So much is on the line for Southern Miss in Sun Belt baseball championship game
Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina officially have a collision date.
Sunday’s Sun Belt championship game at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium will feature two ranked teams in strong position to land a national seed as a regional host.
The Chanticleers and Golden Eagles are the No. 11 and No. 12-ranked teams, respectively, and both arrive at the finale of the conference slate on the cusp of history. Southern Miss is riding an 18-game win streak, tied with 1985 Old Dominion for the longest by any SBC team and the most in school history, and Coastal is just behind with 17 consecutive wins.
A USM win would set the league record, as well as secure the second three-peat in the conference’s 46-year tournament history. It would also give the program more SBC tournament titles in three years than 11 other members have in their history within the league.
On the other side, a win by the Chants would pull them into a three-way tie for the win streak record and deliver the school its third SBC crown and first since 2019.
Coastal Carolina has been a projected host for much of the season and is currently a No. 10 national seed, according to D1 Baseball. Southern Miss spent the winter months treading the line between a two and three-seed of a regional, but its recent surge has put it in position to host for the fourth time.
Second-year coach Christian Ostrander’s Golden Eagles club could use one more signature win, though, as D1 Baseball’s projected 15th national seed.
Pitching assignments have yet to be revealed as of Saturday evening, but USM ace JB Middleton will be four days removed from his last start and may be available. The Chants, however, expended the arm of SBC Pitcher of the Year Jacob Morrison in Saturday’s semifinal win over Marshall.
First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
