Miami Hurricanes are two wins from Omaha after dramatic 5-4 Regional victory over Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – For the 13th time in program history, and the first since 2016, the Miami Hurricanes are headed back to the NCAA Super Regionals after edging top-seeded Southern Miss, 5-4, in a thrilling winner-take-all contest Monday night at Pete Taylor Park.

“I said all along this is a special group,” coach J.D. Arteaga said. “It seemed like everything went our way. … Just guys stepping up.

“Happy for my group of guys – I get to spend another week with this group and I want to extend this as as long and as far as possible. What makes it so special is I get to enjoy with these guys. So I’m thankful for that. I thank God every day for where I’m at, where I’m coaching and the guys that I’m coaching with from my staff to coaches to players to everybody up and down the administration.”

Right-hander Will Smith (3-0) earned the win after tossing three innings of one-run ball in relief, striking out four and allowing just one hit. Starter Reese Lumpkin allowed one run across 3 1/3 innings, while Rob Evans and Walters combined to close the door.

Southern Miss starter Matthew Adams (6-4) took the loss, allowing three runs over 4 2/3 innings. Paetow’s late blast and Matthew Russo’s RBI single in the fourth accounted for the Golden Eagles’ offense.

The Hurricanes found their first run of the regional championship through a solo home run from designated hitter Derek Williams. His ninth of the season, Williams’ long ball carried 411 feet to put Miami in front, 1-0.

“It felt really good to do that for my team and I’m excited about it,” Williams said. “We had one goal the whole entire time, and that was to win it.”

Southern Miss tied the game in the fourth, but Miami’s defense responded under pressure. Ozzie Pratt led off the frame with a single to left, followed by a walk to Nick Monistere that pushed Pratt into scoring position. Russo plated a run with a single through the right side, that scored Pratt and advancing Monistere to third.

Arteaga turned to the bullpen, calling on Smith to relieve starter Rafe Lumpkin. Smith registered a double play off the bat of Joey Urban, helping the Hurricanes escape the jam and keep the game level.

Fresh off the momentum of a crucial double play, the Miami bats reignited in the following frame. After two quick strikeouts, freshman Michael Torres extended the inning with a single. Torres advanced to second on a passed ball, and Jake Ogden came through with an RBI double to right-center, scoring Torres and giving the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead.

After Miami found themselves back in the driver’s seat, Josh Och entered in relief of starter Matt Adams. Max Galvin followed with an RBI single to center on an 0-2 pitch, bringing home Jake Ogden and extending Miami’s lead to 3-1.

Smith kept the Golden Eagles in check with a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, recording a pair of strikeouts to maintain the Hurricanes’ lead. Then, Miami added much-needed insurance in the sixth.

“Our team just is absolutely resilient,” Smith said. “We don’t give up. We were not going to lose that game and we knew that when we woke up this morning.”

Senior Dorian Gonzalez Jr. started the frame with a no-doubt solo home run to right field, pushing the score to 4-1 as Southern Miss went back to their bullpen for answers.

Kros Sivley took over on the mound for Och following Gonzalez Jr.’s eleventh home run of the season, but Miami wasn’t done just yet.

Derek Williams drew a walk, and Dorian Gonzalez Jr. followed with a bunt single back to the mound, putting two runners on with no outs. Tanner Smith executed a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position. 

After Fabio Peralta went down on strikes, Michael Torres used his speed to beat out an infield single to short, scoring Williams and extending Miami’s lead to 5-1. 

But Southern Miss showed resilience, chipping away at the Hurricanes’ lead with an RBI single from Tucker Stockman in the seventh to make it 5-2. In the bottom of the ninth, Carson Paetow launched a two-run homer, cutting the deficit to one and putting immense pressure on Miami closer Brian Walters. 

The right-hander remained composed, inducing a game-ending pop-up to left field that sealed the win—and ignited a celebratory dogpile in the same spot where Walters had made history.

“You can’t ask for more, that’s a huge six-out save there for him,” Arteaga said.

The Hurricanes will now travel to Louisville, Kentucky, to take on the Louisville Cardinals in a best of three series – with a trip to Omaha on the line.

“We have a lot of guys on this roster that today could have been their last game, their last time putting on cleats,” Arteaga said. “We have a lot of guys that woke up this morning that it could have been their last day, their last game so for a lot of guys to come through today, I’m happy for everybody.”

NCAA HATTIESBURG REGIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

C – Tucker Stockman, Southern Miss
1B – Matthew Russo, Southern Miss
2B – Jack Kail, Columbia
SS – Sam Miller, Columbia
3B – Daniel Cuvet, Miami (Most Outstanding Player)
OF – Max Galvin, Miami
OF – Ben Higdon, Southern Miss
OF – Anton Lazits, Columbia
DH – Joey Urban, Southern Miss
P – Griffin Hugus, Miami
P – Camden Sunstrom, Southern Miss

ACC HAS FIVE TEAMS ADVANCE

The Atlantic Coast Conference has a nation-best five teams advancing to the 2025 NCAA Baseball Championship Super Regionals. North Carolina, Florida State, Duke, Louisville and Miami.

It marks the second consecutive year that five ACC teams have reached the Super Regionals, tying the conference record for the most teams to advance to that stage in a single postseason.

Last season, the ACC made a historic run with four teams reaching the Men’s College World Series—marking the first time since 2006 that the conference sent that many programs to Omaha.

A total of eight Super Regional matchups are scheduled for this weekend, Friday, June 6, to Sunday, June 8.

North Carolina (45-13), which earned the No. 5 national seed, will head back to the Super Regionals for the second straight season after defeating Oklahoma on Monday, June 2, in the Chapel Hill Regional final. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, will also be the site of the Tar Heels’ Super Regional, where the 2025 ACC Baseball Champions will host Arizona (42-18), the 2025 Big 12 Baseball Champions, who won the Eugene Regional. It will be the 12th Super Regional appearance in North Carolina history.

Florida State (41-14), the No. 9 national seed, will be making its NCAA-leading 19th Super Regional appearance since the format began in 1999, and its second consecutive trip to the Super Regionals. The Seminoles combined for three wins over Mississippi State and Bethune-Cookman to win the Tallahassee Regional. The Seminoles will travel across the country to take on No. 8 seed Oregon State (45-13-1) in Corvallis, Oregon.

Duke (40-19) secured its fourth Regional Championship on Sunday and will host a Super Regional at Jack Combs Field for the first time in the program’s history. The Blue Devils defeated Oklahoma State twice, including a come-from-behind win in the regional final, and No. 7 seed Georgia once on their way to winning the Athens Regional. All four Super Regional appearances for the Blue Devils have come in the last seven full seasons. The Blue Devils will host Murray State (42-14), which reached the Super Regionals for the first time in program history. The Racers won the Oxford Regional with two wins over host No. 10 seed Ole Miss and one victory over the 2025 ACC Regular Season Champion, Georgia Tech.

Louisville (38-21) advanced to the Super Regionals for the 10th time under head coach Dan McDonnell after winning the Nashville Regional. The Cardinals defeated each of the three teams in the Nashville Regional – East Tennessee State, No. 1 seed Vanderbilt and Wright State – to win the regional on Sunday, June 1. The Louisville pitching staff allowed just five runs throughout 27 innings of regional play. The Cardinals will square off with Miami in Super Regional action.

Miami (34-25) won the Hattiesburg Regional by knocking off No. 16 seed Southern Miss on Monday. The Hurricanes, who were the No. 3 seed in the regional, advanced to the regional finals after defeating Alabama and Columbia in the first two rounds. After falling to host Southern Miss on Sunday, Miami responded with a 5-4 victory on Monday to advance to the Super Regionals for the first time since 2016. The Hurricanes will travel to Louisville, Kentucky, to take on ACC foe Louisville in the Super Regionals. 

At least one ACC team has reached the Men’s College World Series in each of the previous 18 years in which it has been held, and multiple ACC teams reached the MCWS 12 times during that span. The ACC has placed a total of 35 teams in the past 18 Men’s College World Series, an average of just under two teams per season.

The NCAA will announce the full schedule for the Super Regional round on Tuesday, June 3. Each series will follow a best-of-three format, with the winners advancing to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.