Little Rock and Jacksonville State will compete Saturday night for a spot in the Hattiesburg Regional championship round after both teams defeated higher-seeded opponents on May 30.
Little Rock advanced by upsetting No. 1 seed Southern Miss 7-4, while Jacksonville State defeated No. 2 seed Virginia 15-7. The matchup is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Pete Taylor Park/Denson Field in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The winner will move on to Sunday’s championship round, while Southern Miss and Virginia are set to play an elimination game earlier in the day due to forecasted rain.
This marks the first meeting between Little Rock (37-26) and Jacksonville State (47-16). Little Rock head coach Chris Curry addressed his team following their win over Southern Miss, saying, “I told the team in the dugout [after the Southern Miss win] that the word around the country to describe us in the regionals is ‘dangerous.’ I said, ‘No, we’re not dangerous, we’re lethal.’ We just get after it. There is no stage too big.”
Key moments from Little Rock’s victory included scoring four runs in the ninth inning against a Southern Miss team that had previously been undefeated when leading after eight innings this season. Graduate student Nico Baumbach reached his 200th career hit as a Trojan during Friday’s game after returning this season with an eligibility waiver. Junior shortstop Jerdy Lopez contributed three hits including two doubles, while Blake Simpson continued his strong performance with three hits and a decisive home run.
Redshirt freshman Tag Andrews earned another win for Little Rock by pitching two innings of relief despite allowing a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning; he was named OVC Tournament MVP earlier this postseason. The Trojans’ victory marked their first NCAA Tournament opening-round win and set a school record for wins at 37 as they make their second consecutive NCAA Regional appearance.
Jacksonville State entered with a No. 25 RPI and has achieved its best-ever season record with Friday’s result marking its first regional opening-day victory out of six tournament appearances. The Gamecocks collected 17 hits against Virginia and have also recorded notable wins over Auburn this year en route to capturing the Conference USA regular-season title.
