Hattiesburg’s hosts are eliminated. Southern Miss goes 0-2 in own regional
Empty-handed in Hattiesburg.
Southern Miss leaves its own regional without a win after losing a dramatic 15-11 extra-inning battle to Virginia in Saturday’s losers bracket contest between the top two seeds in the Hattiesburg Regional.
It’s the first time the Golden Eagles have gone 0-2 in a regional since 2011 in Atlanta and did so as the No. 9 national seed — the highest in program history.
“It’s obviously frustrating to lose your first two in this regional,” USM coach Christian Ostrander said after the game. “I’ll take ownership of that. Tough day, tough moment for us. But we’ll move on, draw positives from it and build and get ready for the next.”
Southern Miss scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie a game that featured crooked numbers in eight different frames throughout the four-plus hour afternoon and eventually force extra innings
But UVA outfielder Zach Jackson poked a two-out, two-run base hit into left field in the top half of the 10th and Kyle Johnson, who started the game at pitcher, followed with a two-run blast for insurance.
The Golden Eagles got home runs from Davis Gillespie and Tucker Stockman, who together produced nine RBIs.
It was the first time this season USM lost a game in which it scored at least 10 runs and the first time it lost a game that was tied after eight innings.
Southern Miss lost the first game of the weekend against four-seed Little Rock, 7-4, on Friday after allowing four ninth-inning runs.
The Cavaliers advance to Sunday where they will face the loser of Saturday night’s game between Jacksonville State and Little Rock.
This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 5:22 PM.
