Eags After Dark: No. 8 Southern Miss Weathers Storm in SBC Tourney Opener vs. Georgia State

It was a long day for the Golden Eagles at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium due to a lengthy weather delay, but No. 8 Southern Miss showed its grit and resilience with a 7-6 win over a pesky Georgia State ballclub to begin the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. It was a game that began on Wednesday evening but finished a few minutes past midnight on Thursday morning.

With its 10th consecutive win, Southern Miss improved to 41-14 on the season and advances to the winner's bracket. The Golden Eagles will now get a day off, as their next game, against the winner of Troy and South Alabama, is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on Friday.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the Golden Eagles' SBC tournament-opening win.

Harris' Night Cut Short, But There Could Be Silver Lining

Sophomore LHP Grayden Harris, who won the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year award earlier this week, saw his night end after just three innings of work due to a rain delay. Harris finished with three strikeouts, five hits, two runs, and one walk through three innings, so, by his high standards, he didn't necessarily have his best stuff on Wednesday.

With that being said, though, the fact that Harris only threw 48 pitches could end up being a blessing in disguise for Southern Miss, should it advance to the Sun Belt Championship Game on Sunday. We wouldn't be shocked to see Harris on the mound again this coming weekend, looking for a bounce-back performance before this tournament is over.

The same could be said for senior closer Colby Allen, who threw 41 pitches to close Wednesday's game. Allen gave up six hits and two earned runs in a little more than two innings of work, but he also registered three big strikeouts and was able to secure the win despite Georgia State having the tying run 90 feet away with only one out in the top of the ninth inning.

Big-Time Bull Delivers

Senior first baseman Matthew Russo went 2-of-4 at the plate on Wednesday night with four RBI, and the Golden Eagles ended up needing every single one of them to pull off the win.

Russo got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning with a two-RBI single, giving the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead. Then, with the game tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, "Bull" gave his team a 5-4 lead with a clutch RBI single. For his final RBI, Russo grounded out to first base, but it was enough to score Joey Urban from third to give the Eagles their seventh run of the game. That run ended up being the difference in Southern Miss' 7-6 win.

Senior outfielder Ben Higdon joined Russo as the only other Golden Eagle to have double-digit hits on the night. Southern Miss only had six hits total, including two from Russo, two from Higdon, one from junior catcher Tucker Stockman, and one from senior second baseman Kyle Morrison via an opposite-field line-drive solo shot in the bottom of the fifth inning that started to turn the momentum of the game.

Next Up: Winner's Bracket

The Golden Eagles will now face the winner of Troy and South Alabama on Friday morning at 10 p.m. CT at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium. Although Southern Miss didn't play its best baseball on Wednesday, it says something about the team's talent and character that it was able to battle through adversity and grind out an ugly win.

Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more baseball coverage as USM continues its climb in the SBC tournament in Montgomery.

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