Despite going 0-2 in the Hattiesburg Regional, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles look to carry the momentum from a successful 2026 season that was capped off by winning both the Sun Belt outright championship and the Sun Belt Tournament, along with winning the Round Rock Classic and wins over Alabama, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State. Once the dust settled on the disappointing Regional home loss, the realization was that Southern Miss is right at the door of knocking down the barrier, or what often feels like a curse to be broken, to reach the College World Series once more. With that comes an all-important offseason filled with development and sheer grittiness, using the ending of last season as motivation for a 2027 season that not only starts strong, but finishes strong with a return trip to the College World Series for the first time since 2009. 

With as much history as Southern Miss has, the expectations are a part of the territory, the type of expectations that are both reasonable and obtainable. In a recent conversation with Coach Ostrander, Coach once again talked about the greatness of the Southern Miss faithful and how he embraces his role and the expectations that follow suit. His approach to this offseason has been both demanding and intentional while he molds this roster into a product that brings pride to the Golden Eagle faithful. 

So, what has this offseason looked like for Southern Miss, and what can fans expect to see this fall at Pete Taylor Park? 

Let’s start with the latter: fans can expect to see a good bit of intrasquad scrimmages for development purposes, and  Coach Ostrander hinted at having at least two fall ball games against outside teams that will further help get this team ready for the 2027 season. As for the two outside games, those will be announced at a later date, more likely in the coming weeks rather than later. With both the scrimmages and outside competition, fans will get a first look at what could be the rotations of guys that work well together, with that, though, comes the message to the fan base that whatever happens in fall ball might not always carry over into the season, it’s best to go into fall ball with an open mind and let the excitment build for next season. As we saw with the program last season, they did everything right in the regular season, but once the Regional rolled around, baseball happened, and now the Golden Eagles have fuel added to a raging fire ready to ignite the program to return to the promised land of college baseball with a trip to the middle of America in late June. 

As for the roster itself, at this point in the offseason, the art of the roster might not be finalized, but having a general idea of who and where is the name of the game. Starting with the position players, Southern Miss will have Davis Gillespie, Seth Smith, Drey Barret, Ty Long, Lawson Odom, Josh Och, and the man himself, Tucker Stockman, behind the plate. Then, on to the pitching rotation, Southern Miss will have Josh Och, Teague Broadhead, Thomas Crabtree, Bruce Littleton, Cooper Waddle, Andrew Viscont, Grayden Harris, Camden Clark, and Camden Sunstrom. With the high volume of roster retention, the Golden Eagles not only have returning talent but also veteran leadership that gets teams over the hump in the postseason. Adding to the roster depth, Southern Miss welcomes six newcomers in Cannon Peery, Brady Waugh, Cade Baker, Brock Clayton, Luke Williams, and Drew Harrison to the roster. 

Southern Miss also added Kyle Cheesebrough to the coaching staff as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator. Cheesebrough comes to Hattiesburg with years of coaching experience and deep ties to the state of Mississippi after spending time and playing a huge role in delivering Mississippi State win the National Championship in 2021. He also helped get the Bulldogs to the College World Series in 2019, along with several other accolades in his long coaching career. 

Overall, a really successful offseason for Southern Miss as the pages turn on last season, the fire for a return to the College World Series has added fuel, and now the Golden Eagles are in a position to use fall ball as a springboard for a vengeance tour in the spring of 2027. All the pieces are there from both a roster perspective and the coaching staff, and now all they have to do is go out and put it all together to deliver one of the most memorable seasons in Southern Miss baseball history. 

Photo Credits- Southern Miss baseball on X