Big Home Runs, Gutsy Pitching Pushes Southern Miss Past Troy and Into SBC Title Game

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – With its back against the wall facing elimination for the first time in the Sun Belt Conference tournament on Sunday morning at DABOS Park, No. 8 Southern Miss got off to the fast offensive start it needed and defeated Troy 6-2.

The Golden Eagles improved to 43-15 on the year and will now advance to the Sun Belt Championship Game against the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, which is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. CT. USM has been in the Sun Belt for four seasons, and in each season, it has reached the conference championship game. The Eagles are going for their third championship in four years.

CHAMPIONSHIP BOUND pic.twitter.com/DS7VIc3wnx
— Nasty Bunch & Beyond (@NastyBunchPod) May 24, 2026

Sophomore LHP Grayden Harris will get the nod against the Cajuns. He hasn't pitched since Wednesday's SBC tourney opener against Georgia State.

Eags Get Good Balance in Win Over Troy

We wrote in our semifinals game preview that the Eagles desperately needed to get off to a fast start on offense in Sunday morning's game, rather than playing from behind as they did the previous two times they faced Troy. A Seth Smith RBI double and a Joey Urban three-run bomb to center field in the bottom of the third inning made sure that happened, as the Eagles jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and never looked back.

And for good measure, Davis Gillespie tacked on two more runs with his own big home run to center field in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 6-0 Eagles. Overall, USM had 10 hits, with Urban, Drey Barrett, Ben Higdon and Tucker Stockman getting two hits apiece.

Senior LHP Kros Sivley got the start on Sunday morning, which was the 100th appearance of his Golden Eagles career. He pitched three shutout innings and only gave up two hits before head coach Christian Ostrander made the call to put in Colby Allen to go the rest of the way.

Allen entered the game and closed it out, giving up two runs on seven hits in six innings of work with six strikeouts. He got his seventh win of the year, putting his record at 7-1. Allen got into a bases-loaded jam in the top of the eighth inning, but he got out of it by only giving up one run and preserving a 6-2 win.

Colby gets in a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the 8th, but only gives up 1 run! Eags up 6-2 coming to bat. #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/Ngu06EJgnf
— Nasty Bunch & Beyond (@NastyBunchPod) May 24, 2026

Overall, it was a gutsy performance from Sivley, Allen and the Golden Eagles' bats in a game they had to have. Southern Miss is one step closer to accomplishing one of its major goals for this season.

How Harris Pitched Against Cajuns Last Time

Southern Miss lost its series to Louisiana in Lafayette earlier this season, 2-1, but its lone win was the first game of that weekend, with Harris pitching. In 6.1 innings against the Cajuns, Harris gave up just one run on four hits and registered 10 strikeouts. If he can put up a similar performance on Sunday afternoon, the Eagles will have a great chance of hoisting the Sun Belt Championship Game trophy.

The Golden Eagles' offense looked much better in the early game on Sunday than it did on Saturday. We'll see if that momentum carries over into the championship game, potentially giving Harris some early run support.

Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more coverage following the Sun Belt Championship Game.

Add us as a preferred source on Google