HATTIESBURG, Miss. (March 6, 2026) – The University of North Alabama baseball team fell in the opening game of a three-game series against Southern Miss on Friday night, 9-4 at Pete Taylor Park.
Left fielder Nash Rippen hit the first inside the park home run for North Alabama since Drew Hudson in 2022. In that game, Hudson secured the feat against Austin Peay on March 2 in Florence, Ala.; Tate Mathis also had an inside the park home run against Northwestern State in 2020.
North Alabama (7-7) was led by first baseman Petey Craska who went 3-for-5 to continue his hot streak; he had one RBI and one run to pair with his three singles.
Outside of Craska, six other Lions made up the nine hits — Will Millard, Dylan Coleman, Wes Walker, Cayden Sheffield, Jackson Westmoreland and Rippen. Rippen had two RBIs, while Coleman and Craska split the other two.
Rippen continued his 11-game streak of reaching safely, while Coleman found a hit for his sixth-straight game.
Southern Miss (12-2) used nine hits to secure their nine runs for the evening, plating runners in the first, third and sixth innings.
Tripp Patterson earned the Friday start as normal with a strikeout in his five innings of work. Jordan Touhey went 1.2 innings with three strikeouts before Josh Bowerman mad his second appearance of the season for the final 1.1 innings and two strikeouts.
North Alabama started right away in the opening inning under the lights at Pete Taylor Park.
Craska continued his strong play in Mississippi as he singled in the Lions' second at bat. A couple of batters later, Nash Rippen stepped in taking the second pitch to left field.
The ball carried 264-feet into left field. Between the wind and the lights the Southern Miss left fielder lost it as it bounced off the turf. The Golden Eagle slipped and the ball danced towards the wall.
Craska scored easily then came Rippen rounding third as they throw started to come in. He cleared the next 90-feet with a slide that ended in celebration after the inside the park home run.
The No. 10 team in the nation responded immediately in the bottom of the first.
Two walks got runners on before a single to right field scored one, the next batter cleared the bases with a three-run shot to take the 4-2 lead.
The Lions opened the top of the third with Will Millard striping one to right field that bounced off the Golden Eagles glove, which forced an error. Another single from Craska put two on base and moved Millard to scoring position at second.
Dylan Coleman held a two-strike count and nearly went down to a knee on the third pitch to push it through left side for the RBI single to make it 4-3.
When UNA scored, USM provided an answer, and they did it again in the bottom of the third.
Two batters filled the bases before a USM base-clearing triple tacked on two more; a sacrifice fly scored one more run to cushion the lead.
The Lions went silent for a few innings, while the Golden Eagles added two more in the bottom of the sixth after a double and hit batter stepped onto the base path. A single then error in left field scored both for the 9-3 advantage.
UNA added one more off a Craska RBI single through the middle of the infield to cut the lead to five before the final out in the ninth.
Pitchers of Record
W – Colby Allen (1-1)
L – Tripp Patterson (0-2)
S – Kros Sivey (1)
COMING UP NEXT
Due to forecasted rain, North Alabama will play game two of the series tomorrow at 12 p.m.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
