin cut the Southern Miss lead to 8-6 with an RBI double. Stuart struck out the next batter to end the eighth.

The Golden Eagles led off the top of the ninth with back-to-back hits on a single and a double. Sinnard retired the next batter before allowing an RBI single to McGillis. The Golden Eagles made it 10-6 on an errant throw on a steal. The following batter struck out to end the top of the ninth. 

Junior Garrett Ramsey started the bottom of the ninth on the mound for Southern Miss. Ramsey hit a batter with one out and walked the next batter. Ramsey walked the next batter to load the bases, prompting a pitching change to sophomore Landon Harper. 

Harper forced a fielder’s choice, but the Hilltoppers scored two on a throwing error on the play to make it 10-8. Harper struck out the next batter to end the game and give Southern Miss a 10-8 victory.

“There are some definite positives,” Pawlowski said. “We made some moves defensively, we changed a couple things up. We’ll keep moving forward and keep finding the pieces to get this done.”

Up next, the Hilltoppers will return to Nick Denes Field Saturday to face Southern Miss in game two of the three-game weekend series. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m.

Baseball Reporter Camden Bush can be reached at [email protected].