Southern Miss wins 14th straight behind Tanner Hall gem, Matthew Etzel grand slam

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — The recipe for success was simple for the Southern Miss in Thursday’s series opener against Louisiana – let Tanner Hall pitch, and let Matthew Etzel hit.

After singles by Reece Ewing and Nick Monistere to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning, later followed by a Rodrigo Montenegro walk, Etzel sent everyone home with a towering grand slam over the right field wall.

That was all the run support Tanner Hall needed in his final regular season outing at Pete Taylor Park, throwing eight scoreless innings with just three hits and one walk allowed. His 12 punchouts allowed him to pass Ray Guy, Frankie McClendon, Nick Sandlin and Walker Powell on the school’s all-time strikeout list – all in one game – good for sixth place with 278.

Justin Storm would slam the door shut in the ninth for the 4-0 triumph, increasing USM’s nation-best winning streak to 14 games.

Watch the highlights courtesy of WXXV Sports Director Jeff Haeger in the video above!