NATCHEZ — Jake Winston’s junior season with the Southern Miss Golden Eagles has been a year of firsts.

Take for instance last week, when Winston took the mound in relief against the University of Alabama-Birmingham in the 2015 Conference USA Tournament.

Winston came in during the fourth inning, with his team down 3-0, but he was feeling it, striking out six batters and allowing only two hits in three innings of work. He was feeling it so much that he was unaware just how late into the night he was pitching, and it wasn’t until a thunderstorm rolled into Pete Taylor Park when Winston glanced up at the clock on the scoreboard and noticed it was 12:15 a.m.

“I’m going to be honest — I was locked in,” Winston said. “I had a 5-hour Energy and had the jitters, so I wasn’t unaware of how late it was getting. In fact, before the first rain delay, I had the guy with an 0-2 pitch count with two outs, and I was about to throw a slider. I knew I was going to strike him out, but the spike on my cleat broke and I slipped, causing me to throw it into the dirt. Then the delay came. I was so mad I didn’t get that strikeout then.”

Winston didn’t know if he would go back in or not, and though he pitched into tomorrow, head coach Scott Berry told Winston to stay loose. Following the 32-minute delay, Winston retook the field. He got his man, called strike three, before another rain delay commenced.

“I was like, ‘Man, are you serious, it’s one o’clock in the morning,” Winston said.

The game was eventually postponed and Southern Miss eventually fell to UAB 4-0 the next day. The outing turned out to be Winston’s last of his junior season, as Southern Miss, a team that was on the bubble with 36 wins, was left out of the 64-team regional bracket.

Reflecting back, Winston has a lot to be proud of, like the time he and his teammates wore Hawaiian shirts on a themed road trip.

“Oh yeah, that was awesome,” said the former Trinity Episcopal Day School standout, laughing. “Coach Berry actually told us that if we won 10 games in a row we could have a themed travel, so when we beat Charlotte in a midweek game, we headed to Middle Tennessee in those Hawaiian shirts.”

The Golden Eagles went on to sweep Middle Tennessee, tying a school record with 13 consecutive wins this season. Over the course of the year, Winston tallied a 1-0 record, a 2.58 ERA and 29 strikeouts as a junior right-handed reliever.

Winston’s statistics are quite a jump from last season’s 3-3 record and 4.46 ERA and 24 strikeouts. Winston credits his maturity for the improvements he’s made on the diamond.

“I’ve had my ups and downs, and I’ve taken my share of lumps, but I’ve learned from it and grown from it,” Winston said. “This year, I came into it knowing I would be an upperclassman, and I carried that with me every outing. I made every pitch count, and I made every practice count.”

Before Winston’s junior season, he realized there were only so many games left in his collegiate career. As his junior season has now come to a close, Winston ensured that wouldn’t take any appearance on the mound for granted.

“I can’t complain about this gig at all,” Winston said. “I’m living the dream.”