Just like that the season is upon us and the road to Omaha starts in Hattiesburg Miss. for the Flames.  The 18th ranked Golden Eagles will have sell out crowds all weekend in what should the premiere mid major matchup of the weekend.  The Golden Eagles were picked to win the 14 team SunBelt in the preseason poll.  All 3 games are on ESPN Plus.  The Golden Eagles were shutout in their super regional against hated rival Ole Miss after they were able to host. 

The Flames will face the pre-season conference pitcher of the year Tanner Hall who went 9 and 3 with a 2.81 ERA last year.  Hall had just 14 walks in 109 Innings so the Flames will likely have to hit their way to a win against Hall Friday night.  He's not likely to provide a lot of aid in the form of bases on balls.  

Offensively, They also boast 2 more first team all conference players in SS Dustin Dickerson & Outfielder Carson Paetow.  Dickerson hit .320 last year with no homers, 24 doubles and 32 RBI's and had just a .958 fielding percentage.  Carson Paetow hit .271 with 16 homers and 48 RBI's last year and had just a .955 fielding percentage himself.  Overall, the Golden Eagles had a .977 fielding percentage in 2022 which is pretty solid.  They return 6 hitters with over 200 plate appearances.  If you look at the D1 baseball preseason awards Dalton Sargeant checks in at 1B after hitting .269 with 21 bombs and 58 RBI's.  OF Reece Ewing makes the outfield list as well as hit .260 with 10 homers and 31 RBI.  3B Danny Lynch also returns after hitting .286 with 5 homers and 30 RBI's.  They also brought in JUCO OF Matthew Etzel who was listed as the top impact JUCO transfer in the nation by D1baseball.  They also added JUCO OF Tate Parker who was the #40 ranked JUCO player by D1 baseball.  So, this lineup can rake. 

Rotation wise Matthew Adams will take ball on Saturday for the Golden Eagles.  He struggled to a 6.56 ERA ERA in 23 1 1/3 innings but averaged almost 1.5 strikeouts per 9 and had just 6 walks.  Nike Mazo will take the ball Sunday and had a 5.06 ERA in just 5 1/3 innings last year.  Freshman JB Middleton made the relief pitcher list of D1 Baseball to watch with just 2 other conference members.  Other than that they seem to have lost the bulk of their pitching staff last year that led them to a 3.29 team ERA and a program record 746 strikeouts.  Overall, they lost 12 pitchers from last years roster which is insanely high number.  They really only return 5 pitchers with  any experience and Hall is the only 1 with dominant numbers.  Both rotations are talented but unproven beyond Friday night.  

What to Expect?

Friday should be a great pitchers deal for 5 to 6 innings between Horn and Hall.  Both teams will be careful and won't stretch either of these guys too far as their season's will largely depend on how far these 2 ace's can carry them.  The rest of the weekend rotation is a bit of question mark for both teams.  This is similar to the matchup with the Gators last year that brought Barco back but had question marks in the Saturday and Sunday games which the Flames exposed and won.  The Gators also had a lot of unproven arms in the bullpen that  the Flames were able to get to that became key pieces later in the year.  Liberty has slightly more experience in the rotation as Moran did provide a couple nice starts down the stretch for the Flames before getting knocked around at the end.  Tepper has been solid for the Flames but will need to fill up the zone without catching too much plate.  Southern Miss will punish any pitching that leaves the ball in the middle of the zone.  

For Southern Miss to Win

The Golden Eagles will likely need to slug their way through the Flames pitching staff.  This lineup has the makings of one of the top lineups in the nation.  They have 6 to 8 guys that could sniff .300 and double digit homers.  They also should play relatively good defense as they had a .977 fielding % as noted earlier and most of those guys return.  Add in the fact that they supplemented the lineup with the top impact JUCO bat in the nation and the #40 ranked JUCO bat.  However, JUCO"s game don't always immediately translate but either way Southern Miss is going to hit and it's going to test the Flames staff early.  They will need to get a good start out of Hall and find a whole new cast of characters that will carry their pitching staff.  

For Liberty to Win

They will need to take advantage of the inexperienced pitching staff that the Golden Eagles have.  They just need to keep it close and get Hall out after 5 or 6 innings and get to that untested bullpen.  Liberty will be breaking in a ton of new parts in the lineup as well so it's a battle of unproven's at this juncture this weekend.  Liberty also will need their bullpen to come up big.  Starter's wont go deep either way this weekend and Liberty has a decided advantage in the pen.