Standing in Tennessee baseball's way from a super regional is Southern Miss.

The Vols downed the Golden Eagles in the super regionals in Hattiesburg a year ago, but will now host them in Knoxville for the regionals. Tennessee is the No. 1 overall seed in the country while Southern Miss will be the 2-seed in the regional.

Before the event, I talked to Heath Hinton of BigGoldNation on Rivals.com to get a feel for this year's team.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

"For Southern Miss, it's kind of par for the course. Doesn't matter how you do really, you'll be put in a tough regional. Didn't think we'd put in the No. 1 overall regional. The committee made their choices, I guess, but kind of hard to figure out how that was made. But it was made and Southern Miss fans just, 'Okay, let's go play baseball. We've had to do it before.' That's their thought process. I just think after the initial shock, you're going to have to play a tough SEC team anyway, lets just get it out of the way and play the best."

"Seamless. Seamless, I mean, you think about it, it goes back so far. Pete Taylor, Hill Denson on his staff, and then you've got Corky Palmer who was on Hill Denson's staff, and then you've got Scott Berry who was on Corky Palmer's staff, and then you've got Coach (Christian) Ostrander, we call him Coach Os, he was on Coach Berry's staff. It's just been such a seamless transition for the past 40 years, these guys stepping in. They didn't miss a beat. Really speaking to them, nothing much has changed. They kept winning, this is the eighth 40 win season and I think the 23rd 30 win season in a row, both leading the nation. So, the success is there and it can't be denied."

"The roster is 70% turnover. So, you're looking at 30% that saw anytime last year in that super regional. I think guys you really have to watch out for are Slade Wilks, the DH, a young man who is a senior and has powerful bat hits the ball hard to all fields. A leader on the team. Another guy I think you have to watch out for is (Matthew) Russo at first base. He's really stepped it up in the second half of the season and batting right around .340 right now and had some big hits in the tournament. (Davis) Gillespie in left field who's another young guy. A freshman who has really established himself in the cleanup role. Dalton MacIntyre is one to keep your eye on. He's batting around .400. He's lead-off. Just a young man who hits the ball in the ground, hits it high and because he's so fast he gets on first. I think he's got somewhere right around 30 infield singles this year, maybe a little more. Which is kind of crazy if you think about it, just blazing speed. I think probably the fastest Golden Eagle I've seen on the field. And then of course Nick Monistere another guy who played a key role last year who's back and was injured. Really getting back into form. Hit a I think a 420 foot home run this weekend at the Biscuits' field where the Sun Belt Tournament is played. Ozzie Pratt the short stop. Transferred in from BYU, junior batting .330. He's got three home runs, not a home run guy but a contact hitter who drives in runs. Has a cannon at shortstop. They didn't miss a step with Ozzie. And then pitching wise, both starters (Billy) Oldham and (Niko) Mazza, not going to blow you away but throw strikes and know how to throw you off-speed and make really sound decisions on the mound. The bullpen led by some young guys. Colby Allen, the closer. (Chandler) Best and (Kros) Sivley both left handers that are upperclassmen that are relied on a little bit. It's a young team and when you look at this team once the game gets started, other than Slade Wilks, everyone might be back next year. This is a team that's young but talented."

"Pitching. I think pitching's the key. I think being able to use your bullpen wisely. The pitching depth for Southern Miss honestly isn't what it's been the past few seasons but they've still got a lot of quality arms. And they develop late in the season and the bullpen has been outstanding the second half of the season and that's going to have to continue. I really think for Southern Miss to get out of this regional is pitching. They're going to have to keep the ball down and keep these teams from hitting the ball out of the park. Or if you're going to give up one, give up a solo shot, don't give up one with two or three on. The solo shots don't hurt you, its the three runs that really hurt you. I think pitching is the key going into this."

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