Sizzling Southern Miss wins third Sun Belt baseball championship in four years
The Sun Belt is back under Eagle command.
Southern Miss defeated Louisiana, 11-7, in Sunday’s conference tournament final in Montgomery to claim its third league championship in four seasons.
The Golden Eagles scored the first six runs of the game across the first two innings at DABOS Park, powered by a leadoff home run from Seth Smith and a two-run blast by Matthew Russo.
Top-seeded USM beat Troy in the semifinal Sunday morning, 6-2, to reach the finale against a seventh-seeded Ragin’ Cajuns team that that played seven games in six rain-soaked days, with two wins over second-seed Coastal Carolina.
“It just shows us how strong we are,” Russo said of USM winning twice Sunday to retake the league’s throne. “It reminds us that we are a very good team, and we are capable of a lot of things. We knew it was going to be hard, and it took everybody, but we were able to do it. It’s pretty special.”
Joey Urban was named tournament MVP after logging seven hits during the week, including two in the final along with two of his eight tournament RBIs.
Southern Miss has played in the SBC final in all four seasons since joining the conference, and in each of coach Christian Ostrander’s first two seasons.
This is the first season since 2018 where the program won both a regular season title and a tournament championship in the same season.
“It’s hard to win a regular season championship, and it’s hard to win a tournament championship in the same season,” Ostrander said. “These guys conquered it. We challenged them with a tough schedule. They look at it right in the face and they went out there and they conquered it.”
The tourney title further solidified USM’s position as a regional host in the NCAA tournament with a top-15 RPI and 25 wins against Quad 1 and 2 teams.
The Golden Eagles head into the next leg of the postseason having won 13 of their last 14 games. The tournament field will be announced Monday at 11 a.m. during the selection show broadcast on ESPN2.
This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 4:54 PM.
