A bit of a nippy night, but a nearly perfect night for baseball at Pete Taylor Park saw the 12th-ranked Southern Miss Golden Eagles welcoming Alabama to Hattiesburg for one of the most anticipated mid-week games of the season. A rematch of an elimination game from last year’s Hattiesburg Regional, with both teams coming into the game on Tuesday night with a combined two losses, with no losses since Opening Day. 

Southern Miss came into the game against Alabama as the 12th-ranked team in the country after going 3-0 in the Round Rock Classic, with wins over Purdue, Baylor, and Oregon State, to continue the mometum into the matchup with the Crimson Tide on Tuesday night. 

On the other hand, Alabama came into the matchup with Southern Miss unranked in the latest polls despite a 7-1 record. Tuesday night’s game with the Golden Eagles is Alabama’s first game with a ranked team this season, before heading to Texas to compete in the Frisco College Baseball Classic, where they’ll face Iowa, Oregon State, and Houston. 

On the mound starting for Southern Miss on Tuesday night was Dylan Causey, and for the Crimson Tide of Alabama, JT Blackwood. Causey would last one complete inning, giving up two hits and two runs, with 31 pitches thrown. From there, Bruce Littleton pitched a complete inning with three strikeouts and no runs, then Kevin Farr. JT Blackwood lasted two complete innings, giving up six hits, five runs, and no strikeouts. 

Alabama jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over Southern Miss in the top half of the first inning with timely hitting. Southern Miss would tie things up in the bottom half of the inning with a base hit from Davis Gillespie that scored Joey Urban from second base. Southern Miss would then add a grand slam off the bat of Ben Higdon, his first homerun of the season, giving the Golden Eagles a 5-1 lead over Alabama in the bottom of the second inning. Alabama responded in the top half of the 4th with a two-run homerun over the leftfield fence from Luke Vaughn to cut the Southern Miss lead to 5-4 with one out. The damage had been done, but the Southern Miss lead remained as the Golden Eagles managed to get out of the top half of the 4th with a 5-4 lead over Alabama. Southern Miss would add three runs to make it 8-4, before another grand slam in the bottom of the 4th inning off the bat of Kyle Morrison to extend the lead to 12-4 for the Golden Eagles with just one out in the bottom of the 4th. Southern Miss would add the 13th run in the bottom of the 7th to make it 13-4 with the impending run-rule looming on the horizon for the Crimson Tide. A fielder’s choice with an error would score the 14th and winning run for Southern Miss in the bottom of the 8th inning. 

Southern Miss was once again on a mission on Tuesday night as they sent another statement to the rest of the college baseball world that the Golden Eagles are here to compete this season as a legitimate contender to win a National Championship. It’s early in the season, and a lot can happen, but Southern Miss has all the pieces this season to compete with the best of the best. In years past, they might not have had the depth or played to the fundamentals of baseball, but at 7-1 on the season, the excitement and momentum are building for Southern Miss to continue on the winning ways as they play the remainder of the non-conference before turning the page to the gauntlet of the Sun Belt Conference. 

Southern Miss will return to action with a weekend three-game series in Ruston, Lousiana as they make the short drive to take on Louisiana Tech starting on Friday. 

Photo Credits- Southern Miss baseball on X