USM Alum Kirk McCarty called up by Cleveland Guardians

In other big game Southern Miss news, USM alum and friend of the program Kirk McCarty got the call up from Triple A today to join the Major League club in Cleveland.

McCarty was drafted in the seventh round by the Guardians in 2017 on the back of USM’s school record 50-win season in which he posted the program’s first 100-strikeout campaign in 15 years.

Since then, he’s had his fair share of ups and downs, battling through a pair of rough seasons in 2019 and 2021, both ending with an ERA above five.

But he’s appeared to have figured it out in 2022, allowing just one earned run across his first 11-and-a-third innings with 12 strikeouts.

A self-proclaimed strikeout enthusiast, here’s what McCarty told News 25 during an off-season workout at Gulfport High School back in 2020. “It’s something you think about every day. I’ve been chasing it for a long time, and still putting the work in, doing whatever I can do get there. The one thing I don’t want to do is look back and say that I wish I had done more to achieve that goal, so I want it bad. We’re fighting to get there every day.”

One source tells News 25 the plan is to pitch in relief tomorrow and if not, possibly start Friday’s game at Yankee Stadium.