Southern Miss Baseball planning ahead

Following its third straight NCAA regional appearance, the Southern Miss baseball team is losing seven extra players this off-season, but the Golden Eagles have plenty of talent returning to Hattiesburg just waiting in the wings.

The breakthrough player would have to be Matt Wallner following incredible freshmen and sophomore seasons at USM, but what about rising junior Matthew Guidry who has come up in big spots for the Black and Gold time and again, especially when the lights are at their brightest.

The second baseman scored four runs in the C-USA Tournament title game and raked a two-run homer in USM’s final game of the season. USM head baseball Coach Scott Berry said, “A lot of confidence, and I think number one it’s going to stay right here with this guy right here. Matt Guidry. I mean he is a step-up dude. I mean he can deliver, and not only on the field but off the field. And he’s a guy that he’s going to talk that talk and he’s going to walk that walk for us, so it’s going to start there. And that’s what you have got to have, you’ve got to have outstanding leadership. Not only out of your coaches, but you’ve got to have outstanding leadership out of your players. And next year, Gid will be that guy that leads us.”

On the season, Guidry was third on the team with a .328 batting average and popped off five home runs.

In other Southern Miss news, left fielder Gabe Montenegro has been tabbed as a freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

The Guatemala native hit lead-off for the Golden Eagles most of the season and scored the fourth most runs on the team. He was already named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team for his prominent role in USM’s 44-18 campaign.

Montenegro’s selection marks the fourth straight year for a Southern Miss player to earn such an honor, the others being Taylor Braley, Nick Sandlin, and Matt Wallner.