Replacing Matt Wallner by committee: Southern Miss playing small ball in 2020

Only four players hit more home runs than Matt Wallner did for Southern Miss in 2019, but none of those are coming back to Hattiesburg in 2020.

Wallner was a generational talent during his time at USM where he set the all-time school record with 58 home runs, 23 of those leaving the yard last season.

Overall, the Golden Eagles are missing 48 of their 67 long balls from a year ago, setting the stage for a new-look Black and Gold line-up in the upcoming campaign.

Much like having a running back by committee, instead of a workhorse in football, USM will be looking to reinvent itself with small ball and the next man up.  Southern Miss Head Baseball Coach Scott Berry said, “I don’t know if you do replace that, in all honesty. There’s a presence there. I mean he’s the all-time home run leader. Last year, hit 23. I think the year before was 19. His freshman year was 16. It’s hard to go out and find those numbers on that consistent basis, and that’s why I said the blueprint of this team is totally different.”

Third baseman Danny Lynch said, “Yeah, I mean I think everybody on the team is just kind of like whatever. We don’t have Wallner, he was obviously an incredible player. But we’re still going to have to win games regardless. We’re going to have to do maybe a little more bunting, hit and running. But I think we’ll get our fair share of extra base hits still. We’ve got a lot of guys that are going to step up.”

The last time the Golden Eagles fell short of 67 home runs was 2015, coincidentally the last time they missed out on regional play.

Wallner hit 19 his freshman year and 16 his sophomore year.