Gillespie's Go-Ahead Homer in 7th Pushes No. 18 Southern Miss Past South Alabama

No. 18 Southern Miss opened up its Sun Belt series at South Alabama looking to extend its four-game winning streak, and the Golden Eagles did just that with a tightly-contested 4-3 win at Stanky Field on Friday night.

With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 30-12 overall and 12-7 in Sun Belt play, while also bumping their RPI up from No. 10 to No. 9. They now have a five-game winning streak as they look to close out the series on Saturday. The Jaguars fell to 25-17 overall and 10-9 in Sun Belt play. Here are our biggest takeaways from the game.

Gillespie Flips Game in the 7th

The Golden Eagles had nine of their 11 hits on the night through six innings, but with only two runs to show for them. Junior outfielder Davis Gillespie changed that trend in the seventh inning.

Southern Miss and South Alabama went to the seventh inning in a 2-2 ballgame. With the Golden Eagles having one man on first and two outs in the top of the frame, Gillespie absolutely nuked a two-run homer 452 feet and 105 mph off the bat to center field to give his team a 4-2 lead. It was Gillespie's 11th home run of the season. He was 2-for-5 at the plate on Friday with three RBI.

Absolute NUKE from Davis Gillespie... 452 feet. Gave the Eags a 4-2 lead in the 7th, which ended up being just enough to get them the 4-3 win over South Alabama. #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/WPygrD6WEo
— Dalton Trigg (@dalton_trigg) April 25, 2026

Along with his 11 home runs, Gillespie is now batting .321 on the year with 51 hits and 36 RBI, both of which rank second on the team. When No. 11 makes contact with the baseball, good things typically happen for the Golden Eagles.

Eags' Pitchers Do the Job

Although head coach Christian Ostrander would've loved for his guys to give sophomore LHP Grayden Harris a little more run support with all the hits they racked up through six innings, Harris still did a fine job of putting his team in a good position to win the game. The Golden Eagles left 10 runners on base on Friday night.

Harris cruised through the first four innings, pitching a shutout during that span. However, he ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth, giving up a two-RBI single that gave the Jaguars a 2-1 lead over the Golden Eagles. However, Southern Miss was able to come right back in the top of the sixth and tie the game at 2-2 thanks to a lead-off double from senior first baseman Matthew Russo, who eventually scored off a single from junior catcher Tucker Stockman (4-for-4 at the plate on the night).

Harris finished with seven strikeouts while giving up just three hits and the two earned runs in 5.2 innings of work. Junior RHP Josh Och (W, 4-1) came in for Harris in the sixth inning with two South Alabama runners on base with two outs. Och got the final flyout to end the threat.

Senior RHP Colby Allen came in for the final three innings and finished out the win. During his three innings of work, he gave up four hits and just one run while registering three strikeouts.

Next Up: Chance to Close the Series

Next up, the Golden Eagles will be back in action against the Jaguars on Saturday at 1 p.m with sophomore RHP Camden Clark on the mound for his second start of the season. The game was originally scheduled for 2 p.m., but the time was changed due to expected inclement weather in Mobile on Saturday evening.

Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more baseball coverage throughout the weekend.

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