Southern Miss baseball hit the road for a Sun Belt Conference showdown against Louisiana, taking game one before dropping the final two to lose the weekend series.
The Golden Eagles showed flashes of strong offense and pitching throughout, but costly mistakes and late game struggles allowed the Ragin’ Cajuns to rally back and secure the series win.
Southern Miss opened the series strong with an 8-1 victory over Louisiana Friday night at Russo Park.
Matthew Russo and Tucker Stockman each delivered two-run home runs, while Grayden Harris dominated on the mound, striking out 10 over 6 2/3 innings and allowing just one run. The Golden Eagles set the tone early with a first-inning homer from Russo and continued to build their lead, securing their third straight win.
Louisiana responded Saturday afternoon with an 8-4 win to even the
series. Southern Miss struck first with a two-run homer from Davis Gillespie in the fourth, but the Ragin’ Cajuns answered with eight unanswered runs to take control. A big fifth inning sparked Louisiana’s comeback, and they continued to add on, handing the Golden Eagles their first loss after a three-game winning streak.
In Sunday’s finale, Southern Miss came up just short in a 6-5 loss as Louisiana clinched the series. The Golden Eagles battled back after falling behind early, tying out the game in the third inning, but the Cajuns took advantage of walks and hit batters to regain the lead. Despite a strong offensive effort, including three hits from both Joey Urban and Seth Smith, Southern Miss couldn’t complete the comeback and dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season.
The Golden Eagles were back in action Tuesday when they met in-state rival Ole Miss at Trustmark Park in Pearl, where they fell 10-3.