Red-hot Southern Miss baseball wins top-10 battle with SEC foe, extends streak
Newly-minted top-10 Southern Miss (11-1) continues to roll.
The Golden Eagles’ win streak hit 11 games Tuesday, after surviving a rally from No. 4 Mississippi State (11-2) and walking away with a 7-6 win in Pete Taylor Park’s first battle of top-10 teams since the 2023 Super Regional against Tennessee.
Drey Barrett and Seth Smith each homered while coach Christian Ostrander used nine pitchers to corral a Bulldogs offense that was averaging 16 runs per mid-week game.
“The maturity and experience... that is the trait and characteristic that bodes well for them,” Ostrander said after the game. “They don’t panic, they believe in each other. Baseball is a game where you have to get 27 outs. You’re never out of the fight. They’ve just got a very good pulse, right now.”
Southern Miss did big damage in the opening inning. A Ben Higdon double and Davis Gillespie walk set up Drey Barrett’s 450-foot blast against MSU’s Brendan Sweeney.
A two-out error by Bulldogs shortstop Ryder Woodson allowed Higdon to score again in the second inning and Smith’s first career home run came in the fourth. Higdon would reach base three times and the Golden Eagles are 6-0 with the former Kentucky Wildcat leading off the order.
Mississippi State rallied with three-run innings in both the fifth and seventh frames to briefly snag a 6-5 lead, but USM jumped back in front with runs scored on back-to-back strike-three wild pitches in the bottom half of the seventh.
“We play hard and stay in the fight,” Smith said. “Anything can happen, especially at the Pete. There’s Pete Taylor magic.”
Camden Clark closed the door with his fourth save of the season. Seven of USM’s pitchers exited without a run charged, including the three true freshmen Ostrander began the game with.
Dylan Causey, KL Farr and Bruce Littleton handled the first, second and third innings, respectively, and allowed just two baserunners among them while striking out five.
“I thought those guys did a really good job showing poise and maturity for freshmen,” Ostrander said.
Southern Miss announced attendance of 5,716.
It’s the first Quad 2 win of the season for USM, which is 7-1 in Q1 games and currently the nation’s top-ranked team in RPI.
“To square off with a team like (MSU) and come away with a victory, I think that bodes well for our resume,” Ostrander said. “Down the road you might look back on that and say that was a significant win that helped us achieve something that our goals are.”
The Bulldogs return home having lost two in a row to top-10 opponents after falling to No. 1 UCLA Sunday.
Southern Miss plays a second mid-week game Wednesday against Nicholls before hosting North Alabama this weekend.
Mississippi State and the Eagles will meet again in Starkville on March 24. The two split last season’s home-and-home series.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 9:31 PM.
